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Cheater's Guide to an NE-233H

Started by DavePEI, June 02, 2013, 08:19:37 PM

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DavePEI

The other day, I picked up a couple of chrome NE-233s. One was 100 percent original :), the other had been very badly messed with :'(.

The coin track had been completely removed, the coin relay and chute was gone, the teeth which connect the front section to the  base had been removed. I considered getting the parts to bring it back to original, began adding up the expected cost, then decided to fix it up for Jeff's new apartment as a non-pay phone. After all it looks great but would require major work to restore it. So, I mentioned it to him, and, "Sure, Dad, I'd love to have it - as long as I can use it as a home phone".

After basically gutting the phone, the previous owner had installed a QNB425F network from a late model NE set, and a ringer from a Contempora set... Nothing was wired, though, so I set about making them work together...

Here is how it was done:

From Dial to QNB425F Network:
R from Dial to R on Network
Yellow from Dial to F on Network
Green from Dial to F on Network
Black from Dial to RR on Network
White from Dial to GN on Network.

Hookswitch Contacts:
BBX -B on Network
GN-L1
Y-L2
SL to F on Network

Handset:
R to /R on Network
W to GN on Network
BK to BK on Network
W to /R on Network

Ringer (Contempora):
R to  L1 on Network
B to L2 on Network
Slate to K on Network
Slate/Red to A on Network

Simple as that. Phone works great, only not as a payphone. Still it will make a nice addition for his apartment. Thank goodness nothing was missing from the other one which I will be using with my payphone controller in the museum!

However, I thought it might be worthwhile posting in case someone else winds up with a gutted phone, and knows someone who wants a phone only for personal use.

Doing it this way goes against my grain, but it was a reasonable option. I would never recommend gutting a phone, but if you happen to get one which has been gutted, this at least will allow you to make some use of it without forking out a fortune to restore it! Remember, the phone will have no pay functions left.

Note: The QNB425F network is a bit of an oddball network which doesn't have the same terminals as a normal NE or WE 425 network. Its input connections go to L1 and L2. I would have changed it over to a 425 had I not been able to get it working properly. Below, Poplar 1 has posted connections to a normal 425 network, perhaps even more useful as normal 425s are easier to find..

Converted phone on the left. Dial card has since been changed, and the instruction card straightened.:
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

twocvbloke

There's a saying in the north west of England, "it's better than nowt", at least it's preserved the look of the phone, even if the functionality has been lost, so it can still serve as a phone if not as it was originally intended to be used... :)

It is sad seeing things that used to have a lot of hardware inside having been gutted out to suit someone's man-cave, or turned into steampunk nonsense, but it's better that than ending up in a crusher and being smelted down to make some cheap chinese car or something.... :-\

DavePEI

#2
Quote from: twocvbloke on June 02, 2013, 11:42:22 PM
There's a saying in the north west of England, "it's better than nowt", at least it's preserved the look of the phone, even if the functionality has been lost, so it can still serve as a phone if not as it was originally intended to be used... :)
That is exactly how I feel about it. Though my preference would have been to rebuild it replacing the missing parts, by the time I did that, it would have cost me far more than I paid for it.  (I paid an amount which reflected knowing it had been gutted).

Basically, I paid an average price for the other complete one, and a small amount for this one - they were both local, so there was no shipping.

The other one is complete in every way, and will be hooked up into the museum's payphone controller I got from Stan (an older model which will work with multiple phones), and then Jeff will be able to use this one as his everyday phone. And they both still look great!

Funny, though how long I fought myself on making the decision not to restore it completely!

--

Oh, one point I wanted to make which may help people. These phones both had some rust bleeding through the chrome finish. There is a product, "Nev'r Dull", that I have been using since the early 70s for cleaning and polishing chrome and to remove any rust bleeding through it. I learned about it back when I had my first car, a 1970 Fiat Sport Spyder 850. Ever since then, I have kept a can handy.

It is inexpensive, and consists of a metal can with a Wadding Polish For Cleaning and Polishing All Metals inside. Insofar as rust removal, I suspect one of the components is Naval Jelly. Pluck out sufficient wadding to do the job, and with a circular motion, apply it to the surface. Let haze over, then buff. It will not only shine up the metal, but will attack any rust bleeding through. It takes a bit of patience to get every bit of rust bleeding off, but is one of the best products for the purpose I have ever found.

http://www.nevrdull.com/

Larger deposits of rust can be helped along with 2000 grit emery paper judiciously used, followed up by Nev'r Dull. Only take the top of the rust off - let Nev'r Dull finish the job.  Use it sparingly, as the paper can scratch the surface if used too rigorously.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

poplar1

"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

twocvbloke

That Nev'r Dull sounds like Brasso, which comes in a liquid form and as wadding in a tin aswell... :)

DavePEI

#5
Quote from: poplar1 on June 03, 2013, 05:58:08 PM
How is the handset connected?
I meant to get back over there today to get that and the ringer connections. I will try to get that done tomorrow - I got sidetracked today.

I could probably tell you by memory, but better for me to tell you based upon what I found worked in the phone (color codes included)

It was such an unusual choice for network and ringer to use, so I pretty well had to wing it by ear, but it does work well. Did I ever mention I hate Frankenphones, even made with parts from phones of the same manufacturer!

