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Repairing a 4H Dial

Started by Rigger1, January 30, 2011, 05:27:59 PM

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Rigger1

I am working on a 4H dial that was frozen solid with rust and corrosion. I have everything pretty well cleaned up and ready to reassemble, however the pawl spring is very badly rusted and broken into 3 pieces. Can any one give me an idea of where to find a suitable replacement?  This is never going to be a great dial, but it is my first attempt to repair one. I would like to get it back together, install it and see if I have it right. Thanks for any help you can give.  I attached a picture of the phone to give an idea how bad it was. The phone must have been wet for quite a while.

Dennis Markham

Rigger, Welcome to the Forum.

My first stop would be to check with Steve Hilsz.  He has a web site:

www.navysalvage.com

His e-mail address is: jydsk@tds.net

He is the dial expert and often has spare parts.  He's a great guy and won't charge you an arm and a leg.  Tell him we sent you.

~Dennis

HarrySmith

Welcome!
Steve is definetly a good resource for any dial parts or repair. Right now he is off on a salvage mission so it may not be a quick response.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Rigger1

Thanks for the information. I will get an email off to him, and I will be sure to mention the forum.  Oh, BTW the picture of the dial was taken as I was taking it apart. It is looking a bit better now. This is a amazing product, to take all that abuse, then clean up and be ready to go back into service.

LarryInMichigan

Being that nearly all of the critical components were made of brass, those dials are nearly indestructible.

Larry

Rigger1

I stopped at Ace Hardware this afternoon with the dial in my pocket...I found a spring that was perfect in diameter and tension but a bit too long. I took it any way and cut it to size. I installed it and it seems to be fine. This will be a good temporary fix, until i get the proper part. I hope to install the dial in something soon and test it out.

dencins

Quote from: Dennis Markham on January 30, 2011, 11:53:54 PM
Rigger, Welcome to the Forum.

My first stop would be to check with Steve Hilsz.  He has a web site:

www.navysalvage.com

His e-mail address is: jydsk@tds.net

He is the dial expert and often has spare parts.  He's a great guy and won't charge you an arm and a leg.  Tell him we sent you.

~Dennis

I recall seeing an email that Steve is as at a shipyard doing slavage work but I can not remember when he said he was returning.  You may get a delay trying to contact him.

I agree Steve's prices are very reasonable.

Another Dennis

Rigger1

I did send an email after looking at his site. The prices for dial cleaning and maintenance were surprising. Very reasonable! I am looking forward to his reply.

HarrySmith

Steve Hilz will repair, lubricate & calibrate your dial for only $6.00. Plus he is a really nice guy! Also has lots of phone parts. Here is his site: http://www.navysalvage.com/
He is on a salvage mission right now so he won't get back to you right away but he will reply as soon as he returns.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Doug Rose

Harry is 100% dead on with his assessment of Steve H. You will not find a nicer guy, in telephones or the real world. He charges the outrageous price of $6 to fix a dial, plus parts. I have never, ever have been charged for any additional parts.

I bought a NOS Military Switchboard from him at a very "reasonable" price (cheap),   it was refurbed in refurbed packing and complete. He unpacked it and repacked it to save me money in shipping. It was his idea.  Ask him for a part, he will look for it until he finds it. They don't come any better than the Dial King of AZ.....Doug
Kidphone

Rigger1

Steve emailed me today. You guys are absolutely right about him. He is most certainly a good man.  He is sending me a spring for my dial at no charge. He also took the time to email a second time with pointers for cleaning and repairing the dial. My thanks for to Dennis and everyone else for steering me in the right direction. I am very glad to have found this forum. What a really good group of people. Bill