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What is required to make a WE 555 Cord Board work?

Started by Ed D, April 16, 2011, 06:28:31 PM

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Ed D

Hi guys,

I have a WE 555 board that I am slowly (Read: VERY SLOWLY) taking apart, cleaning up, and will have it displayed in my future "Man Cave."  Right now, it will be for show.  BUT - I keep getting the wild idea to set it up and make it work, running my house phone through it, and perhaps a second phone line as well.

I believe that I need some kind of electric power to get it to run as I doubt that the juice in the regular phone line is enough to drive that board.

Is there anyone who can let me know what is required to do this, and also point me to the schematics (even a simple diagram like "attach Tip wires here and Ring wires there?"

Help?  My brain is overloaded, and I need to know if this is even a good idea.

Thanks much!
Ed

Phonesrfun

They are not powered by the phone line power, and do require a separate power supply of either 24 volts or 48 volts, I don't know which, because unfortunately, I don't have one.  They would also need a source of 20 Hz ringing current, which can be had from a 1A2 key system 115A frequency generator, which come up on e-Bay every so often, and are readily available. 

Others here have 555's and there are circuit diagarams available, and many have a schematic attached to the back door of the board.

If you can read a schematic diagram, there are plenty of them out there on the TCI document repository, which can be downloaded.  They are NOT as easy as connecting a 500 phone to a phone line, to be sure.  If you don't yet read schematics, it will be a learning experience.

I believe what you are trying to do is do-able, providing there are trunk circuits for outside telephone line connections, which a 555 shoud have.

Good luck.
-Bill G

AE_Collector

Yes it isn't too complicated. As Bill says, you need a power supply with good filtered DC talk battery and AC ringing voltage in it. I had my 555 hooked up to 24VDC and it worked just fine. There are several pins on the block inside the cabinet that you hook the AC & DC to and then away you go.

Terry

rdelius

The diagrams for a 555 or a Leich L55 will both work and old 1a2 powersupplies should be easy to locate. If you can solder this is not hard.
You might have to clean some of the plugs and jacks .
Robby

Wallphone

Ed, You can get a Key System Power Supply that will have all the voltages and ringing frequency that you need. The ringing power goes to terminals 22 and 24. The 24VDC goes -24 (ring) to terminal 1. +24 (tip) goes to 45,46,47,48. Some BSP's for the 555 that are in the TCI Library are 536-550-110 and 536-550-230. I have other BSP's on it but I don't know if they are in the TCI Library. That is about as far as I have made it with my 555. It is on my long list of things to do.
Doug Pav

Ed D

Doug,

We both must have pressed "Post" at the same time, but my post seems to have vaporized somehow in the process.  Weird!

OK, what I was wondering before I read your post is if I could use a power supply from a Panasonic 616/308 switching system?  If not, where exactly do I find one of these power supplies?

I just looked on ebay and found nada.  Do you have a specific model and manufacturer for the power supply?  Or perhaps a source that you - or someone else could direct me to, aside from ebay?

Thanks for the terminal number info, by the way!!!!!

Ed

Adam

Search for 19B2 or 20B2.  I believe the difference between the two is that 19B2 doesn't have a ringing generator, and the 20B2 does.
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

Wallphone

Ed, You're welcome on the terminal numbers. I don't know about a Panasonic power supply, whether you can take one out of it or if you would want to sacrifice one. Something like this might work > http://bit.ly/hXMNCu < but I don't know the voltages of this unit and if you are patient you should be able to get one at a better price. I used a Lorain power supply and I have attached a couple of pictures of it. Maybe others will tell us what they used.
Doug Pav

Jim Stettler

I think I have some key power supplies. These would be old Bell system supplies.

Also I beleive that 555's could be wired 24 or 48. 24v will prolong lamp life.
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Phonesrfun

One of these days I will have to get a 555.  I have a 552, which is pretty useless.  It looks real nice, but it was a PBX board and needed a whole room full of equipment to function.
-Bill G

Ed D

Quote from: Jim S. on April 17, 2011, 07:57:20 PM
I think I have some key power supplies. These would be old Bell system supplies.

Also I beleive that 555's could be wired 24 or 48. 24v will prolong lamp life.
Jim
Hi Jim,

If that is the case, 24v would be preferred to keep the lamps alive longer.  If you have a 24v power supply (especially with the ringer frequency current,) I'd love to hear more about it.

Ed

HarrySmith

The most commonly used power supply is a 101G, is that what you are offering, Jim?
I found out it is a lot more complicated than just plugging it in! Different voltages and frequencies are needed. The BSP on power for the board is in the documents I uploaded # 536-550-210. I purchased a 20B2 unit at the Shipshewanna show last year as I wastold it was a newer, better unit than the 101G but it does not supply the proper ringing frequency. I was advised at one time that a power supply from a printer can be used for the 48 volts. I have not done anything with my board but hope to one day soon.
Here is some info I was given a while back on powering switchboards:

"Manual PBXs were originally powered with DC and 20Hz "Generator" sent over cable pairs from the CO.  The 555 was specifically designed to operate over a wider voltage range and require less current than previous cord PBXs to broaden the range of conditions/work further from the CO requiring fewer parallel cable pairs to operate at a given distance.

Cable pairs were an economical low maintenance cost choice because for many years many parts of many large cities had DC or 25 Hz service, which were not conveniently convertible to power telephone equipment since they required motor-generator sets or very large very heavy transformers.  At the time of introduction of the 555 60 Hz  commercial AC power was becoming ame universally available and the 101G was introduced as the first Bell System power plant capable of deriving 20 Hz ringing current from 60 Hz commercial power.  It was used to power small manual PBXs (506, 507, 551, 555) and Key Telephone Systems (1A and later 1A1).

Approx in the late 60s the 101G was superseded by the more economical 20 and 30 type Power Plants which provide 30 Hz instead of 20 Hz.  But these were used only for Key Telephone Systems, not PBXs because the 30 Hz ringing was inappropriate.  For one thing it was incompatible with certain kinds of equipment."
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Jim Stettler

I don't know Harry,
I Got a bunch of key stuff last fall. I think I have some power plants.   I will have to see what is there. I probably have something that will work.
I hope to go thru It before the KS show at the end of the month. I will post a list of the power supplies.
Jim



Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Jim Stettler

Quote from: Phonesrfun on April 17, 2011, 08:03:31 PM
One of these days I will have to get a 555.  I have a 552, which is pretty useless.  It looks real nice, but it was a PBX board and needed a whole room full of equipment to function.

Bill,
I know where there is a WE 555 "left-handed, Blind attendant" switch board.
You could probably get it cheap.
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Phonesrfun

Tell me more....  what is meant by a left handed blind attendant, other than maybe the obvious?  Any way to see a photo, and where might it be?

-Bill
-Bill G