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we 500 425B network wiring help needed

Started by bakerbrett741, September 09, 2011, 09:11:47 AM

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bakerbrett741

Im looking for a 425B network for a W.E. 500c/d. The phone will not ring. I replaced Ringer and still nothing. I guess I need to try a newtork.I have Red to L2,Slate to K, Black to G and Slate-Red to A. I can dial, recieve and transmit as well as hang up and pick up but NO ring. There is a company that sells and has a 425E which is similar to a 425B Network, but I dont know if that would work- using a 425E instead of a 425B. Is it possible to have a network that is "bad" and can function with all except ring. Is there anything I could do? If I opened up the network itself up could I tell anything from looking inside the network itself?

GG



Move Black to L1.

Alternately, keep Black on G, and connect the line cord such that the Yellow wire is connected to the same line terminal as the Green wire. 

If it does not ring under those conditions, try this:

Obtain a .4 to .5 microfarad capacitor rated at 200 volts, and connect it across A and K, thereby providing a "good" capacitor to replace the "questionable" one inside the network block.  Cost about 50-cents to $2.00. 

Network blocks are not easy to find as separate components since they were always riveted to the baseplates of 500 sets, with a few rare exceptions that mostly came from refurbishing companies that might have stripped reusable parts off rusted-out baseplates, for re-use in other phones, etc., and mounted those parts with screws. 

bakerbrett741

I Moved Black to L1 and RING!!!! YEAH!!! Thank-You for helping me. What does that mean about the network though? This alternative wiring was not on any wiring diagrams I pulled up.

GG



(Uh-oh, he just asked for another epic GG essay, the length of which will surely get me a scolding from someone.... :-)

First of all, it means your network block is perfectly OK.   Second, here's what's going on:

WE 500 typically has a three-wire connecting cord: Red, green, yellow.  These wires are normally connected respectively to terminals L2, L1, and G inside the phone.  Those terminals are nothing more than convenient screws to screw down the pigtails on the cord and other components: there are no internal components inside the network block, that are connected to those terminals.   However there is a capacitor, nominally 0.5 microfarad, across A and K inside the network.

When the phone is used on a private line (a regular home line), the connecting cord is wired to the wall terminal as follows:   Green and Yellow to the Green terminal, and Red to the Red terminal.  The central office switch sends ringing current across the cable pair to the Red and Green terminal, and the bell rings.

But when a phone is used on a party line, it's connected differently.  The Yellow wire from the phone is connected to Yellow in the wall terminal, which in turn is wired to a good ground in the building.  So now you have the Green wire to the Green terminal, the Red wire to the Red terminal, and Yellow wire to the Yellow terminal.  The cable pair from the telco is connected to Green and Red respectively, and the ground connection in the house is grounded, and the telco switch is also grounded, so the Earth itself provides the equivalent of a third wire to the telco.

Let's say we have a 2-party line, the Alvarez household and the Baker household. 

When someone dials 2368 for Alvarez, the telco switch doesn't send ringing current across the red and green wires.  Instead it sends ringing current across the green wire and ground.   Alvarez' phone is wired such that the ringer is across green and ground, so his bell rings.  Meanwhile Baker is watching a detective story on his cutting-edge 12" black & white Philco television, and his phone is sitting there not making a peep.   

When someone dials 2369 for Baker, the telco switch doesn't send ringing current across the red and green wires either.  Instead it sends ringing current across the red wire and ground.  Baker's phone is wired accordingly, so his bell rings.  Meanwhile Mrs. Alvarez is tucking her kids into bed for the night and her phone is sitting there not making a peep. 

Now let's look at a 4-party line:  Alvarez, Baker, Chan, and Darby.   Remember that Alvarez' and Baker's phones are wired differently to enable their respective ringing signals to be applied from Green to Ground and from Red to Ground respectively.  Now Chan's phone is wired same way as Alvarez.  And Darby's phone is wired same way as Baker's.   So now when ringing current is applied, two families' phones ring. 

The way they differentiate four parties is by using a single long ring or a double short ring.  Thus:

Alvarez:  Green to ground, long ring.
Baker:  Red to ground, long ring.
Chan:  Green to ground, two short rings.
Darby:  Red to ground, two short rings.

As you can see, each family has to remember to only answer their particular ring, so for example Mr. and Ms. Chan answer two short rings and ignore one long ring.  And Mr. and Ms. Alvarez answer one long ring but ignore two short rings. 

This leads to situations where people have to be particularly mannerly: for example telling their friends and families, "Don't call me before 10:00AM on weekends, I'm on a party line with my neighbors the Bakers, and they like to sleep in on weekends."  And the Bakers for their part, before going to sleep on Friday night, hide their bedroom phone under a mountain of pillows so if it rings it won't wake them up if someone calls for Darby (remember, in those days you couldn't turn it off or unplug it, unless you asked for a plug & jack or a bell on/off switch). 

(Come to think of it, given the lack of phone manners a lot of people show today, perhaps they should be put back on party lines, so they have to learn to be nice to their neighbors?)

One could have even more parties on a line, by using more combinations of ringing:  a long and a short for the Evanovich household, a short and a long for the Feinstein household, and so on. 

And if you want to read about how this worked out in the rural parts, where magneto systems were still to be found, just get on your favorite search page and look up  "Two longs and a short."