Making a WE551A Functional - Work In Progress

[ramegoom]

Hi all,

First post from a future phone collector. I collect just about everything else....

I just acquired a switchboard, Model 551A. It is in remarkably good condition, and weighs probably 250 lbs. So, I want to place it in my game room as a display, and plan to "gut" it and put it on a severe diet.

My question: Is this wise to do? Will it hamper its appeal up the road? I can't imagine the unit actually being put back in operation.

I want to wire it with LED's and remove the incandescent bulbs, and make the multiple lamps do something - not sure what. I'm in electronic design, and will be creative. I can wire the jacks to light the bulbs, switches to actuate the buzzer, crank to ring a bell, etc. and keep it on as an interesting display. I realize it'll take an awful lot of work, but removing that relay panel will lighten it considerably.

Finally, once I remove the inside wiring and components, are those items something someone here on the forum would want or need? Seems everything inside is clean and un-damaged. And I will have absolutely no use for any of it.

I welcome any response. Thanks in advance. 

[Alex G. Bell]

I hope your talk about gutting it is some kind of joke.  If not, I have nothing further to say to you!  I can't think of a worse thing to do than to take an especially nice example and destroy it to reduce the weight.  Are you going to put a shoulder strap on it so you can carry it around as a portable?  If not, why does the weight matter?

No, the parts are not worth much to anyone.

BTW, in case you have not figured it out, CRPF is about restoring and preserving phones, not about destroying them and turning them into paper weights.  I expect there will be others here on CRPF who will be just as appalled at your idea as I am!

[ramegoom]

Thanks for the reply. I needed to hear that. Yes, lightening it was my first thought, but for no other reason than to be able to access the internals and put my own electronics in it, to make it do "something". Just sitting there as a display wouldn't attract much attention, but if it lit up, if the phone functioned, if the bell rang, it'd add a layer of interest to the casual onlooker.

When I found this at an estate sale, a power supply was right next to it. I didn't realize it was PART of it and missed my chance to make this switchboard complete. I didn't know. Hindsight, I should have snagged it since it would be the key to getting this up and running.

So plan B will involve placing LED's in the lamp sockets and wiring in a controller to make them functional. I am leaning towards that but will attempt to keep it as original as it is right now as your observations do make sense from a preservation standpoint. In the meantime, I'll be doing research as to how I'd make the phone part of this machine tie into another phone I have as a simple intercom via a pair of wires.

[Alex G. Bell]

Thanks for the reply. I needed to hear that. Yes, lightening it was my first thought, but for no other reason than to be able to access the internals and put my own electronics in it, to make it do "something". Just sitting there as a display wouldn't attract much attention, but if it lit up, if the phone functioned, if the bell rang, it'd add a layer of interest to the casual onlooker.

When I found this at an estate sale, a power supply was right next to it. I didn't realize it was PART of it and missed my chance to make this switchboard complete. I didn't know. Hindsight, I should have snagged it since it would be the key to getting this up and running.

So plan B will involve placing LED's in the lamp sockets and wiring in a controller to make them functional. I am leaning towards that but will attempt to keep it as original as it is right now as your observations do make sense from a preservation standpoint. In the meantime, I'll be doing research as to how I'd make the phone part of this machine tie into another phone I have as a simple intercom via a pair of wires.

You don't need to remove anything to do what you suggested.  The rack with the cord circuit relays is a gate which swings out for access to the stuff behind it.  The connections to control the line lamps (on the vertical face) are all available on the line terminals because when a phone goes off hook and provides a DC path across the line the corresponding lamp lights.  So all the connection points required for the line lamps on the vertical face are already brought out. 

The cords circuit lamps are accessible on the underside of the keyshelf or by parallel connection to the relay contact terminals on the gate however they are also controlled by the open or closed circuit state of the line jacks the plugs are inserted in.

There's no reason to replace the lamps with LEDs.  Getting LEDs which will fit into the existing sockets to illuminate the lamp caps from the back the way the lamps do probably would be an unnecessary challenge.  The lamps are increasingly hard to come by so destroying them by breaking the glass to connect LEDs to their contact bases would be a gross waste of a part that is no longer being made.

Peripheral driver ICs capable of driving the existing lamps have been an inexpensive component since the 1970s.  There is plenty of space inside to add modern electronics to drive the lamps if that's really what you want to do.

Proper power supplies are commonplace and not very expensive.  The one you passed up is no great loss.

It's trivially easy to connect phones to it to make it function as intended: as a switchboard, including connecting a an analog landline to it, or an adapter which provides a copper analog line connection from a cellphone number via Bluetooth to a nearby cellphone, or an adapter to a VoIP service.

[poplar1]

I don't recall seeing a better example of a 551A! Absolutely beautiful!

90% or more of the surviving examples have already been gutted:the gate with all the relays removed and all the wiring cut. I'm sure you can find one of those if you want to create something new.

