Western Electric D-1 dial issues "The number you have dialed is not in service"

[Sargeguy]

The NOS Pekin Red Western Electric D-1 that arrived today has some dial issues.  When I dial any number but "1" I get the message "The number you have dialed is not in service" is this just a slow dial or a problem with the dial switches?  The dial is a 5J, the subset is one of the 684BAs I bought on Saturday.

[Phonesrfun]

It could be dial speed, or make/break ratio affected by dial contact adjustment, or mis-wiring.  You have to kind of eliminate each one by one.

[Sargeguy]

OK>  I can dial successfully by "helping" it return, so it looks like a dial speed issue.  I managed to open up the dial without breaking the clear plastic fingerwheel.  It really is mint inside.  I sprayed it out with contact cleaner and lubricated the pivot points on the gears, speed governor and pulse pawl arm.  It is still too slow.  Should I adjust the pulse pawl arm? 

[Kenton K]

You could adjust the governor speed by adjusting the governor speed screw. You have to be careful not to strip it though as the governor tries to spin when you loosen the screw.

here is the bsp

http://tinyurl.com/kxmyrug

ken

[Sargeguy]

How many turns?  I used an open end wrench to prevent the governor from moving and did about one full turn.  It seems what ever I do the dial speed gets slower

[Contempra]

Greg follow what Kenton mention but don't put oïl in the governor . the governor doesn't need oïl at all!.....I begin to learn here since the time I followed what poplar1,southernphoneman and many others here about the dials and how to lub or not and my opinion is, I repeat, no need oïl Inside the governor ..probably your dial needs to be disassembled, cleaned and reassembled.

[poplar1]

How many turns?  I used an open end wrench to prevent the governor from moving and did about one full turn.  It seems what ever I do the dial speed gets slower

Turn what? You loosen the screw in the governor and move the adjuster left or right then tighten the screw.

[Sargeguy]

Greg follow what Kenton mention but don't put oïl in the governor . the governor doesn't need oïl at all!.....I begin to learn here since the time I followed what poplar1,southernphoneman and many others here about the dials and how to lub or not and my opinion is, I repeat, no need oïl Inside the governor ..probably your dial needs to be disassembled, cleaned and reassembled.

The dial appears to be unissued, and is already very clean

Turn what? You loosen the screw in the governor and move the adjuster left or right then tighten the screw.

I just loosened the screw as Kenton recommended, when it didn't work I went to bed.  I'll fiddle with the adjustments  when I find my reading glasses and can see what I am doing.

[twocvbloke]

If the dial appears to be new and never issued, then the oil it had put on it many moons ago may have disintegrated and turned to sticky goo, so, stripperdown and give it a lube job...

A friend of mine bought an NOS dial for a 554 a few years back (before I joined the forum, I was just getting into phones back then), and was disappointed to find it was sluggish and unusable, that is until he gave it a lube job and it freed it up nicely, and as far as I'm aware it's still dialling away today...

[poplar1]

I just loosened the screw as Kenton recommended, when it didn't work I went to bed.  I'll fiddle with the adjustments  when I find my reading glasses and can see what I am doing.

Block governor with longnose pliers.--check
3.13 (3) Loosen clamping screw---check
Sleep on it----check

Keep on reading in the practice

3.13 (4) Move adjusting arm to left to increase speed or to right to reduce speed
      (5) Tighten clamping screw

BSP 028-300-701 Issue 9-D

[Matilo Telephones]

I think you missed the step about finding the reading glasses.

[HarrySmith]

If you are in the US, sending it to Steve Hilsz guarantees a perfectly cleaned, lubed and calibrated dial for only $6.00, plus postage. You can fit 4 dials in a Small Flat Rate box free from the USPS which ships for about $5.25.

[Matilo Telephones]

I´ve been folling this discussion with interest for a while. I´ve seen some suggestions I would make myself.

In my experience the adjusting of the gouvernernor is virtually never needed on the dials I work with. This particular dial is described as new looking, clean and seldom used. Assuming that one time it worken, I wonder how it came to be that the timing is off.

As reported by Sargeguy helping the fingerwheel on the return of the rotation proves it runs a little slow. I has been oiled, but that did not result in it running fast enough. I asume Sargeguy gave it a couple of turns. My experience is that leaving it overnight gives the oil time to flow well around the axles and spindles and gears.

Is it still running too slow? Why? Did somebody mess with it or is something else wrong. My immediate thought is that there is something wrom with the spring. Did it lose tension over the years? Is it a sticky leaf spring, the coils giving friction and thus slowing down the unwinding? Did you oil the spring?

When adjusting dials I do the macro adjusting with the spring and micro adjusting with the gouvernor. So in this case I would advise to first tighten the spring a little bit. You can calibrate the speed, if you do not have equipment, by comparing the speed with a working dial of the same type or with a similar dial. Dial zero on both at the same time and you´ll see if the faulty dial is fast or slow after adjusting.

So I´d suggest first tightening the spring a little first before adjusting the gouvernor.

[Sargeguy]

From what I can see the phone was never issued and the dial was never used, or was never used since it was reconditioned for use on a 50s era D-1.  After some sleep and breaking down and buying some cheap reading glasses the problem was not that complicated.  Using two small screwdrivers I untightened the screw and adjusted the speed adjusting thing that I couldn't see before with the other screwdriver.  Set to the fastest setting it works fine.  Now that it works I am kind of fond of it, and if it does not sell I might keep it.