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Comments For Those Considering Payphone Conversions

Started by DavePEI, January 02, 2013, 08:29:20 AM

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DavePEI

Quote from: dennisjnunes on January 21, 2013, 01:54:12 PM
To late I bought one and I am trying to bring it back from vampire to real, I was o.k. untill I read your part about the nylon things with spurs just below the coin slot, are the nylon things available or am I done ? when I saw the pictures I thought it was mine. The artical about the D180574 needs to be out there for every one to see thank you for putting it together Dennis
I don't have any of them, but surely someone will have either them or the whole assembly. Yes, it is a shame Ma Bell put them out that way - my impression always was that they simply wanted to make sure they didn't go back into any sort of pay service. Really, to convert one, you don't need to remove anything, just in the case of 233s, move a few wires on the relay...

Anyone have these for Dennis?

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

DavePEI

#16
We have Stan Schreier to thank for this solution to the problem of the cut off tabs...

Stan says The wedges can be made out of practically anything, even wood. The ones in the pictures are cast using a two part casting resin.

See his photos:

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

dennisjnunes

Dave thank you very much, and I don't mean any disrespect but I really cant tell what is trying to be said by those three pictures except it looks like a big blob of glue, please remember this is new to me and I will not give up on this phone, it is definitely a reworked 236G what a shame, it has the          D-180574 number inside, it was still mounted on the back board thay put them on and I took it off to find the D that was supposed to be stamped on the rear but there was none.
  Where did they send these phones to have them re worked it wasn't Minnesota was it, I looked at the BSPs and that's it. Thanks Denis.

DavePEI

#18
Quote from: dennisjnunes on January 21, 2013, 07:46:02 PM
Dave thank you very much, and I don't mean any disrespect but I really cant tell what is trying to be said by those three pictures except it looks like a big blob of glue, please remember this is new to me and I will not give up on this phone, it is definitely a reworked 236G what a shame, it has the          D-180574 number inside, it was still mounted on the back board thay put them on and I took it off to find the D that was supposed to be stamped on the rear but there was none.
 Where did they send these phones to have them re worked it wasn't Minnesota was it, I looked at the BSPs and that's it. Thanks Denis.
In each coin slot, a ramped wedge is placed - another way to guide the coin to the correct spot. Once adjusted to the correct length (to match the wedge to the correct spot in the phone mechanism), it is glued in place. By doing this you are making the phone drop the coin inserted in the correct spot in the coin mechanism.

By trimming the wedge, you are changing how far into the mechanism the coin will drop when it slides down the "ramp".  A shortened wedge will drop the coin closer to the plane of the coin gauge - a longer wedge will drop it closer to the center of the coin mechanism. I would suggest 5 minute epoxy rather then JB Weld - it will hold just as well, and will look better (though you never see the inside of the coin gauge anyway...

You can certainly search for the original parts, but this offers an option should you be unable to find them. Of course before you do this, you need a correct coin mech. for the phone.

It is my impression these were made around the country, and the process was used to eliminate excess inventory of 3 slot phones, and to provide a market amongst home subscribers. The BSPs were issued to make sure these were converted in a uniform way across the country.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

dennisjnunes

Thank you Dave, I just wrote a email to a fella named paul-f, I visited his site that I was turned onto by John in Minnesota (another story) to me his site was very informative so I was going to pass it on to you, then I found out he is a member of our forum, now I really feel dumb in California.

DavePEI

Quote from: dennisjnunes on January 22, 2013, 04:54:34 PM
Thank you Dave, I just wrote a email to a fella named paul-f, I visited his site that I was turned onto by John in Minnesota (another story) to me his site was very informative so I was going to pass it on to you, then I found out he is a member of our forum, now I really feel dumb in California.
Yes, we all know Paul :)
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

Jim Stettler

I would leave a D# decorator 3 slot alone, or return it back to original, If a collector gets a hold of one of these the first thing they do is to change the locks to "real" locks and replace the vault door. The finish on the design-line 3 slots vault doors is a bit  different than a removed-from service vault door  . Leave it be, keep it as a design line set.
Buy another 3 slot to repair.

The biggest concern on buying a 3-slot is missing parts, most 3 slots are worth a lot more as parts than as a phone. The key is to buy a phone that is mostly complete and un-locked. Locked phones are a big hassle and locks w/ keys are $20-30. Vault doors can be pricey anymore, up to $50 or 60 and probably at least $20 at a show.
A coin track and a coin relay can cost more than a nice mostly complete 3 slot.
JMO,
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

poplar1

All the D-185074 sets I have seen have original WE vault doors with dummy locks. The door is usually rechromed and a chain leash is put on the door.

