293A wood phone issues

[shadow67]

I recently acquired a 293A wood wall phone and am trying to get it working. If I plug it into a POTS line with it as the only phone on the line and I call it from another line, the 293A rings beautifully, but if I lift the receiver it stops ringing but does not answer the call. It continues to ring on the calling end. On the 293A receiver I just hear a faint buzz. Now, if I put a splitter on the POTS line and plug a modern phone in one jack and the 293A phone in the other and call the line, if I pick up the modern phone first and then the 293A I can hear the far end on the 293A albeit faintly, and if I speak into the 293A transmitter I can hear it, again faintly, at the far end. I have looked at a diagram I found on this site for a 293A and at first glance everything seems to be right. I was wondering if any of the experts have any thoughts. Thanks much.

[rdelius]

Make sure your transmitter circuit is not open.Short out the transmitter connections and see if you hear dial tone. Also a battery could be applied to the receiver and listen for clicks

[shadow67]

Thank you for the reply. Forgive me but I am unfamiliar with the term "stuff out". Do you mean disconnect it, or maybe short across it? Thanks

[shadow67]

Short across rather 😃

[shadow67]

Dang auto correct. Short not stuff

[shadow67]

Very strange. I am trying to type s-h-o-r-t and keep getting stuff. Regardless I think I know what you meant now and will give it a try.

[Ktownphoneco]

Test msge  ....     short out   ... test

Jeff Lamb

[TelePlay]

Very strange. I am trying to type s-h-o-r-t and keep getting stuff. Regardless I think I know what you meant now and will give it a try.

     GLOBAL MODERATOR POST

Sorry to say you have fallen victim to a member who tried to get cute by typing "s-h-*-t" as an alternative for fecal matter and the server censor software is taking the "*" to mean anything that comes between "sh" and "t" changing it to "stuff" so the word "s-h-o-r-t" is automatically changed to "stuff."

You can thank the member who got cute with a vulgarity for this issue and I don't know how to get around it other than disable the censor software which will allow any member to post any vulgarity they choose. Fecal matter has nothing to do with restoring or repairing phones but some who feel the use of those words is more important that keeping this forum at a high level caused this.

As such, the censorship software will now be disabled so real telephone information can be exchanged, please forgive those who choose to be rude, crude and vulgar for that is no longer be corrected by the software.

[Ktownphoneco]

As was posted earlier, the anti "dirty word" software thinks s-h-o-r-t  is a dirty word and is changing it to stuff.    We'll have to start talking in a foreign language.

Jeff Lamb

[Dan F]

check the induction coil for an open winding. a short would cause the line to answer.

[shadow67]

Thank you for that explanation and those suggestions. I will look at that and see what I can find.

[shadow67]

Ok thanks for the suggestions. I shorted the transmitter and rings and asmswers fine. So, I took the transmitter cover off and found someone has replaced the original with an F1 type handset transmitter and soldered the leads on. One of them had broken off. I was thinking about trying to resolder them, but I think I would like to put an original one back in. I looked on eBay for transmitters like this and found a couple but they cost double what I paid for the whole telephone. Does anyone have a suggestion on where one might find a 323 transmitter or something else appropriate for this phone for a reasonable price? Thanks for all your help.

[Ktownphoneco]

Can you post a picture of all the transmitter parts you do have.     I may have the parts that are missing.

Jeff Lamb

[shadow67]

I will have to take some pics of the transmitter when I get home. I basically have the back cup that holds the transmitter attached to the door of the phone. It has a cover on it that says property of AT&T and 323 and patent date. But when you take the cover off it has and element from a 302 phone soldered to the wires. These connections were broken. I have reattached the wires temporarily to the element and it now functions, but really I would like to put an original transmitter inside if reasonably priced. The back of the cup is stamped property of American Bell Tel company, so it appears to be pretty old. It also has the patent dates on the side of the phone ranging from 1890 to 1903. Also, it has a keyhole to open the door rather than the simple screw like some of the other phones I have.

[shadow67]

Jeff, here are some photos of what I have. Sorry for the long delay. As I stated previously, it has a transmitter element from a 302 phone in it, but I would like to put an original type transmitter inside. The tag says it is a 323, but I am not sure if that is what came with these phones. thanks