Western Electric 5 Series Dial Overhaul

[JorgeAmely]

I have been working on a 5302 on and off these days. The dial was a little sluggish, so I decided to tear it down and overhaul it. Here are some pictures of the reassembly steps.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Amelyenator/WesternElectric5SeriesDialOverhaul#

[teka-bb]

Thanks Jorge! Very interesting series.

[dencins]

Thanks Jorge.  Good instructions and the pictures make it very understandable.

Dennis

[Phonesrfun]

Excellently done.  I also like the way you displayed all the small screws in the dial finger wheel holes in your lead-in photo.

[Dennis Markham]

Great presentation Jorge!  Nice job on the album.

[Dan/Panther]

Jorge;
Thanks for the tutorial, excellent job.
D/P

[JorgeAmely]

Dennis M:
If you find some omissions or spelling errors, let me know and I will correct them. After all, this is my second 5 series dial, but you have done many of them.

Dennis (dencins):
When cleaning up the finger stop, I remembered your posts about nickel plating. I thought some Novus 2 and a Dremel tool would bring back the long lost luster of this part and it did. I wonder if they were really nickel plated or if the shine will be there for just a few days.

Bill:
This was my morning project. The other choice was digging a leaky pipe in my back yard. I wish I had a third hand while doing these photos: camera, tools and one to hold the parts.

Remco:
It was fun doing this. I just hope it helps someone.

[savageje]

Great post!  I'm still half-afraid of dial disassembly, but I am getting more comfortable and better (I think) at cleaning and lubricating them.  Posts like this help me identify all of the small parts, which can be tough if you're inexperienced like I am.  I appreciate the time you took on all of the photos and narrative.

[JorgeAmely]

... I appreciate the time you took on all of the photos and narrative.

Anytime sir.

[Dan/Panther]

The finger stop seems to take on a yellowing appearance, then when polished they come back. I've had a few for almost 2 years that are still shiny.
D/P

[HarrySmith]

Thanks Jorge! Very nice and informative series! I have yet to tackle a dial but I have been thinking about it and this will definetly help.

Harry

[AdamAnt316]

Excellent pictorial, thanks! I recently partially dismantled a 5H dial, and these pictures helped. Had an issue, however: When I put everything back together, the dial was extremely sluggish, even though I had oiled things. I then discovered that slightly loosening the screws which hold the copper band over the governor and satellite gear helped get things back to normal. Would it be OK to leave it like this, or is there a reason why tightening the screws all the way caused things to bind up? Apologies for derailing the thread a bit, but I figured this might be a good place to post it.
-Adam

[bingster]

Adam, you'll find that the holes at each end of that bracket are drilled oversize.  This allows a bit of "wiggle room" when screwing it down tight.  If you slightly tighten the screws, you should be able to move that bracket around until you find the sweet spot, and then finish tightening the screws.

[AdamAnt316]

Thanks for the reply. I'll see if shifting around the bracket has any effect. What I've noticed, however, is that the binding apparently has to do with the shaft on the end of the governor, as it sticks out farther from the bracket than the shaft for the satellite gear next to it. I can tighten the screw on the right entirely without issue; however, I have to keep the screw on the left backed out a bit less than a full turn, or the governor gets jammed up. Might it still be a issue with the bracket's positioning, or could it be something else? Again, thanks.
-Adam

[Wallphone]

Sometimes there are tiny washers / spacers on either end of the governor. If there are any on yours, try removing one and see what happens.
Dougpav