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Directions for a poor noob...

Started by Stuntman Stu, March 10, 2009, 07:37:56 PM

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Stuntman Stu

Hi all,

I'm totally new to telephone restorations and would like to get some direction befroe I screw up too too much.

I have a North Electric Galion as well as a French PTT 29 (without the ringer box). The PTT 29 will require some specialized knowledge of European phones so let's put that aside for now. Note that neither of them works when plugged to the phone lines.

First, can anyone recommend good Internet or book reading on how to start in telephone restoration. I would like the Galion, and somedau the PTT as well, to be working telephones in my house.

Next, based on the recommendations found here, my first order of business was to start diagramming, and separating the pieces of the Galion for cleaning. Problem is, while dissassembling the dial off the body, I dissassembled the hook circuit. I now have no idea how they fit back together. I have eight little insulator blocks and the four leaf connectors (not even sure if this is the right term). While I do know the order of the leaf connectors, I'm not sure how many insulator blocks are supposed to fit between each leaf.

Any help would be appreciated.

First person to answer will get pestered with a lot more questions.  ;)

HobieSport


bingster

Hobie's right, ya know.   ;D

Let me pull my North and take a picture of the contacts.
= DARRIN =



bingster

I'm hoping your metal contacts are still roughly in the same position so they can go back in the correct order.  The wires leading to mine have faded, so it's difficult to tell which one would go where.  However, you can clearly see the arrangement of the fiber spacers:
= DARRIN =



Stuntman Stu

Quote from: HobieSport on March 10, 2009, 08:52:26 PM
Sir, you are doomed.  Welcome.

LMAO!

Thanks Hobie. I already knew I was doomed, I just didn;t know that the instrument of my demise would be a '47 Galion.

And Blingster, thanks loads in advance.

Seriously though, I see a lot of great knowledge on old phones in these threads and I'm really curious, as a newbie, as to where you started accumulating that knowledge? Which groups, books, manuals, mentors, etc. were the most useful to advancing your knowledge?

Thanks all.

Stuntman Stu

Wow, Blingster! Livesaver, dude!
That was fast!!!
Yes, I do still have the leaf connectoros in the right order. Thank God for old wiring that springs back to original position... ;-)
I am reattaching that sucker right now.

Thanks a lot again Blingster.

bingster

No problem, Stu.  And wiring that's stuck in position has saved my butt on more than one occasion.  Gotta love it.
= DARRIN =




McHeath

Welcome, and as the 100th member you get the Grand Prize of an all new expensive hobby/addiction to keep you busy in what used to be your free time. ;)

I took a hookswitch apart once on a Western Electric 500 and it's all in a box now in a closet.  Kudos to you if you can get it up an running again as it's pretty intricate.


Dennis Markham

Welcome to the forum Stu.  You are in good hands with the advice you get here.  Just remember, you get what you pay for!

I just recently took apart a switch on a Western Electric 302.  With my diagrams and photos I still held my breath when putting it back together.  Just like McHeath, the first time I tried was with a Model 354 wall phone.  I still run into pieces from that switch when I clean off the work bench.

A picture is worth a thousand words.  It helps when you get into a spot to post a photo of what is giving you problems.  Someone will be able to help and if we can't we'll send you in the right direction.

Stuntman Stu

Thanks all for the kind words.
I recognize the names of some of the quarter-deities and immanences of the board in there. It means a lot.
I now have two hobbies that will suck up all my free time, McHeath, this and woodworking. Hope my wife remembers to tap me on the shoulder when my 9-year-old son leaves for college.
I must say Bingster came through with flying colours there. In seeing the photo here and the scattered parts on my desk, it does make sense. The phone is still not operational but I can hear some noise on the line when I plug it in and take the handset off the hook, so I guess it's a no harm no foul.

How do you guys feel about the second part of my question? For example, in woodworking, I credit my high school shop teacher for giving me the bug, as well as Wood magazine and the works of David Freeman and Doug Stowe on techniques for my passion for wood.

As far as old phones go, I was visiting a house a while back and the family room was a shrine to things old. There was an old pinball table, an Underwood typewriter, an old dial radio, and a model 500 telephone. As we were leaving the basement, the phone rang. The sound of those bells brought back a flood of memories that spoke of "home".  I didn't buy the house, but I did start scrounging for old phones. I found the PTT 29 in a garage sale, and the Galion on eBay. Neither of them works, but the sound of that bell ringing is still in my head, and I need to hear it again.

What do you think? I'd love to find out what got everyone going. Different thread maybe?

Dan/Panther

Stu;
Welcome, and you are in good hands here..
I got started when I ran across an old phone we had packed away for years, and the memories started pouring in. Then I found an old photo of me as a small kid sittin g at a telephone bench. That did it fo me.
Regards;
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Greg G.

Quote from: Stuntman Stu on March 10, 2009, 07:37:56 PM
Hi all,


Next, based on the recommendations found here, my first order of business was to start diagramming, ...

Diagramming?  We're supposed to diagram something?  I've been using the "by guess and by golly" method...
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

mienaichizu

Quote from: Brinybay on April 03, 2009, 04:21:04 AM
Quote from: Stuntman Stu on March 10, 2009, 07:37:56 PM
Hi all,


Next, based on the recommendations found here, my first order of business was to start diagramming, ...

Diagramming?  We're supposed to diagram something?  I've been using the "by guess and by golly" method...

me too