No dial tone pairing Imperial with 302 subset.

[Greg G.]

Up until now I've just used a known working D1 with a 302 subset to guide me when wiring up a different set.  But I'm not getting a dial tone out of the Imperial.  I know the receiver element is ok because I swapped it with a known working element from an F1 handset.  I had to remove the cloth subset cord from the Imperial because the end that hooks up to the subset was no good (short, crumbling wires) and used some 4-conductor station wire instead just for the purpose of function testing.

I may be using the wrong model for wiring.  I noticed that the F1 on the Imperial has 4 conductors (2 white, a red and a black), whereas the model I'm using is an E1 handset with only 3 conductors.  However, I just looked at my working 302 with an F1, and the handset cord on it has only 3 conductors.  I also noticed the Imperial D1 is different.  On the left side in the picture, it has an additional set of copper prongs (sorry, I don't know what they're called).  The working model I'm using as a wiring guide doesn't have those, just the set on the right.

So I'm confused here.  Here's pics of the Imperial and subset wiring as I tried it.

[Phonesrfun]

There appears to be nothing connected to GN BK on the switch. There should be a jumper between GN BK and BB  Y on the dial.  The other jumper goes from BK W on the switch to Y BB on the dial.

The switch on the other side is only used with a 685 subset, so don't worry about that.  The black wire on the other switch that says GN should really be connected to BK on the dial.

[Greg G.]

There appears to be nothing connected to GN on the switch. There should be a jumper between GN and BB on the dial.  The other jumper goes from BK on the switch to Y on the dial.

The switch on the other side is only used with a 685 subset, so don't worry about that.

Not sure which switch you're referring to.  The green wire from the subset2phone cord is on the GN at both the subset and (right side) switch.  Black handset wire is on GN on the left side switch.

[Phonesrfun]

Not sure which switch you're referring to.  The green wire from the subset2phone cord is on the GN at both the subset and (right side) switch.  Black handset wire is on GN on the left side switch.

I sure got that one wrong.  That will teach me to both view pictures on my iphone and reply to a message from the iphone.  Take a look at the revisions I posted to my original post.

[Greg G.]

Finally got back to this project.  I hooked up the jumpers like you said, but wasn't sure what goes on BK on the switch.  One of the white wires from the handset was just hanging loose, so I put that one on.  I got a dial tone, but it won't break dial tone.  It received ok, but I think the handset is bad.  It was missing a transmitter element to begin with, so I put a known working transmitter element in, still no transmission.  I have a feeling that was why the transmitter element was missing, the handset was bad so someone robbed the transmitter element for use in another phone.

[unbeldi]

Make sure that the two metal contacts in the transmitter cup are bent outward enough to make good contact with the transmitter surfaces.  Particularly the center contact may be too flat to make contact, while it is much hard to deform the outer spring sufficiently to avoid contact.

There is very little that can go wrong with a handset.

[Greg G.]

Make sure that the two metal contacts in the transmitter cup are bent outward enough to make good contact with the transmitter surfaces.  Particularly the center contact is may be too flat to make contact, while it is much hard to deform the outer spring sufficiently to avoid contact.

There is very little that can go wrong with a handset.

Still doesn't work, I even sanded off the metal contacts.  I'm wondering what this black ring in the transmitter cap is.  The transmitter element won't sit in the cap far enough to get it on with that ring in there, I had to hold the transmitter element in place w/o the cap or use a regular cap from another F1 handset.

[unbeldi]

Make sure that the two metal contacts in the transmitter cup are bent outward enough to make good contact with the transmitter surfaces.  Particularly the center contact is may be too flat to make contact, while it is much hard to deform the outer spring sufficiently to avoid contact.

There is very little that can go wrong with a handset.

Still doesn't work, I even sanded off the metal contacts.  I'm wondering what this black ring in the transmitter cap is.  The transmitter element won't sit in the cap far enough to get it on with that ring in there, I had to hold the transmitter element in place w/o the cap or use a regular cap from another F1 handset.

The ring is to hold a T1 transmitter, rather than an F1, but there was a second one on the other side.  Your handset was used as an F4, this may even be molded into handle on Bakelite handsets.  I don't recall ever observing a plastic F4 though. I know it can be tricky to remove the ring as they sometimes get stuck. The Tenite shrinks tightly onto the ring.  With the ring in place indeed it would not be a good fit anymore for an F1.

BTW, these contact should never be sanded or treated with any abrasive, they are silver plated, and the tarnish does not impair electrical functioning.  I only use a small drop of metal cleaner to work on the really dark ones.

[Greg G.]

The ring is to hold a T1 transmitter, rather than an F1, but there was a second one on the other side.  Your handset was used as an F4, this may even be molded into handle on Bakelite handsets.  I don't recall ever observing a plastic F4 though. I know it can be tricky to remove the ring as they sometimes get stuck. The Tenite shrinks tightly onto the ring.  With the ring in place indeed it would not be a good fit anymore for an F1.

That's what I thought.  I had a T1 kicking around in a drawer and tried it on for size, it fit physically, but still no dial tone.

BTW, these contact should never be sanded or treated with any abrasive, they are silver plated, and the tarnish does not impair electrical functioning.  I only use a small drop of metal cleaner to work on the really dark ones.

Oops.  Oh well, it didn't work to begin with anyway.  I think I'm going cut my losses on this thing, it needs more work than I care to give it.