The 30C locks that are used on single slot vaults will also fit WE and NE vault doors on multi-slot phones. 30-type locks usually cost much less than the 14-type originally installed.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Jim Stettler

I have a black  D-185074 set that they changed had changed the finish of  the door. It looks like it was lightly milled. the door is packed away somewhere. It does not have a chain. I was told that the door was typical for a black set.
It may depend on the WE shop that re furbed it.
the upper housing lock is made  for a screwdriver, the vault lock is a reworked lock, it looks like it needs a key but only needs a screwdriver. The locks have their own part numbers ink stamped in red.



Jim

You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

cchaven

Happened to come across this thread, and one thing not yet mentioned are the GTE converted 3-slot payphones for home use.  My guess would be that they were done in the early 80's and the relay was removed and a single gong ringer was put in it's place, plus any other refurbishment needed was done..inlcuding a Ringer Equivalency sticker placed on the bottom.  I have a LPC-82-55 that was converted by GTE for resale like this, so not all Automatic Electric conversions are homebrew hacks.

Jeff

DavePEI

#25
Quote from: cchaven on July 15, 2013, 07:10:33 AM
Happened to come across this thread, and one thing not yet mentioned are the GTE converted 3-slot payphones for home use.  My guess would be that they were done in the early 80's and the relay was removed and a single gong ringer was put in it's place, plus any other refurbishment needed was done..inlcuding a Ringer Equivalency sticker placed on the bottom.  I have a LPC-82-55 that was converted by GTE for resale like this, so not all Automatic Electric conversions are homebrew hacks.

Jeff
The point is still the same, Jeff. Just because AE, WE, NE or whoever produced the phone for resale, it was at best a hack. When these phones were refurbed for resale, parts were intentionally removed to ensure that the phones could never again be properly put into pay service. Shortcuts were taken, such as the removal of the coin relay that made certain that they could never again be used in anything other than non-pay service.

None of these were originally made for consumer use - all were refurbed using working phones removed from service.

Western Electric had BSPs (officially approved) devoted to the renovation destruction of perfectly good payphones for the aftermarket, which included removal of some very important parts; the coin relay, moving the quarter gong onto a post in the coin box area, placement of a network in the phone not native to the designed application, removal of the entire coin track and replacement of it by an aluminum pan, etc.

No matter who did them, these are hacks, and it wasn't necessary to remove any of them to wind up with an operating phone. It is like Ford removing the perfectly good motor of a vintage Thunderbird so that they could sell it as a park bench.

So, this is our point. Telephone companies themselves were guilty of this just as people working on phones afterwards. In the case of those working on them afterwards, most often it is because they just didn't know better - in the case of the telephone companies doing the same, it was to ensure that the phones could never, even with a pay controller be used in any semblance of their original operation.

Anyone considering getting a payphone for their collection needs to be aware of these practices.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

Dan F

This phone has been fully restored to original phone company configuration. complete with an external coin controller to make it work properly (ground start). It required finding the original coin relay and cap with retainer bracket, Getting a back board and subset and locks.


rm31859

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum so please bear with me. I worked as a commercial lighting service technician/electrician for a number of years and when I had to give it up after my wife became disabled I took up the hobby of acquiring and refurbishing old payphones and kiosks. I convert the phones for home use and completely refurbish the kiosks electrically, if it is a lighted unit, and cosmetically to like new condition.Some of them I have painted up in sports team themes and others in Fire dept themes. As far as the payphone conversions, I'm like others on here in that you don't have to strip it out to convert it. I have read other posts about trying to reprogram the board for free calls and for someone who has the time and inclination to do it, that's OK, but for novices and someone who just doesn't want to go that route you have to add a network. After reading up on the different ways to do this I use the following parts and method. I use a Bell coinless keypad/ hookswitch assembly, an armored coinless circuit board and if there is no separate ringer, a small ringer board. I unplug the keypad from the main board and disconnect the handset from its connections and remove the keypad and hookswitch assembly. All of mine so far have been one piece assemblies but both have to be removed as the Bell unit is a one piece unit.Install the new keypad/ hookswitch and mount the new circuit board on the back of the keypad housing. The board has 4 keyhole slots that line up with screws on the housing. The keypad plugs into the board using a 7 pin connector and the hookswitch plugs in using a two pin connector. The board has a couple different options for handset connections but all of mine have used the spade terminals.There is a two pin connector on the board for a ringer. There are both screw connectors and an RJ-11 port for the line. Even though this method involves removing the original keypad and hookswitch, everything else stays in place and it's easy to put the original parts back in. All of the phones that I have are mid 90's single slot and use mainly Protel boards. This method may not work on other phones but it works on these. I'm not sure what the forum rules are for listing websites and vendors but a google search for armored phone circuit boards will get you there.