Problematic Western Electric 302.

[WhiteRaven22]

I recently purchased a WE 302 on eBay for cheap and a pulse-to-tone converter.  After hooking up the phone I found that it worked perfectly except for one major problem.  There is no sound from the reciever.  I can dial to and from the phone just fine, and I can hear my voice from my cell on the other end, but no noise is produced by the phone, dial tone or otherwise.  I tried replacing the reciever element with a refurbished one I found for about $8, but no dice.  I then went through all the reciever wiring with an ohmmeter to make sure there were no wiring problems... neither the wiring in the handset or between the handset and the connections in the base unit exhibit any abnormal amounts of resistance.  After examining a wiring schematic for the 302 I am at my wits end with what could possibly be wrong with this phone.  Any suggestions?

Also, I'm looking for a cheap ring voltage amplifier to fix a weak mechanical ring from the cable modem my internet/tv/phone provider gave me.  Any suggestions?

[LarryInMichigan]

Check the dial contacts.  The receiver is wired through a pair of contacts on the dial which are supposed to be normally closed but open when the dial is not in its rest position.  Yours may be open.

Larry

[poplar1]

1. Try temporarily moving the white receiver wire from W on the dial to GN on the 101A induction coil.
2. Make sure both contact springs are making contact with the receiver by bending them out a little more.

Also, try moving the bias spring (located between the two coils) on the ringer so that there is medium or low tension.

[WhiteRaven22]

Thanks for the ring fix... it now rings wonderfully loud... you just saved me $125 on the "Ring Voltage Booster II" I thought I was going to have to buy.  I have yet to try the solutions for getting sound out of the receiver, but will keep you posted.

[WhiteRaven22]

Apparently it is a problem with the dial contacts.  On a more humorous note, if I tilt the phone in the right direction, I can get a dial tone now.   

I will have to tinker with it further... granted this phone has an AE 24 dial instead of a 5h dial for some reason and the dial it has sounds terrible (a combination between a annoying wind-up toy and something dying).  I have been considering replacing the AE 24 dial with a 5h if I can find one in good condition, and that may be more promising an option if I cannot get the dial contacts working properly (and maybe some oil for the dial  ).

[TelePlay]

Apparently it is a problem with the dial contacts.  On a more humorous note, if I tilt the phone in the right direction, I can get a dial tone now.   ;DI have been considering replacing the AE 24 dial with a 5h if I can find one in good condition, and that may be more promising an option if I cannot get the dial contacts working properly (and maybe some oil for the dial  ).

Some other member may have an extra but 5H dials do come up on eBay, some reasonably priced, some not. There are a few up right now but wasn't paying attention to them so don't know which or how many are 5H's.

And someone is sure to tell you that Steve Hilz fixes dial for, I think, $6 if you should ever need that service.

[poplar1]

Can you provide a photo of the back of the dial? If this is the most common AE dial configuration, there are 3 contacts that close together while dialing; the other 2 contacts open and close corresponding to the number dialed. If yours has the 3 contacts that close, then the white receiver wire and the double blue cloth wire from the hookswitch must be on the same screw.

On the 5H dial and some AE dials, the contacts connect the White and BB wires (on separate terminals) together except while the dial is operated.

[LarryInMichigan]

If the phone has an AE dial, there is a good chance that the handset shows "F1W" on it, and it was used by an independent (non-Bell System) phone company.  AE dials are pretty easy to clean and adjust.  If you don't want to do it yourself, Steve Hilsz (http://www.phonesurplus.com/) will do it for cheap.

Larry

[WhiteRaven22]

Actually the handset does show F1W on it.  It has a metal (and presumably pre-war) base, but most of the internal components are stamped S-2-45.

I have figured out that the dial contacts are open when the dial is in the rest position and closed when it is moved.  I was able to get a dial tone by moving the dial slightly out of the rest position and then picking up the receiver.  I think this is backward from the way it should be and may be the culprit.

Due the lack of any decent digital photography equipment except for a cheap webcam, I added explanations to the terrible picture below.  Perhaps this will shed some light on the subject.


DialPhoto by WhiteRavenTwentyTwo, on Flickr

[WhiteRaven22]

  After messing with the contacts shown on both sides of the photo (the pair of contacts on the left and the threesome of contacts on the right) the phone started operating perfectly all of a sudden.  Go figure.  Maybe the contacts were just a little bit sticky or something... phone seems fine now, but don't be afraid to shed light on this subject in case it is a problem again in the future.

[LarryInMichigan]

Note that the AE dials (and all others but WE) have contacts which are normally open and which close to shunt the receiver while dialing.  The pre-#7 WE dials do the opposite.

Larry