Trimline dial - no dial tone/off hook if at "0" position

[dbsoundman]

Hi all, first post here! I have a few Western Electric and other assorted rotary phones already, but this is my first "problem child" phone, a 1971 yellow Western Electric trimline model. Basically every contact possible was dirty and needed cleaning, and once I did that the phone started to come to life, except for one lingering issue: if the rotary dial is at the "0" (normal resting) position, the phone will not go off hook. If the phone is ringing, I have to pick up the handset AND move the dial slightly past "0" to answer the call. This issue also makes dialing impossible.

I know I'll most likely need to send this dial off for cleaning as it also gets stuck if you rotate it past 4 or so, but I was curious why/how the dial prevents the phone from going off hook. Does this have something to do with the dial muting the speaker when in motion or something?

Also as I am new here, please let me know if there are other resources/instructions for dial removal or cleaning. I found one stickied thread about a mail-in dial cleaning service but I'm not 100% sure how to safely remove the dial from this phone as it has the odd bendy-circuit board on the inside that is quite delicate.

Thanks,
Dan

[Phonesrfun]

The pulsing cam seems to have moved from its normal position which closes when the dial finger wheel is at rest.  Perhaps when you cleaned the contacts did you disassemble the dial?


The dial pulsing contacts are in series with the hookswitch, so if the dial contacts are open, the phone won't answer or give dial tone.  I don't think the Trimline has a set of contacts for shunting (muting) the receiver, since the receiver on the Trimline is not held up to the ear when dialing.

[Jim Stettler]

Here is a link on the subject. Message 7 has a link for trimline dial BSP's

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=5768.msg179240#msg179240 Good Luck,
Jim S.

EDIT: Depending on how you have your profile set up, the above could be message 7 or 6. If you have "newest (most recent) post" last, it is reply #6. If you have "newest (most recent) post" first, it is reply. "Newest" first or last is an option in each member's profile as the "Look and Layout" check box option under "Modify Profile" - see green boxes in image below.

[dbsoundman]

The pulsing cam seems to have moved from its normal position which closes when the dial finger wheel is at rest.  Perhaps when you cleaned the contacts did you disassemble the dial?


The dial pulsing contacts are in series with the hookswitch, so if the dial contacts are open, the phone won't answer or give dial tone.  I don't think the Trimline has a set of contacts for shunting (muting) the receiver, since the receiver on the Trimline is not held up to the ear when dialing.

Thanks for the information. To be clear, I didn't clean the dial myself yet as I don't know how to properly do it, and I wasn't sure how to safely remove the dial unit from the handset. Movement of the parts inside may explain some of the odd behavior though, the contacts I've seen on this phone so far (hookswitch and modular connectors) were surprisingly corroded, so that could also be the issue.