Novice asks for advice

[Bluescorer]

After the last AT&T line out on the poles repair, my touch-tone stopped working. The ring in, dial tone, talk all work, just no tones when button depressed. So I can't dial out.
There are only two wires entering from the street and they are connected to a 4228B with Red at A and Green at F.

newer Uniden portable phones work fine on this circuit and the other two in the house.

Thanks,

[5415551212]

Bluescorer welcome to the forum, older touch tone phone sets are polarity sensitive for the touch tone keypad to work.
I think possibly a the phone lineman corrected a reverse polarity that had already been 'corrected' making it reversed again, you might have a old reverse polarity in your house wiring, the cord or a jack or the lineman messed up.
Your phone seems to me to be wired for the 'correct' polarity. I would try taking it outside to your telephone network interface device (NID), it has a side you can open labeled 'customer' In there you will see a modular jack where your house wiring plugs into the telephone company wiring, you can unplug and plug in your own phone for testing. If your touch tone works there the issue is in your house wiring.
Or if you dont want to mess with that for quick testing you can reverse red and green by placing red on F and Green on A.
If your comfortable using a multimeter we can figure out where the potential issue is in the house wiring.
Hope this helps
Cheers
--Stephen

[Bluescorer]

Stephen, Thank you for your quick and informative reply. Due to many outages I'm familiar with the outside testing. I should have added that the female modular plug is broken and I'm waiting for delivery of a replacement. I'll follow up after i get the part and install it.

[Bluescorer]

Steven, I'm still waiting on the plug to be delivered but being a tinker and taking your sage advice, I did this. I'm not sure if I flipped the polarity or not but it works great now.

Thank again.

[MMikeJBenN27]

Your phone might be polarity sensitive.  Try swapping the line wire that are connected to L1 and L2 and see if that fixes the problem.

Mike

[tubaman]

Your phone might be polarity sensitive.  Try swapping the line wire that are connected to L1 and L2 and see if that fixes the problem.

Mike

Best not to do that now he's got it working (see post #3)!

[TelePlay]

Not sure if you really want to use black electrical tape, or any tape, on a plastic phone, especially a white phone. Black electrical leaves a nasty black, gooey residue after a short time and the components of the adhesive may discolor or damage the plastic surface.

Letting that adapter box lay loose being the phone would be the best way to wait until you new part arrives.

If you do end up with black tape residue on the plastic, be careful removing it in that solvents that will dissolve the residue may also melt the plastic. Goo-Gone or Goof/Off would be best to use on fresh residue.

[5415551212]

Its worth mentioning you can still find polarity guards for these phones for a reasonable price, ebay seller memory lane phones has them:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275086815596
Then tip and ring don't matter and even if you have electrical OCD like me and want your inside wiring to be correct, some modular cords are roll over and some are not.
On these 2500 set phones I *think* the jack on the back actually has tip and ring reversed expecting a roll over cord.

[SUnset2]

If you do end up with black tape residue on the plastic, be careful removing it in that solvents that will dissolve the residue may also melt the plastic. Goo-Gone or Goof/Off would be best to use on fresh residue.

Goo-Gone is probably safe, but Goof-Off contains Acetone and Xylene.  I wouldn't use it on plastics.  Safer alternatives to remove the adhesive would be WD-40, isopropyl alcohol, mineral spirits paint thinner, Ronson lighter fluid (naphtha), etc.

[TelePlay]

. . . but Goof-Off contains Acetone and Xylene.

Which Goof Off? The one that I use for adhesive does not contain either of those. The is the MSDS for "Goof Off Adhesive Gunk Remover" made and sold by W. M. Barr and Company, Inc., Memphis, TN, are alcohols (Goo Gone is a citric acid compound which I prefer over Goof Off).

7-13% Oleic acid
7-13% Ethanol, 2-Butoxy-
3-7% Benzenemethanol
5-10% Hydrotreated light distillate

Now, there is a product called "Goof Off All Purpose Paint Stripper" made by the same company and it contains chemicals that would destroy plastic.

30-50%  Dichloromethane
10-30%  Methanol
5-25%  Xylene
5-20%  Acetone
<10%  Toluene
<5%  Ethylbenzene
<5%  Ethyl alcohol
< 5.0%  Isopropyl alcohol

When buying the adhesive remover at Walmart and other stores, I've found that they have one and/or the other (Goof Off & Goo Gone).

----------

For reference, this is the msds data sheet info for "Goo Gone Goo & Adhesive Remover", a distillate/citric compound:


60-100%  Petroleum distillates, hydrotreated light
1-5%  D-Limonene
<1%  Orange, sweet, extract

Limonene is "a natural compound extracted from citrus peels, commonly used as a powerful, biodegradable, and non-toxic industrial solvent and degreaser."

[SUnset2]

I've been using the Pro Strength Remover to remove dried paint (when alcohol won't budge it).
It's nasty stuff.
See the MSDS excerpt attached.

[MMikeJBenN27]

He fixed it, that's good

Mike