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Who among us has the newest WE 500? And newer non-WE 500 types?

Started by bellsystemproperty, October 25, 2009, 07:31:42 PM

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McHeath

Here is my late model Western Electric 500 in ivory.  I bought it new in 1986 from a store in the LA area.  It's a mixture of dates really, the chassis is dated late 1984 while the handset receiver is dated 9/9/1985.  The transmitter is dated 1985 but has no month and day stamp.  Other than a few changes here and there, most notably the network is the simplified 4293, the build quality is not all that lowered yet.  Here are some snaps:


McHeath

The picture of the handset shows the foam insert that replaced the cotton ball as an "acoustic dampener" at some point in the late production era. 

In 1986 the production was shipped overseas and the quality totally changed.  I've got a 1987 AT&T 2500 that is very different internally, cheap plastic hookswitch attached to the shell, touch tone pad has an integrated network and both are attached to the bottom of the faceplate and held on by screws under the phone number card.  Plastic chassis. 

My 2003 Cortelco 500 is much better made than the overseas production AT&T 2500s I've seen from the late 80's and 90's. 

deedubya3800

Here's a chance for someone to get in on this contest:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160501541332

It's a 503CMW, Buy It Now for $45 with free shipping! :)

Myself, I'm still holding out for a 21st Century 500 from Cortelco. They were made here locally. Lighter and cheaper than WE 500's of yore, but a heck of a lot better-made than the crap Walmart peddles these days.


McHeath

You near Cornith Miss?  I'd like to scrounge about in their warehouse, bet there are some goodies in there.

My 2003 Cortelo 500 was an E-Bay BIN find a couple of years ago.  Nice phone really, not all that cheapened compared to what is being offered elsewhere in phoneland these days.  Occasionally you can find a newer Cortelco rotary on E-bay, search under the brand name and not specifically in phones. 

deedubya3800

I'm about a two-hour drive from there. We go through there on occasion, but I've never been to their plant. My dad used to run a plastics injection molding factory and he considered making some parts for them once, but I don't think he got the job.

GG



I think I might just win this one:

March 2006 Cortelco 500.  I have two of these; here's the info from one of them: 

The sticker on the bottom of the set includes the following:

050044-VBA-20M   3/06  HAC
Has FCC reg numbers, and a patent notice about the ringer.
Says "Assembled in USA with pride" and has a UL mark on it as well.

The date on the sticker on the box is 01/06, so it's likely the boxes were produced earlier and then the phones were produced and boxed up later. 

The external appearance is identical to the 2003 Cortelco in McHeath's picture.  Except for one little thing that's almost impossible to notice:  The dial number plate is just a bit closer to beige than the ash color of the rest of the housing and handset shell. 

Also the dial tends to be "difficult" to dial, as if the one-way clutch spring in the governor mechanism is so new that it hasn't had the chance to loosen up quite yet, but I'm not going to try to force it. 

I have a couple of wild ideas about where a few more might be hiding out, so I'm going to go looking around.  If I come up with anything, I'll post about it, and find a way to get some into the hands of people who really want them. 


deedubya3800

I am proud to say I am now in the 21st Century 500 Club! I've been looking for months, and finally, here is my Cortelco 500, dated 9-01! It's not the newest out there, but it's certainly the newest rotary I've ever seen. This purdy thing just arrove today from Chattanooga (Soddy-Daisy, to be precise). It looks just like all the other ash-colored Cortelco 500s I've seen pictures of, so there's nothing really individual to point out about it, but here are a couple pictures of it. It's been very gently used and is perhaps the second-shiniest telephone in my collection.

By the way, an honorable mention ITT Cortelco 500 from 1998 just sold a couple weeks ago on eBay, I noticed.

Adam

Very cool, Dee!   I love this thread!

My newest rotary doesn't compare to yours, but I believe mine is among the newest of the last metal-based Western Electric 500s.  It is a NIB red CS500DM dated 83139 (5-83).  It's got the wonderful Bell-Logo inscribed finger wheel (like the phone in the pic below from my collection of photos stolen borrowed from eBay), which is why I bought it originally, but nowadays I'm happy I have the whole set!
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

deedubya3800

Thanks! :) I do have one question, though: This thing does not mute the receiver when I dial. Is that normal? I've looked at the contacts on the dial and it appears to be made to actually make a circuit when the dial is turned rather than break one.

Adam

It should absolutely mute when the dial is pulsing.

The make contact you see is the mute contact, it shorts across the receiver when the dial is in motion.  That contact will be connected to two white wires.  Those white wires should be connected to the same places the white wires from the receiver are connected to. If they are and it still isn't muting, then either the make contact really isn't making, or one of the white dial wires is broken.
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

deedubya3800

Okay, well, the sound in the receiver softens just a bit, but by no means does it mute to the extent of any other phone I own. I can still perfectly hear the dial tone until the first digit completes or any other noise that might be coming from the other end of the line. The pulses aren't painful, but they are quite loud in the receiver.

Adam

Perhaps close-up pics of the inside of the phone and the back of the dial may help us know more...
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

dsk

What is the differences?
Regarding the pictures of the Cortelco:
I see a much more compact ringer, I see a printboard, but how about the parts interchangeability, May the ringer sound as the old ones? Could you put it into an old one? The transmitter  is it carbon? T1? How is the wiring diagram? Why that fuse??

dsk

deedubya3800

The ringer sounds no different from a C4A than one C4A sounds from another C4A. The gongs are the same pitches, just reversed left to right. It's absolutely beautiful. The ringer mounting has the same dimensions as the one on my 1970 S-C 500, so it should interchange perfectly. The only difference is that the Cortelco ringer only needs two screws instead of three as its compact size means there is no coil in behind the hook switch. In fact, it pretty much looks like any component would interchange with my 1970 S-C 500. But my 1956 WE 500 is significantly different in places.

Now for the matter of the dial contacts: The wire colors are the same as any other 500's dial that I've seen: White, white, blue, and red. The contacts that supposedly short the receiver are white and white and they go to G and R on the network. The contacts are making perfect contact when the dial is in an unrested position, but the receiver is only slightly softened rather than almost completely muted. Here are pictures of the back of the dial showing the contacts open and closed:

Phonesrfun

There could be two reasons for the lack of muting.

1.  The contacts, while appearing to be closing all the way may not, in fact be closing.  Run a business card or some kind of thick paper through the contacts to wipe them of any dirt.  Do this while the contacts are pinched together.

2.  One of the white wires may be partially broken at the point of contact with the spade tip and has a high resistance.  If that is the case, the spade tip may need replacing.

Item number 1 is the more likely of the two.  Contacts should only be cleaned with something like a business card or other course paper like a paper bag from the super market.  Do not use a file or anything like that, as it can take the metal plating off the contacts that is intended to prevent arcing when the contacts open and close.  Spray-on contact cleaner from Radio Shack is fine to use.

The normally-open gap of the muting springs seems to be abnormally wide, which may contribute to it not closing all the way, if that is the case.  You could use a pair of needle-nosed pliers and carefully bend the coarse spring slightly towards the spring that opens and closes from the action of the pawl on the main gear.  That could help it close better.
-Bill G