Rotary phone won't ring

[VADER]

Hi all, this is my first post. I bought a rotary phone, it's an automatic electric, either model 50 or 80 I think from looking at existing threads. I have seen many wont ring posts, but on mine, the clapper moves slightly instead of not at all. Maybe too low of voltage? House was built in 1993. Any help would be appreciated. Other than that, phone functions fine

[twocvbloke]

I can see immediately that it's a Frequency ringer of 33.3Hz, it need to be replaced with a straight-line ringer (I.E. 20Hz) to get it to ring...

It's a leftover from party line ringing systems, using different frequencies on the same line to ring a specific phone but not others on the same party line...

[VADER]

Wow, that was quick. Is that a radio shack or ebay item?

Forgot to mention, there is no ringer loudness wheel to turn either.

[twocvbloke]

Most likely ebay, or another phone used as spare parts...

I can't say anything about the loudness though, I've not seen an AE phone in person to date being in the UK...

[LarryInMichigan]

Someone here might have an AE SL ringer to spare, or you can cotact Steve Hilsz (http://phonesurplus.com/) for one.  

Frequency ringers do not have loudness adjustments.

Larry

[Phonesrfun]

Nope, you won't find a straight line ringer at Radio Shack or any other place.  Only from some other collector, but unfortunately they don't come up for sale that often because many of that style of phone had a frequency ringer in it from the old party line days.

Frequency ringers are finely tuned to a specific frequency of alternating current.  Their sensitivity is so selective that a frequency ringer tuned to 33.3 Hz, won't normally respond to even 30 Hz.  They are that selective.

Normal ringing current in the US and many other countries is 20 Hz, and the norm is to use what is called a straight-line ringer that is very unselective when it comes to frequency.  They will respond even with 30 Hz.  So a straight-line ringer is what you need.

Unfortunately, the brand of phone you have which is Automatic Electric was a phone company that used a lot of frequency ringing, and so spare straight-line ringers are not as easily found as they are for Western Electric Phones.

Some collector on this board might have one, you will just have to see.

It would be unfair to not tell you that some people over the years have worked on modifications to the physical characteristics of those ringers to get them to respond well to 20 Hz, with varying results.  If you go to the highest level in this forum and do a search for frequency ringers, undoubtedly you will find articles and discussions about such modifications.

[WesternElectricBen]

I have made a frequency ringer work with out adding a cap but just loosening the bolt a lot!
Ben

[stub]

 VADER,
              Nice phone! The ringer on the top is a frequency ringer and the one on the bottom is a straight line ringer. The top ringer with the two slotted screws that hold the reed , facing you in pic, is what I loosen till I get a semi- decent ring. Then I put a drop of super glue on the back side of the screws to keep them from backing out during ringing. Hope this helps.  stub

[VADER]

Thanks for the tips, I'll try backing out the screws.

[VADER]

I loosened both screws to the point they almost come out, it rings a little, since it only hits one of the bells. I figured I could loctite them if needed. I might post in the classifieds.

[LarryInMichigan]

You can adjust the distances between the gongs and the clapper by loosening the screws in the centers of the gongs and rotating them.

Larry

[VADER]

Adjusting the gongs did the trick along with loosening the clapper. Love that old style ring!