AE80 will not ring

[sidrj]

Hi everyone
I am seeking your help to repair this phone Dennis has identified it as a AE80 .
I found it at a garage sale and all the functions work except the ringer.
I have enclosed some photos that I hope will assist in solving my problem.

[paul-f]

Welcome to the forum.

The first order of business is to verify whether the ringer is a straight line ringer.  Yours appears to be, but seeing a marking would be reassuring.  It's usually marked on the bar between the coils.  The label appears to be missing.

Next, make sure the wiring is correct.  The ringer circuit is simple.  The ringer coils and capacitor are in series between the two phone line wires -- L1 and L2.  It should be relatively easy to trace the wires visually.

Note that phones of that era usually had one ringer wire on the G terminal.  At the time, three wires were used in the cord.  Today, only 2 are used.  If yours is wired that way, you can either move the ringer wire from G to either L1 or L2.

For reference, you can find a wiring diagram here:
  http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=1862&Itemid=2

There are several versions of AE80, so if yours doesn't match the diagram, you can search the library for other diagrams.

Let us know what you find.

[sidrj]

Thanks for your input Paul
I did find a schematic that looks like my phone the numbers at the bottom are the same as on my phone although a schematic is just a bunch of wiggly lines to me.
I have attached it here.
I am confused as there are 4 wires on the line cord

black connected to number 9
yellow connected to number 16
red connected to number 10
green connected to number 8

Hope this helps

[paul-f]

On the upper right of the diagram, start at L1 (10).  It's connected to 15, where you should fing one of the ringer leads.  The other ringer lead goes to 16 - along with one lead from the capacitor.  The other capacitor lead goes to 9 along with a wire to L2.

This is a series circuit, as the ringing signal passes through the ringer and capacitor when going from L1 to L2.

Does this match your phone?

It's possible that yours has one ringer lead and one capacitor lead tied together in the ringer assembly.

[sidrj]

Thanks for your help Paul.
Sorry but I am pretty much a dork when it comes to a schematic and do not know what a series circuit is or a capacitor for that matter.
I do know that the numbers on the transmission unit where the wires connect in the schematic do match what I see on the board in my phone so it looks like it is the correct schematic.

[paul-f]

No problem.  Fortunately the ringer circuit is a simple place to start as there are only two components and some wire to hunt for.

The ringer is in the foreground of your bottom photo and the capacitor is the gray box with .4 MFD and 500 V.D.C. printed on it.

Each as two terminals so the ringing current can flow into and out of the device.

The talk of current flowing through wires and devices is analagous to water flowing through pipes.

From the diagram, the current flows from L1 through wires,  through the ringer coils, through the capacitor and through another wire to L2.

Can you follow that path when looking at your phone?

(Note that in this series circuit, it doesn't make any difference whether the current flows through the ringer coils or capacitor first, as long as it flows through both as it goes between L1 and L2.)

[sidrj]

Yes Paul that is correct

[sidrj]

Hi Paul
I manually traced the wires you spoke of .
A red wire runs from l1 or terminal 10 to the ringer then a green wire returns to terminal 8 or l2 on the network
a black wire runs from G or terminal 9 to the upper terminal on the capacitor
A white wire runs from the bottom terminal on the  capacitor to terminal 16
on the networK.
I really appreciate you for helping me hope this info helps
I have attached the schematic for you

[paul-f]

Check your work against the diagram.  (No need to repost the diagram in the same thread.)

From your description, it appears that the green ringer wire that's on T8 (L2) should go to T16.

The black capacitor wire that's on T9 (G) should go to T8 (L2).

[sidrj]

Hi Paul
Just getting back to you with the results
I moved the wires you suggested and no joy.
I then used the schematic and traced every wire and put the phone to spec
pretty good as I did not know how to read it two days before.
Anyhow still no ringydingy.
I then moved the black from G or T9 to L2 or T8 and still no joy.
I am now thinking the ringer is not SL .
Just wanted you to know I do appreciate all your efforts also Dennis you guys are the best.
Tomorrow being Saturday I will be hitting the garage sales looking for another phone but this has been a great learning experience and I have enjoyed it very much.
Thanks again for helping me I am determined to get a real phone and will let you know how I make out.

[AE_Collector]

So to recap: Ringer red on 10 and ringer green on 16. 16 is just a bunching point to tie the capacitor to the ringer. Capacitor white on 16 with ringer green and capacitor black on 8.

Terry

[paul-f]

Congratulations.  Understanding the wiring diagrams is a great first step in troubleshooting phones.

Testing this phone on another phone line and testing another known working phone on your line will still help isolate the problem.

In any case, if the ringer is not a straight line ringer or the ringer is bad, you should be able to get a replacement ringer and simply install it in your phone.

For reference, here's a photo of a marked straight line ringer in a set.

[sidrj]

Thanks Paul and Terry I have tried everything and no ringydingy aia think the ringer is kaput or not a SL .
I will pick up a new line cord just to be sure
I found a phone today at a garage sale it is a beauty works perfect only $5
it is a northern electric NE 500
I will post a photo shortly on the appropriate thread.
Thanks again you guys are the best
Sid Johnstone

[AE_Collector]

Looking at the pictures again it is definitely a SL ringer. The phone is working properly other than the ringer, correct? Your green line cord is on 8 and red is on 10?

Ringer coils can go open and/or the fine wire making trhe coil of the ringer can break off of the terminal that the green and red leads solder to.If you don't have a meter see if you can borrow one and someone will help you through checking the resistance of the coils. Radio shack probably sells cheapo meters for next to nothing and if you plan on working on phones a bit you will need one.

Terry

[HarrySmith]

Lacking a proper test unit I have tested ringers by themselves. I have a line cord I have attached alligator clips to that I also use to test "new" phones before disassembly and cleaning. Lacking that any type of clip will do. Clip one side of the line cord to one of the ringer wires. Clip one of the capacitor wires to the other ringer wire and then the other line wire to the other capacitor wire. Now you have a complete ringer circut. Dial in and it should ring.