Meanwhile, all you need is a power supply from a 1A2 key system as a source of 24 VDC for the lamps, relays and talk battery; and 90-105 VAC 30 Hz. for ringing. And a couple of phones, which require one pair of wires per phone.

[TelePlay]

Speaking as a member and not a moderator, I don't watch these other than seeing them listed and the purchase price. It seems to me, this 90% plus condition 551 would be worth well hundreds over $500 to someone who would want to keep it in it's near pristine, museum quality condition and more once it was working as intended.

I've never seen one this nice and complete including the wood finish. Doing anything to change it as found would drop it value to virtually nothing. To steampunk this piece of telephone history would be unthinkable in this community.

I'd bet some of the telephone museums would be drooling to have one of these. To turn it into a hacked pin ball machine unthinkable. And we thought drilling an Orchid AE40 into a lamp phone would be an atrocity.

[ramegoom]

Yeah, I understand. It is mighty clean, inside and out. I'm gonna leave it alone. In my game room, I have several antique slot machines, some of which are unrestored, others are cleaned and re-painted. The un-restored ones hold their value better. I also have an old Gamewell fire alarm street box that I set up with twin lamps, and a system where when you pull the alarm, the code wheel transmits the code to a remote alarm bell. Restored and detailed, interesting to watch.

So that said, I'd like to make this switchboard display-functional rather than phone-functional...don't really want to network the room, but for aesthetics, I'd like it to light up like a scoreboard. 

I'm going to tap into the resources here on the forum to find out what wire goes where in the trunk cable, the inch-thick bundle. If I can identify the basic wiring for illuminating the lamps, I can then tie into that cable with a power source. Really, what I would like is to somehow illuminate the 40 back panel lamps to light in some sort of pattern, along with the 20 lamps on the console.  Then make the momentary toggle switches fire off the ringer, or maybe the panel buzzer. The plugs don't necessarily need to be tied into this.

Where would I find a schematic for the paired wires in the trunk line? That would be a good start. If I can access the indicators thru the cable, I'm sure I can make it light up.

Well, pretty sure....

[Alex G. Bell]

So that said, I'd like to make this switchboard display-functional rather than phone-functional...don't really want to network the room, but for aesthetics, I'd like it to light up like a scoreboard. 

I'm going to tap into the resources here on the forum to find out what wire goes where in the trunk cable, the inch-thick bundle. If I can identify the basic wiring for illuminating the lamps, I can then tie into that cable with a power source. Really, what I would like is to somehow illuminate the 40 back panel lamps to light in some sort of pattern, along with the 20 lamps on the console. 

Where would I find a schematic for the paired wires in the trunk line? That would be a good start. If I can access the indicators thru the cable, I'm sure I can make it light up.

Well, pretty sure....

As I stated previously, the 40 line lamps can all be controlled from existing connection points intended for the incoming lines.  Please post photos of the insides with the gate open.

What you referred to as the "console" is properly referred to as the "key shelf" because it is horizontal (a "shelf") and has "keys" (the short term used in telephony to refer to "key switches").

Schematics ("SDs") and wiring diagrams ("T drawings") are available for the 551A PBX but may seem pretty cryptic to you even with your electronics background because of the different symbols used to depict things. 

As with electronics, correlating the components shown on a schematic with their physical locations can be an additional challenge, usually facilitated in electronics by a component layout diagram AKA "assembly drawing".  For telephone equipment the physical wiring path is usually more important than the physical location of the component since the components are large and their physical locations are usually identifiable by markings on the components themselves.  With PBXs like this the "T" drawing is often pasted to the back panel or panel in the knee well.

[Pourme]

I'm so glad to hear that you have decided not to destroy this beautiful example of a WE 551...There is more than enough help and resources on this forum to assist you in the preservation of this piece of history....

[ramegoom]

I'll keep it as original as possible, thanks for the support!

I found the wiring diagram glued to a wooden panel behind the door. You're absolutely right, cryptic symbols and it doesn't show the whole wiring, just a typical section where I assume it repeats itself. Still doesn't do much as the wire color stripes seem to have all blended to the same color. Getting the ohmmeter and start probing...

Hopefully I can find a diagram or maybe an explanation for the junction blocks at the top. Those seem to tell all. I'll post some images of the inner wiring - can't even imagine how much labor went into hand-soldering that main harness! That in itself is a work of art. No connectors, just direct soldered connections. That must've been a thrill to troubleshoot a rodent attack on that thing.

There is a light bulb in a socket at the back. What does that do? Many other devices that got me wondering what they are.

Then a metal can labeled DIAL with several wires. Again, no idea what it is. The relays are about the only things I can relate to. Hundreds of contacts, all needing to be perfectly aligned. And expertly soldered. Must be 50 lbs. of lead just on the solder connections. Wow.

