Oh no, not again!!!

[Sargeguy]

Got this from a customer who purchased a 202/E-1 with a 634A subset.  It was wired according to the excellent diagrams from this forum.  It has all new OPW cords.  The telephone was in perfect working order when shipped.  It had full functionality on 3 different lines. 

When calling our home number from my cell, I pick up the receiver to answer and still hear it ringing the home number with a pop at the end of the ring.  With my cell still on, from the receiver I can hear the answering machine, I can leave a message and the message itself on the machine is loud and clear.  Weird don't you think?
BUT
If I place a call on our cordless phone, then pickup the receiver, the volume is very low and almost tunnel sounding.  THEN, if I turn off the cordless I am disconnected with the call on the phone.

Dialing - There is no dial tone except when dialing a number, one is heard for just a second, then dead again.  And the number cannot be completed, it does not dial the number.

I think I am going to go into the "As-is" business.

[GG]

Sounds like dial trouble: the impulse contacts are stuck in the open position and the off-normal contacts are shunting the line during dialing.  With WE 5H dials this could happen if a wire in the phone got stuck near the impulse trigger, for example if it got bumped & rattled in transit to the point where that happened (even if it was properly packed).  With AE dials it could happen if the main drive gear and impulse cam gear have come to rest in a position where the impulse cam has the impulse contacts stuck open. 

I'll assume you have all WE parts and a 5H dial in the phone.  In that case what could have happened is that some wire in the phone got loose during shipping and flexed upward into the dial mechanism.  The cure for that could be as simple as having the customer unscrew the baseplate and move any wires out of the way of the moving parts of the dial. 

Alternately if you missed screwing down a wire firmly, it could have gotten loose from its terminal.  This should also be obvious to the customer if you talk them through the procedure of inspecting the phone and subset, and you can probably talk them through the repair. 

Lower probability: the transmitter isn't making contact with the spring in the handset.  Also an easy repair to talk someone through. 

Also possible: customer is on a cable TV based or VOIP based phone service, using an ATA that doesn't provide enough power or signal level.  Somehow we need to come up with a "simulator" for that condition, that we can use for testing phones we intend to sell or trade. 

Slightly humorous:  Caller uses a cellphone and says the landline phone sounds like talking in a tunnel.  If that E1 handset has a T1 transmitter of any vintage that isn't overtly broken, it'll sound better than any cellphone in the US. 

[Sargeguy]

The subset is ringing, so it should have enough juice.  I haven't heard back from my question about making sure she plugged the phone into the subset and not both into the wall.

[Doug Rose]

The subset is ringing, so it should have enough juice.  I haven't heard back from my question about making sure she plugged the phone into the subset and not both into the wall.

Now I'm confused, how can she plug the phone into the subset? Isn't it wired to the subset and the subset has the modular cord to wall?....Doug

[Sargeguy]

Keep in mind I have about 20 B-1 and D-1s,  I usually attach a spade to modular cord going from subset to the wall.  OPW is not exactly the Pony Express when it comes to mailing out cord orders, so I had rigged up a couple 534s with modular plugs inside so the phone could be plugged into the subset.  I still have those two.  I am pretty sure the phone was hard-wired with a spade to spade subset cord, but the lady I sold it to is saying stuff that has me wondering if perhaps I sent her one rigged up as I just described, i.e. "I unplugged the phone but the ringer still works"  I can't get a straight answer to the question of whether she has tested it with the answering machine and cordless phones unplugged, so I can isolate the problem to the 202.  Now she says she's left town, and will get back to me when she returns.   I am starting to feel empathy for those computer tech support people.  My current theory is that the plunger tip has loosened and caught one of the contacts on the switch, or something like that.

[LarryInMichigan]

At least in the software world, the problem is rarely like the customer (or sales rep) describes. 

Larry

[bingster]

I think you're going to have to say something in future auctions such as "Although this telephone works perfectly on standard phone company service, there are so many varied telephone providers and systems, that we cannot guarantee this phone will work on your particular service.  It is up to you to contact your telephone service provider to determine whether a vintage Bell System telephone will work in your home."

[Sargeguy]

I think you're going to have to say something in future auctions such as "Although this telephone works perfectly on standard phone company service, there are so many varied telephone providers and systems, that we cannot guarantee this phone will work on your particular service.  It is up to you to contact your telephone service provider to determine whether a vintage Bell System telephone will work in your home."

I am thinking more of "As-is, No warranty" and cutting my prices.  A lot of my customers just want something that looks good and don't even have land lines.  The phones I am selling now, I videotape them working on my line.