Help with AE 90 Wiring!

[eBass]

I just bought an AE 90 on eBay. I believe it is a Potted Network version similar to:

http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php/component/docman/doc_details/1873-ae-90a-ae90pot-tl?Itemid=11

Also looks similar to this wiring:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=14596.0;attach=125196;image

That said, the Terminal Strip (if I am calling it correctly) only has L1, L2, 3, and 4G. There is NO "5", which does not match wiring diagrams I found either elsewhere or on this site's postings about AE 90 phones.

I am trying to attach this to an XLink (http://www.myxlink.com/index.aspx) to use as a house phone with cell phones. This purchased AE 90 came with an additional three wire cord (Red, Yellow, and Green wires) but not connected to anything at all. It does look like the two screws on 4G and one of the screws on 3 are loosened so I thought they might attach there, but I have no idea of the proper wiring.

I do have a converter cable (http://www.amazon.com/4-PRONG-TELEPHONE-ADAPTER-PLUG/dp/B002OBSD16/) to go from 4-prong to newer telephone cable, but I still need to know what wires go where.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. I have additional photos and will try to upload them in a reply post as I am only allowed 6 photos per post.

Thank you ahead of time! (Yes, the phone is pink, I am making my lady happy, while also getting to tinker with a cool vintage phone.)

[eBass]

Here are the additional photos showing the 3-wire additional cord, the bottom of the phone (I think it has identifiers), and also a close up on the 3 and 4G screws on the Terminal Strip.

[unbeldi]

Welcome!

That's a nice phone!

Your phone is an early type of the 90 which didn't have the 5-terminal strip.  Your phone also has the manually adjusted loop compensation potentiometer installed which isn't on the diagrams you quoted.

Here is a diagram from ca. 1957, I think I took it from the 1957 catalog.

Your phone also still has its original ringer installed, and that matches the designation stamps on the bottom of the phone.  This is how I like to find phones too.
That said, it is a frequency-selective ringer and won't be able to ring on a standard telephone line of today.  It only responds to ringing frequency of 54 Hz, as indicated by the stamp (C54), also printed on the ringer label.  The letter C indicated the type of dial number plate that you have, numbers with letters.

[eBass]

Thank you, the diagram is extremely helpful!

It won't ring, but is it possible for me to wire it up to get a dial tone and make calls out? If so, what wires would I connect? I am new to the telephone wiring and learn fast but am still learning the terms and the circuits. I am good with Google and can look up anything you say I should!

Also, would it be possible for me to get a different ringer and swap out the ringer with this phone's original ringer to then get a ring? If so, any recommended ringer (or just any ringer from a later AE 90 model)?

[AE_Collector]

That one is a keeper! The oldest model AE90 there is. This model has the terminal strip 1-4 where all later models eliminated it and station wire hooked directly to the network terminals.

It also has the base of an AE 80 desk phone and a matching color painted hook instead of a chrome hook. Quite rare.

Are you certain that it is pink and not beige? I am looking at it on my smart phone so colors may not be very accurate.

Terry

[unbeldi]

Thank you, the diagram is extremely helpful!

It won't ring, but is it possible for me to wire it up to get a dial tone and make calls out? If so, what wires would I connect? I am new to the telephone wiring and learn fast but am still learning the terms and the circuits. I am good with Google and can look up anything you say I should!

Also, would it be possible for me to get a different ringer and swap out the ringer with this phone's original ringer to then get a ring? If so, any recommended ringer (or just any ringer from a later AE 90 model)?

Sure, everything will work except for the ringing part.

You should connect your telephone line to the L1 and L2 terminals.  L1 and L2 are the standard terms used in the telephone industry in the US for the line connections.   The typical colors for those are red and green conductors in the line cord.

Wall telephones usually don't have a 'line cord' per se.  Usually the inside wiring (going through the walls of the residence) are directly brought into the phone from the rear or from below.

So I have a question:  Are those red, green, and yellow cord ends with the spade connectors, that you are showing, on the handset cord?  It wasn't connected?  Or is that actually a line cord?

[eBass]

The Red, GREEN, YELLOW cable is, I believe, a line cord. The handset cord has Black, Red, and 2 White wires (the phone came with an additional handset cord as well).

I also found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXyBq25tzc0

Could I connect Red and Green wires to L1 and L2 and then the Yellow wire to a different terminal and then wire the other end like the above video recommends? Or, because of the 54hz ringer, the Yellow wire is no good to me?

For a replacement ringer, could I replace with something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-PHONE-AUTOMATIC-ELECTRIC-RINGER-PARTS-/281781724766?hash=item419b7fe65e

AE_COLLECTOR It is DEFINITELY pink, very pink. No beige on this one. And yes, the hook is also painted same color pink. Because it is on the rarer side, do you recommend NOT switching out parts? I'd love to try to get the ringer functional.

[unbeldi]

This is just an all-around nice original old set worthy being in a fine collection.  The full color adds to its stature, as by 1959 the majority of phones issued were probably still black.

Personally, I could not get myself to swap any part of it.  I run frequency-ringer phones on a more modern PBX modified for frequency ringing.  The experience of hearing an old phone hammer away at 54 Hz is in itself a lot of fun.

It even has what quite possibly is the original number card in the dial center.  Not all places had direct DDD service yet in 1959, others needed a special prefix to be dialed, and this is indicated on the card by instructing to dial 123 first. The area code 814 is one of the original area codes assigned to central Pennsylvania in 1947 and it has never been split or overlaid yet!  When the phone was installed this part of the country was serviced by an independent telephone company, and when that area became part of the Bell System the central office code (483) was likely changed at some point, because today it is serviced by a number of wireless providers.  Sprint in your case.

