WE 317 A11 Wooden Wall Phone

[TelePlay]

Carefully. It's a water slide decal that may be coated with the phones finish, or it may be on top of the finish.

Whatever you use to "clean" it, test the fluid on the phone's finish in an inconspicuous area. The old finishes can dissolve in mild alcohol solvents. Soap and water on a cue tip is a good place to start. Restore-a-Finish might dissolve the decal, might not.

Then there is always the option to get a new repro decal:

WE 317 Decal

It's a trial and error process since you have the phone in hand so when testing any solution/solvent on any surface, start with the weakest (water) in a small inconspicuous area first. If that doesn't do the job, add soap, or isopropyl alcohol in small percentages and work your way up to stronger solutions until it works as you want it to.

Your decal looks fine, historic as is, so careful cleaning around it and light cleaning on it may be all you need to do.

As you may have found out in the other stuff you restore, best to go slow and cautious to hopefully stay away from those make more work "ooops" events.

[Marc L]

That is exactly what I was thinking I would end up doing. Whofta it is nerve racking because I really would like to keep the original decal. Thanks for the advice it's nice to know there isn't much else I can do but tak a deep breath and give it my all.  Ill let you know how it works out.

[Marc L]

DONE!!!!   I think it turned out good but for some reason I cant get the bells to work now. I must have broke a wire somewhere and just cant find it because they worked before I started the restoration. Ill work on that later but for now I'm just going to sit and stare at it. Lol
What do ya all think? I can handle Constructive criticism.

[jsowers]

I think your restored phone looks very good and original. Only one thing looks odd to me. The transmitter arm is upside down. Or judging by the pictures in Meyer's book, it is. I suppose it could go both ways and work for very short people, so there may not be one standard direction. I am by far no expert on the WE 317, so others may have better insight.

Pic below from Meyer's 3rd. Edition page 73.

[Marc L]

Lmao.   Well heck you're right!!!! Well I guess I'm not done yet.  Thanks !!!

[Marc L]

There we go all fixed I just need to find a chrome ring for the crank then I'm thinking about donating it to the museum we have here or keep it I'm not sure yet.

[5415551212]

I'm thinking about donating it to the museum we have here or keep it I'm not sure yet.

I'd be tempted to wire it up to a pair and use it as a intercom, but then you'd need another phone.. 

[TelePlay]

Very nice, and you kept the old decal.

That part is called an escutcheon and you can get a black or chrome one from OldPhoneShop

Link to OldPhoneShop

Only $10 but plus shipping. You can probably find one somewhere else but I did a google search for telephone escutcheon and only found the above source. Maybe another member has one.

It's a strange word and found this for its meaning or origin.

The word "escutcheon" comes from Old French (escuchon) and ultimately Latin (scutum), both meaning "shield," originally referring to a knight's shield or coat of arms but now also describing protective plates around keyholes or pipes. Its roots trace to a Proto-Indo-European word for "cut, split," suggesting boards for shields.

[jsowers]

I'm glad we agree on the direction of the transmitter arm. I think with the nice wood trim in your house that the 317 would look great hanging on your wall. There may be a vestibule or some central spot where it would look like it's always been there, if it's an old house.

My grandparents had a phone like that in their country store. It was the only phone for miles and they had to take messages and deliver them. Like Ike Godsey's store, if you ever saw The Waltons. It was there until they closed the store in the early 1950s and then they built a house and got a brand new 1954 black 500 set from Southern Bell. Boy what an upgrade that was.

[Marc L]

Yes I was able to keep the original decal. It was kind of a challenge but i was able to keep it. The only thing is I can't get the bells working now. All the wiring is original so I'm thinking I may have broken a wire that I don't see or can't find. I am looking into ordering a escutcheonto completely finish before I donate my beautiful phone to the museum in Huntley Mt or may be I will just give it to them on loan.  That way everyone can enjoy it. Now it's time to find a new project phone.

[TelePlay]

Do you have a digital volt meter? Or an old analog one? If so, if you disconnect the ringer wires from their terminals, you can connect the meter to those conductors to see if the ringer coils have a short.

In resistance mode, if the coil wiring is not open (shorted), you will see the coil resistance on the meter, say 1,000 to 1,500 ohms.

Let is know if you can do this and the results.

[Marc L]

This is what I get when I Ohm across

[TelePlay]

Looks good. Your ringer coils are stamped 1250 (ohms) so 2 coils in series would be 2.5 kOhms.

Nothing wrong with ringer continuity so the problem is elsewhere. Recheck your wiring against a wiring diagram.

[poplar1]

Check the AC output of the generator with the wires disconnected. It should be about 70 Volts AC, depending on how fast you are turning the crank.

Check continuity between each of the disconnected generator wires and their destination at the disconnected ringer wires.

[Marc L]

Ac output is good wires are good. Could it possibly be the coil?