Classic Rotary Phones Forum

Telephone Identification, Repair & Restoration => Technical "Stuff" => Topic started by: BDM on March 29, 2009, 03:37:13 PM

Title: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: BDM on March 29, 2009, 03:37:13 PM
Courtesy of forum member "rp2813"

Yeah, I just opened up my 10/50 to see what it looks like.  When I first connected it, I couldn't get it to ring and Dennis advised me on how his 12/50 was wired and I followed his example and it started ringing.  So here's how mine's now wired . . .

Line:  R=L2, Y=G, GN=L1
Ringer:  R=K, W=E, R/W=E, BK=L1


Best of luck.  This is a 1950 425A network block with legend in yellow paint and separate tall metal equalizer arrangement that the handset leads connect to.

Here are the pix Dennis sent me of his winning wiring configuration.


Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: The Vintage on August 19, 2010, 06:46:51 PM
I have a 500 with a 425B and it wasn't ringing for me so I tried the configuration you suggest, using A instead of E because I have a 425B, and it still didn't work any suggestions or is my ringer shot?
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: Phonesrfun on August 19, 2010, 07:10:42 PM
Welcome to the forum:

On the 425B, you should hook the four ringer wires up as follows:

Red ringer wire to L2 on the network where the red line cord wire is connected
Black ringer wire to L1 on the network where the green line cord is connected (see note below)
Slate to K on the network
Slate/Red to A on the network

NOTE:  Many older phones had the black ringer wire connected to G on the network which was also where the yellow line cord wire was connected.  This arrangement was to facilitate party line ringing, and is no longer used, so connect the black ringer wire to L1 instead of G.  The yellow line cord wire is not needed in today's environment of no party lines.
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: The Vintage on August 19, 2010, 08:21:53 PM
Thanks for the welcome. And more importantly thanks for the wiring tip, she's ringing like a champ now. And thanks for such a quick response. You're awesome. Thanks again.
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: Honda Enoch on April 04, 2011, 02:54:21 AM
I have a WE 500 and the ringer coil only has 2 wires. Red and Black. With the 425E network.

I followed another sites advice:

QuoteOk, try this. Red to "A" and black to "F". Now jumper "K" to "L2".

So I did that.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/4thgenaccord/Misc/2011-04-02190221b.jpg)

Here is my ringer coil
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/4thgenaccord/Misc/2011-04-02160813.jpg)

I notice mine has the black thing on it (with the numbers and letters P8292ZN19) yet any photo I see of other ringer coils does not have this.


Any help would be appreciated.

Thank You
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: Wallphone on April 04, 2011, 07:05:56 AM
Honda, The black thing is a capacitor (condenser). Your phone technically has 4 wires, it's just that two of them never leave the ringer, they go to the capacitor (black thing). If you had 4 wires on your ringer the extra two would go to the network where they would attach to terminals A & K. Inside the network  is a capacitor connected to A & K. So yours is doing the same thing except your capacitor is on the ringer and not in the network. I hope that I explained it correctly and you understand it.
Doug Pav
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: GG on April 04, 2011, 07:06:31 AM

First of all, you have a "harmonic" party line ringer there.  Second, the black object is a ringer capacitor that is tuned to the particular frequency on which that ringer is intended to ring.  

The way those ringers work is: the large weight between the two bells, plus the distance of the weight from the fulcrum of the clapper, plus the value of the capacitor, makes the ringer selective as to the frequency of AC ringing current to which it responds.  Thus the CO can send different frequencies of current down the line to selectively ring one party's ringer out of as many as ten.   On AE phones, the frequencies typically include 16 Hz, 20 Hz (normal ringing frequency), 33 Hz, 48 Hz, and 66 Hz if I recall correctly.  By using divided ringing with this plan (L1 to ground and L2 to ground), you can get ten houses on a party line.  

The chances of making one of those ringers work for regular 20-Hz ringing current are small to zero unless you have experience dealing with these things (I do but I really don't like dealing with frequency selective ringers).  

