News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

My Princess phone wont ring

Started by carl, July 05, 2009, 07:09:27 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

McHeath

My dud of a 500, the one the bugs lived in for what looked like decades, had multiple issues with cords.  Seems that they all were bad, moisture had gotten in and ruined both line cord and handset cord, so who knows, maybe you have something up there as well. 

carl

It's really amazing.I took your advice and actually called my cell phone with it and my cell phone started ringing! So now I'm just
wondering,could the problem be in the handset? Best,Carl

carl

This is really mystifying! I called my home phone from my cell and....it rang!  but still no dial tone.Ohhh! What did I do wrong?

Phonesrfun

Something is causing your receiver to not work.  I could be a LOT of things.  Bad receiver, bad wiring; a wire disconnected, the two white wires shorted together at the network; the dial shunt springs not opening; or the switchhook shunt springs not opening  (The latter two are not as likely) or just a mis-adjusted switchhook, or maybe a couple of other not-so-likely things.

You just need to go at it one at a time and see.  If you have another WE phone you can take the receiver capsule out of, try swapping that to see if the receiver element is at least ok or not.  You kind of have to work your way backwards through it.

When you call your cell from the princess, talk in the princess mouthpiece and see if you can hear yourself on the cell.  If that works, that will at least isolate it to the receiver circuit only within the princess.

-Bill
-Bill G

carl

Bill,I have another princess phone from 1985 as opposed to the troubled one which says 1965 on it and I was thinking about switching the ear speaker,although it is not exactly a
twin,as  it's of course the same size,two wires but it seems to have a couple of extras on it.How does that sound?

carl

I did speak into the princess and heard myself on the cell,so it's coming along as far as the process of elimination.

carl

Okay..I got it! The ear piece was the culprit.I switched it with the other princess and got the dial tone,so all I need is another one.
Thanks..and I mean THANK YOU.Best,Carl NYC

Dennis Markham

Carl, glad you got that straightened out.  If you need a new U1 ear piece, I have some.  Just send me a PM and I'll coordinate with you.


carl

Great! I may have accesss to one here,but if not I'll get back to you.Again,thanks and...BOY! do I need a breather.Carl

JorgeAmely

Can you take a few pictures of the network area from various angles to help identify where the problem might be?

:( :( :(
Jorge

carl

Thanks to this club I have been able to resolve some problems with a few of my old phones,the latest of which was the princess
refusing to ring,then playing with my feeble brain,refusing to provide a dial tone,both of which now resolved,and the latter problem
being solved just today with my purchase for just a few dollars of a rotary wallmount unit which 'donated' an earpiece. Best,Carl NYC

Phonesrfun

Quote from: carl on July 11, 2009, 07:24:40 PM
Thanks to this club I have been able to resolve some problems with a few of my old phones,the latest of which was the princess
refusing to ring,then playing with my feeble brain,refusing to provide a dial tone,both of which now resolved,and the latter problem
being solved just today with my purchase for just a few dollars of a rotary wallmount unit which 'donated' an earpiece. Best,Carl NYC

Yes, one thing you will come to find out in phone collecting is that if you go for a certain brand, like Western or whatever, its nice to have a couple of donor carcasses lying around.

-Bill
-Bill G

Jester

Bill,

In the days before internet & easy access to wiring diagrams, I even used my donor phones as "schematics", which helped me reconnect or replace the missing parts on many of my "keepers".
Stephen

Phonesrfun

Jester:

Oh yes!  I still remember how I totally screwed up my parent's phone one day by completely taking it apart.  Every part, every wire.  Completely.   It was a 500. 

In the '60's one did not dare call the phone company and tell them we had been in the phone doing little experiments, or totally dismantling it.  That was kind of like calling the police and admitting a robbery or something of that magnitude.

I had to convince my best friend's mom to let me come over and take the cover off their phone and I drew a very detailed picture of how to hook all the wires back up to the network.  Seems like it took a couple excursions at the time back and forth, but I eventually got it.

Oh the thrill!

-BIll

-Bill G

Dennis Markham

Bill that is a great story.  At least you were sharp enough to solve the problem on your own.  It's interesting that you had an inquisitive mind for telephones at a young age.