low receiver volume

[phonenovice]

I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion for how I can resolve the problem of low receiver volume on my Northern Electric non-dial candlestick. I recently installed a new mini network and it worked great for a couple of weeks. Then the volume decreased somehow on the receiver. I tried a couple of other recivers and it was the same. I tried a couple of different phone lines with no change. Any suggestions on what I should look for?

Phonenovice

[unbeldi]

I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion for how I can resolve the problem of low receiver volume on my Northern Electric non-dial candlestick. I recently installed a new mini network and it worked great for a couple of weeks. Then the volume decreased somehow on the receiver. I tried a couple of other recivers and it was the same. I tried a couple of different phone lines with no change. Any suggestions on what I should look for?

Phonenovice

Welcome!
Sudden failures like this always raise the suspicion of poor connections, or a short.
Since you've been diagnosing already with different receivers, where did you disconnect the receiver? At the end of the cord or inside the base?
The space inside the base is always very tight and it could be that the network has shifted and perhaps a wire or spade is now touching somewhere it shouldn't. Is the network mounted firmly or with adhesive foam or tape?
After any and all connection problems have been cleared, then you have to start looking at components. The network contains several (two or three) capacitors in front of the receiver. These low-voltage caps don't fail often, but never say never.  Look at the solder joints on the PCB, perhaps a cold joint has broken.

Which kind of network is it?
If you can't identify it—no problem—a picture will tell us.

[phonenovice]

Thank you very much for your prompt reply, I will give you a detailed answer on the additional information you requested tomorrow in order to move forward on the matter. To add, I must say how surprised I am with how fast you have provided a detailed reply to my request, great website.
phonenovice

[HarrySmith]

Welcome! Don't be Surprised, you have found the best forum on the net with the best people ever, always ready to help. The amount of telephone knowledge and experience here seems to be limitless!

[phonenovice]

Here are the photos of my Northern Electric non-dial candlestick. I disconnected the receiver at the end of the cord. I took the network out ot the base this morning to test it and it is still low outside the base. I will do all the pssible testes and inspections as suggested by you and I'll let you know how it goes. Many thanks for your help.

Phonenovice

[poplar1]

Is it possible the network is defective?
For future reference, here is the network, manufactured by phoneco and sold by both phoneco and oldphoneworks:

http://www.phonecoinc.com/topic.asp?map=1&horh=home&gorl=list&group=main&category=CandPart&topic=01023

[unbeldi]

Thanks for the pics. It's not actually a network I expected to see, and unfortunately I don't have a schematic for this, so it's much harder to help you. I don't know if any customer receives a schematic with it when purchasing.  It's also a very expensive network, so I hope it can be revived.
Since it contains integrated circuits, it will be harder to repair.  Perhaps you can read the part numbers off the chips, so we can get some idea how it functions.

[Phonesrfun]

Shouldn't the transmitter and the network be facing the other direction?

[phonenovice]

Hello Everyone.
Re: Northern Electric Candlestick  Telephone. Is there another way of restoring them without the mini network? I would like to have this phone working again but would rather not use the integrated circuit mini network. The chip reference number on this mini network is RIFAE706 PBL3781 I don't know if this was not a reliable brand but it fails within a couple of weeks, if there is another way out please advise me. Thanks.
Phonenovice

[unbeldi]

Hello Everyone.
Re: Northern Electric Candlestick  Telephone. Is there another way of restoring them without the mini network? I would like to have this phone working again but would rather not use the integrated circuit mini network. The chip reference number on this mini network is RIFAE706 PBL3781 I don't know if this was not a reliable brand but it fails within a couple of weeks, if there is another way out please advise me. Thanks.
Phonenovice

A PBL3781 is indeed a speech circuit. It can operate at very low voltages so that it can be powered from the line and use an electret or dynamic microphone.

[Sargeguy]

You can purchase original parts.  You'll need a donor transmitter or transmitter "guts", a subset ringer box, and a receiver.  You may want to consider reproduction cords from Old Phone Works that are close to the originals.  . 

[dsk]

Since the transmitter part of the circuit works, it may be possible to keep it and just connect the receiver in series with a capacitor between 2 of the pins. Do you have any documentation on how to mount it?

dsk

[poplar1]

If this was a recent purchase ($45 at phoneco or opw), I'd ask for a refund or free replacement.

For around $45, you should be able to find a sidetone subset, and either original transmitter inside parts or a transmitter unit from a newer type phone.