Hotel phone - line cord, ringer, left over doo-dad.

[Greg G.]

A rubber band did the trick.  I experimented with various sizes and correct tension.  First I tried it with the band holding the clapper to one side, but the amount of tension needed on the clapper was so slight that it only resulted in the clapper not working at all, or too loose.

So I tried it with the tension in vertical mode, that seemed to do the trick.  Here's a couple of still pics, I'm waiting for the Youtube vids to finish uploading as I type.

I consider this a somewhat long-term but temporary solution, the rubber band isn't going to last forever.

[Wallphone]

If you find a spring that might work, here are some good instructions from the TCI Library.
> http://telephonecollectors.org/pictures/?id=250188180 <
Dougpav

[Dennis Markham]

Doug, that's where I learned to tie the string on the ones I've worked on in the past.  The spring in the photos I posted above was from a ball point pen.  It works pretty well in absence of the real thing.

[Greg G.]

I don't see anywhere on this ringer where you would mount a biasing spring.  The pictures and diagrams I've seen have a post for attaching the thread and a hook for the spring on the other end.  They seem to be absent on this ringer.

Here's the Youtube vids.  I've said before, I spend more time taking pictures of my phones than I do actually working on them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9IHrKkW0Cw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03fQzaz1ZkU

[Dennis Markham]

Greg, I enjoyed watching your videos.  You have seemed to solve your problem, at least for the time being.  That is a great looking phone.  I'm going to have to get one of those!  Thanks.

[Craig T]

That is a real sharp phone    I like everything about it, the look, the ringer, the condition. Excellent job Briny!

[Phonesrfun]

Good job, Greg, both with the solution and on the restoration!

Nice videos.

-Bill Geurts

[Greg G.]

So what happened?  As I'm figuring out a way to mount this thing on a backboard, in the process, just for kicks, I plugged it in to see if it still functioned.  Remember that rubber band on the ringer?  I was right, it didn't last, it was broken and dried out, but the ringer works fine w/o it!  The clapper movement while pressing the releasing the switch hook is only very slight, not enough to ding.  There's still a slight ding when dialing, but not enough to fuss about.

http://youtu.be/pCaZN1gYyYQ

Oops, I meant this to be an update to this thread: http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=2131.15

Mods, could you please move it?  DONE

[poplar1]

This appears to be a ringer from a Northern Electric 1717 wall set. These phones are local battery used with generators. For that reason, there is no bias spring provided.