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

DavePEI

#6
Quote from: twocvbloke on June 03, 2013, 06:20:30 PM
That Nev'r Dull sounds like Brasso, which comes in a liquid form and as wadding in a tin aswell... :)
Didn't realize that Brasso still made a wadding over there. I have only seen it in liquid form. Nev'r Dull smells very different than Brasso, however, and is formulated to dissolve any bleeding rust as well as polish.

Brasso here quite a few years ago changed their formula - I haven't found it nearly as good as it used to be.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

twocvbloke

We have Brasso and Silvo (guess what that one's for!!) in wadding form over here, I've not used either for a while now, kind of miss the smell actually... :D

DavePEI

#8
Quote from: twocvbloke on June 03, 2013, 07:09:37 PM
We have Brasso and Silvo (guess what that one's for!!) in wadding form over here, I've not used either for a while now, kind of miss the smell actually... :D
Yes, I remember the Silvo, too - like you, I miss the smell from before they changed the formula. Don't know why they changed the formula over here - had something to do with the environment or hazardous chemicals in it or something. The old formula did a fine job on polishing bakelite, too, and for that reason alone, miss it!

Ahh, from Wikopedia: "In the U.S., the current Brasso product is not the same as the legacy product. The manufacturer, Reckitt Benckiser, has not produced the impregnated wadding version of the product for many years. The formula changed in 2008 to comply with U.S. volatile organic compounds law, and the metal bottle was replaced by a plastic one."

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

twocvbloke

I've just not bought any in a while, the last time I used it, it was comparing it to Peek an Autosol polishes on Kirbys, Peek won, but I should get some Brasso as it's less messy to use... :D

DavePEI

#10
One thing that has bothered me about this conversion, is due to the missing contact teeth in the top section, resulting in the necessity for the dial wire to be wired directly to the network,  it means that the top section has to remain attached at all times.

This meant that if Jeffery were to try to mount the phone on the wall, it would pull the dial free from the network...

I have a solution which I am going to incorporate! By putting a 5 pin modular jack and connector between both, Jeff will be able to unplug the modular connector when mounting the phone, separating the two sections, and then simply plug them back in when he is done.

The reason I hadn't done exactly that, is I didn't have any 5 pin connectors before, but some arrived in the mail this morning.

While very non-standard, it will work out well, and Jeffery will have a phone that looks great, only will have no pay functions.

I just want to say - please if you get a nice complete payphone, don't remove components! Leave them in, even if you aren't going to use them. There is absolutely no reason to remove parts. Change the wiring, put a ringer in the coin compartment, turn the phone upside down, stand on your head to use it, do a tap dance but don't fall into the sink :) - I don't care what you do, just don't remove any parts to convert it. It is because someone had completely stripped this phone that I have had to do it this way.

The resulting phone looks and works great but it would have cost a fortune to replace the missing coin relay, chute, coin mechanism, and the contacts in the top section to return it to normal. The reason I did post this, is that should you get a phone which has been stripped like this one, there is always a way around it to make a useful and great looking phone!

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

poplar1

Why didn't NT use 6-pin when they changed Contempra 5-conductor hard-wired cords to 5-conductor modular? The 5-conductor modular handset cords are harder to find than 5-conductor hardwired!

That said, you can wire this with  6-conductor modular jacks, or even  4-conductor modular jacks from  500DM sets; if you use the handset jacks (616D), you can even use a spring cord between the upper housing and the back plate.

Incoming Line:
Tip (green) to C on 425 network.
Ring (red) to Y on hook switch.

[Going off hook, Y contact spring connects to SL contact spring.]
SL on hook switch to Y terminal in upper housing.
Y terminal in upper housing to Y on dial.  [Y contact spring in dial normally closes to BK contact in dial except when dial is pulsing.]
BK on dial to BKX terminal in upper housing.
BKX in upper housing to RR on network.

This completes the connection of the incoming line to C and RR, which are the input of the network.

Black handset wire to B on network.
Red and one white handset wires to R on network.
Other white handset wire to GN on hook switch.
[Going off-hook, GN contact spring closes to BBX contact spring.]
STRAP BBX (on hook switch) TO ADJACENT BB terminal.
BB terminal above to BB terminal in Upper Housing.
BB in Upper housing to BB on the dial
[BB contact spring in dial normally closed to W on dial except when dialing.]
W on dial to W terminal in upper housing.
W terminal in upper housing to GN on network.

This completes the output of the network when off hook and dial at rest:
Transmitter (BK) to B network
Transmitter (R) and Receiver (W) to R network
Receiver (W) to GN network

Thus, the 4 Position 4 Pin OR 6 Position 4 Pin jacks for the modular cord connecting the two parts are as follows:

SL.........................Y
BKX.......................BKX
W..........................W
BB.........................BB



"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

DavePEI

My NE21B top keys arrived today - now I won't have to give Jeff my only top key with his phone! The Daisy dial surround decal also arrived, with the result the dial in the NE233H  looks much better. Originally, it had been  beige, and someone had done a lousy job of hand painting it. I will take new photos of the two phones tomorrow and post them.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

DavePEI

#13
As promised, here is an updated photo of the two payphones.

Jeff's phone (right) has had a new dial face laminate installed.

After this was done, I decided to try my hand at "fixing" a lock so that it would operate with a screwdriver for Jeff's phone's vault door (right). Previously, it was held in place only  by a spring.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9602.new#new

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001