Northern Electric 554Q3A

[New England Tel.]

Hello All,

My first post in quite a while, although I do stop in from time-to-time to see what's new. I really just haven't had anything to post about.

However, that has recently changed! As some of you might remember from one of my previous topics:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9728.msg103687#msg103687

I have an interest in the only local-battery 500 sets ever made - the Northern Electric 500Q/554Q series. Having found my desk set (500Q3A), I have been on the lookout for the wall set. A little while back, I found a 554Q3A on eBay! There it was, well-hidden among all of the common-battery 554 sets. It was advertised as an intercom set, but it caught my attention enough for me to ask some questions, where I discovered that it was, in fact, a 554Q3A! It remained on eBay for approximately 10 more seconds 

Here are some "before" photos. After the refurb, I'll post some "afters". And away we go:

[New England Tel.]

And the "after" photos:

[Weco355aman]

The phone will not ring.
It is wired for party line service.

[WesternElectricBen]

Beautiful phone!! I really like the setup you have going for it, even the paneling contributes to the feel.


Ben

[LM Ericsson]

It looks so executive!

[DavePEI]

I have an interest in the only local-battery 500 sets ever made - the Northern Electric 500Q/554Q series. Having found my desk set (500Q3A), I have been on the lookout for the wall set. A little while back, I found a 554Q3A on eBay! There it was, well-hidden among all of the common-battery 554 sets. It was advertised as an intercom set, but it caught my attention enough for me to ask some questions, where I discovered that it was, in fact, a 554Q3A! It remained on eBay for approximately 10 more seconds 

Congratulations. You have the set now 

Dave

[New England Tel.]

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words!   

[New England Tel.]

The phone will not ring.
It is wired for party line service.

Phil,

Actually, the phone is arranged for bridged ringing on a local-battery line (Straight Line Ringing), and I'm happy to report that the phone both rings and works perfectly in this manner.

Remember that this is a local-battery phone, with the appropriate network (425Q1A), which has different internal components and is wired completely differently than the typical common-battery 425B and later. Perhaps this threw you off?

[New England Tel.]

For anyone that might be interested, I've made up a terminal diagram & schematic to the above 425Q1A network. Just click on the link below:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=12176.msg128759#msg128759


Bob