[TelePlay]

If you take close up, in focus images of the internal areas, I'm sure there are more than a handful of members on the forum who can help you determine what or even where you can find a power supply for the cord board and even help you wire it in to get it to work (light up) as if in real use including maybe two cheap phones near buy that could be used to call each other (intercom, no outside calls).

If you can scan the schematic, in sections if need be, and post them as a pdf document with pre-press resolution, that would also be helpful to help members help you.

[Alex G. Bell]

When you post internal photos it will be possible to orient you better.

The large lamp is in series with the incoming 90V 20Hz ringing supply.  It protects the supply against short circuits, normally presenting a low series resistance at low currents but the resistance of a lamp goes up sharply when it incandesces so under short circuit conditions it limits the current to a much lower value than an ordinary resistor of the same cold resistance would but does not need to be replaced as a fuse would be.

The other items in metal cans are capacitors and inductors.

I'm glad to see that you're beginning to appreciate the effort and expertise that went into creating this piece of antique technology.  To put it in context, the central offices which once existed using similar electro-mechanical technology consisted of buildings with multiple floors, sometimes the size of a city block, full of aisle upon aisle of 11'6" tall relay racks full of similar hand wired components and more complex electro-mechanical Strowger, Panel or Crossbar switches for completing dialed calls. 

You can find photos if you google the Seattle Museum of Communications, one of a few.  There are numerous museums in Europe too.  Most of them have working equipment, some going back to the 1920s.

I'll keep it as original as possible, thanks for the support!

I found the wiring diagram glued to a wooden panel behind the door. You're absolutely right, cryptic symbols and it doesn't show the whole wiring, just a typical section where I assume it repeats itself. Still doesn't do much as the wire color stripes seem to have all blended to the same color. Getting the ohmmeter and start probing...

Hopefully I can find a diagram or maybe an explanation for the junction blocks at the top. Those seem to tell all. I'll post some images of the inner wiring - can't even imagine how much labor went into hand-soldering that main harness! That in itself is a work of art. No connectors, just direct soldered connections. That must've been a thrill to troubleshoot a rodent attack on that thing.

There is a light bulb in a socket at the back. What does that do? Many other devices that got me wondering what they are.

Then a metal can labeled DIAL with several wires. Again, no idea what it is. The relays are about the only things I can relate to. Hundreds of contacts, all needing to be perfectly aligned. And expertly soldered. Must be 50 lbs. of lead just on the solder connections. Wow.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Man, that switchboard is beautiful!! Most of these 551s that I've seen were stored in a damp, rodent-filled basement--not this one! I could swear this was on display in a museum somewhere, based on condition alone!

Look at the reflection on the top, the finish is still perfectly glossy!

You could still look for a rough one to turn into something creative. Most on Craigslist (try onecraigs.com) are already gutted, and are selling for under $100.

[ramegoom]

Inside pictures. What a work of art. Wish there were a way to display the insides like the outside of it.

[Alex G. Bell]

Inside pictures. What a work of art. Wish there were a way to display the insides like the outside of it.

The upper photo is kind of blurry: looks like camera shake and some reflections at the left, so reading the markings is difficult.  However STA means "stations" AKA the 40 extension phones which appear on jacks and lamps on the vertical face.  TRK means "trunks", lines from the public telephone network.

On the flat surface of the block where the terminal lugs protrude you should find some "T" & "R" markings, which mean "tip" and "ring", the two elements of the plugs which carry the voice signal. 

The STA lamps light when the corresponding T&R pair is closed by a DC path powered by the DC voltage coming from the power supply you will need to obtain.  IIRC 551s can operate from 18-36V with proper lamps but 20-24V is typical.  500mA to 1A is sufficient for minimal activity.  Lamps typically draw ~30mA.

You should obtain lamp cap removing pliers and a lamp removal tool to check the voltage of the lamps.  Attempting to remove lamps without a proper tool will probably result in breakage but it is sometimes possible to push them out from the back with a thin stick, depending on the type of socket.  Getting the lamp caps out without proper lamp cap pliers without scarring the lamp cap bezel is also difficult.  Two small screwdrivers, one on each side may work.

The TRK lamps light when 90VAC 20Hz ringing current is applied to one of the TRK T&R pairs. 

Supervisory lamps (the ones on the keyshelf) light when the corresponding cord is in a jack and the telephone associated with the jack is on hook.  It's a signal to the attendant to inquire by operating the TALK key and remove the plugs if the conversation is finished.

Power supply terminals probably also appear on these two terminal blocks.  With better photos of the blocks including legible terminal markings, we will be able to instruct you where to connect power.

Further observations: The pinkish beige cable coiled up at the left probably delivers all 30 EXTs (not 40) and 10 CO trunks from the outside world.  A photo of the loose end might be useful.  You could terminate this on a terminal block and have control over the 30 EXT lamps.  It might also contain leads already terminated on the terminal block for the power input.