The eBay ringer you found is no good for this phone. It would not fit as it is made for another type of phone.  Any replacement ringer should look essentially the same as yours and come from an AE 80 or 90 phone.
Perhaps you could simply acquire an external ringer box or install an additional small buzzer inside without having to destroy the originality of the set.

The third wire in the line cord (yellow) was used for grounded ringing. Rather than using the two line connections for ringing, ringers were connected on one side to earth ground for the return and the ringing signal was supplied on either the green or red line side.  This permitted up to 10 telephones on a party line; 5 on each side with frequencies of 66, 54, 42, 30, and 16 Hz.  Other frequency schemes existed as well.

Today all ringing is supplied on the two line wires and ground is not longer needed.  You can simply isolate the terminal with electric tape.

If the ringer is replaced, you must also replace the gray capacitor next to it, because this one is specifically sized for this ringer and is too small for a straight-line ringer. Its value is probably only 0.08 µF, while a straight-line ringer uses at least a ca. 0.5 µF capacitor.

[eBass]

Okay, so it sounds like I should NOT change the internals of the phone given the uniqueness of the device itself.

So .. to get a ringer, you recommend an external ringer box or install an additional small buzzer inside (possibly with a modern PBX modified for frequency ringing). I can do that, I just need a lead on how to start that. I trust you guys in not messing with the internals. Where do I start for that? Am I going to wire the Red and Green line cord to this external box (thus should not fiddle with linking to my xLink at present) or ... is there some way I can reroute and go through the xLink with the red and green wires and then somehow also modify the frequency ringer at the same time to ring (PBX mod)?

[unbeldi]

Okay, so it sounds like I should NOT change the internals of the phone given the uniqueness of the device itself.

So .. to get a ringer, you recommend an external ringer box or install an additional small buzzer inside (possibly with a modern PBX modified for frequency ringing). I can do that, I just need a lead on how to start that. I trust you guys in not messing with the internals. Where do I start for that? Am I going to wire the Red and Green line cord to this external box (thus should not fiddle with linking to my xLink at present) or ... is there some way I can reroute and go through the xLink with the red and green wires and then somehow also modify the frequency ringer at the same time to ring (PBX mod)?

Well, the first step is to connect your telephone line to the L1 and L2 terminals and get the phone to work. Let's work out any and all issues first before ringing.  So take a modular cord that plugs into your Xlink and hook up the red and green wires on the other end to L1 and L2.   With a modular T-adapter you can run a second phone on the Xlink port that would indicate ringing for now.

After that you can do some soul searching to decide what YOU want to do with that phone, since it is yours alone.  What I would do is usually hardly of relevance to anyone else and my ways may not be terribly practical for others. Creating a frequency-ringing PBX is not an off-the-shelves-parts kind of task.

Finding a matching straight-line ringer may not be that simple either, but I don't have statistics of how many can still be found.  Fact is that it is a favorite sport of collectors to replace frequency ringers. But since probably only a minority of these phones originally came with a straight-line ringer, the existing supply is not large.
Someone on the forum just recently reported having mechanically modified the ringer by sawing into the reed mounting spring of the clapper, weakening the spring.

[eBass]

That is a very smart move. I am known for putting the cart before the horse, but you know, horses can also push. But it is a smarter move by far to have them pull. Rambling. Apologies.

Will be able to test out plugging everything in and T-adapting tomorrow AM. Will do and report back!

Thank you thus far!

[eBass]

All righty, I have Green and Red hooked up to L1 and L2, respectively, and then linked through a converter to the modular connection.

I plugged into the xLink and tested it. It connects and I get a dial tone when connected. I can make calls from my cell phone and transfer it to the rotary phone and have conversations and it is heard clearly.

I CANNOT dial out at present. When I connect via xLink and go to dial the rotary, though it begins with a dial tone, there are not tonal clicks with a rotary dial and the xLink disconnects. Is this a wiring thing or an xLink thing?

Also, what is the next step re: buzzer?

[unbeldi]

All righty, I have Green and Red hooked up to L1 and L2, respectively, and then linked through a converter to the modular connection.

ok.

I plugged into the xLink and tested it. It connects and I get a dial tone when connected. I can make calls from my cell phone and transfer it to the rotary phone and have conversations and it is heard clearly.

ok.

I CANNOT dial out at present. When I connect via xLink and go to dial the rotary, though it begins with a dial tone, there are not tonal clicks with a rotary dial and the xLink disconnects. Is this a wiring thing or an xLink thing?

what are tonal clicks?
You should in fact hear almost nothing during dialing. The receiver is disabled while the dial turns. After the first digit, the dial tone should not reappear.  If it does, it means the dial pulses were not recognized.  It seems they are though?
You have to find a way to find out what is actually being sent to the cell phone.  I don't recall if the digits are shown on the cell phone.  I don't have mine hooked up currently.

Also, what is the next step re: buzzer?

No sense in worrying about that until the set can make calls successfully.

[andre_janew]

Sometimes when I dial a rotary phone, I hear extremely faint clicking sounds in the receiver.  He may be referring to that sort of thing.

[eBass]

I tested receiving calls and worked.

So, the tonal thing -- I recall, as andre_janew notes, an extremely faint click/tonal sounds in the handset/receiver in phones before.

When I dial, there is absolutely no sound in the receiver and after the first rotary number dial (first individual number, say "8"), my iPhone goes to Siri and it asks what I would like to do, it is as if the number dial somehow just activates Siri and does not send any further information.

Also, I just noticed the rotary dial itself is a little "sticky" as in it does not rotate smoothly. When I was just testing different numbers, it stuck a couple of times. How do I smooth that out?