Your best bet is to replace the ringer entirely.  There are plenty of folks here who have spare ringers, and someone is likely to volunteer to sell you one at a reasonable price.  

Question is:  is that a WE ringer?  I don't think WE ever used harmonic ringing or manufactured those types of ringers.  If they did, they're relatively rare, so hang on to yours as a rare artifact (and if you ever sell that phone, include the ringer as original parts).  

From looking at the network block, I'm going to guess that your phone was actually made by ITT-Kellogg, or was a "non-Bell WE" used by one of the independent (non-Bell) telcos.  Look on the back of the housing near the handgrip and you'll see a maker's name.  If it says "Western Electric made in USA" it may be a non-Bell WE.  If it says "Bell System made by Western Electric" it may be a Bell phone and I was wrong about WE not making harmonic ringers.  Or the housing was changed out at some point in the phone's history.  

However, the actual clapper on the ringer (below the weight and between the gongs) appears to resemble the type used by ITT Kellogg on their later K-500s.  

Look at the base for number/letter designations.  If the base has a stamp saying "Property of (XYZ) Bell Telephone," we're back in the mystery zone about WE harmonic ringers.  If the base says "C/D 500" it's probably WE.   If the base says "NE 500" it's Northern Electric (Canada).  If it says "K-500" it's ITT Kellogg.  Stromberg Carlson might have "SC" on it somewhere.   Also look at the back of the dial for maker's marks, and on the side of the network block.

If you post a complete set of photos:  baseplate, housing at rear, handset in handgrip, underside of dial, and back side of transmitter & receiver, we can figure out who actually made that phone.  (Or it might have been mongrelized out of components made by two or more manufacturers: this is very common and perfectly OK with most of us, though some folks are "purists" who don't like mongrel phones.)

So far this is an interesting puzzle with an unusual ringer.  

We'll figure it out, and someone here will get you the correct ringer for that phone, and then it'll all work properly.  
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: Wallphone on April 04, 2011, 09:38:08 AM
AT&T DID use harmonic ringing. Sometimes they would buy a private telephone company that would already have an AE switch installed and rather than replace it with one of their own, they would continue to use it.
Doug Pav
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: Honda Enoch on April 04, 2011, 02:20:54 PM
Ok, here are some more photos.

Here is the back of the phone
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/4thgenaccord/Misc/2011-04-04141026.jpg)

It says "Western Electric Made In the USA"

Here is the bottom.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/4thgenaccord/Misc/2011-04-04141045.jpg)

And here is a close up of the markings.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/4thgenaccord/Misc/2011-04-04141113.jpg)

Any other photos, feel free to ask. :)

Thanks for the information. Learned a lot today.
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: GG on April 05, 2011, 08:47:30 AM


Wallphone: right on!, I stand corrected, thanks for the info.

Honda, I'll bet that's a non-Bell WE phone, from the markings on the case.  The type number 591 is probably key to the puzzle.

Anyway, if you want that phone to ring, look for a replacement ringer and wire it per WE standards. 
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: Kenny C on April 06, 2011, 12:05:59 PM
Another thing. Are those leather feet? I thought those went out in 57. Or was it 58?
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: paul-f on April 06, 2011, 02:30:39 PM
Leather feet went out in late 1958.  There was an overlap of several months with neoprene feet.
Title: Re: How to properly wire your W.E. 500 series 425A network to ring
Post by: m1898 on December 10, 2011, 07:48:37 AM
You could also try what Ma Bell did. I recently got a 1964 WE 500 C/D with the Bell 4 prong "modular" plug on it. Bell wired the yellow and green to the same prong. It does work. On the newer modular plugs, I removed the yellow wire, inside the wall plug, that attaches to the plug, the part where the line cord connects to, and put it under the green wire. I still only have the red and green from the network interface hooked up. Now one of my other phones rings too. Of course, you will have to wire all of your wall jacks up this way if you plan to use more than one wall jack for your phone. It worked for me.