1975 W/E 2500 touch tone, not breaking dial tone **pics added**

[guitar1580]

I just got a good deal on a nice hardwired WE 2500.  Everything works well, except for the dial.  It transmits and receives well, and will dial out by tapping the switchhook, but not with the touch pad.  I tried reversing the polarity, and that did not help.  The dial is marked 35Y3D, and dated 10/75.

It has what looks to be the factory silver line cord with metal restrain and 4 prong plug.  When I have it connected to what I think is correct, I can hear the beeps from the keys, but they don't break the dial tone.  When I reverse, I do not hear the beeps.  Either way does not break the dial tone.

At this point, I've dealt mostly with rotary phones, and know zero about touch tone dials ... and have never taken one apart, 'yet'.  So I'm wondering if there is anything else basic that I should check, or what direction to go next.  I can get pics of the wiring if needed, but I'd think it's more likely in the dial pad.

It seems that I remember reading about someone here who repairs / cleans / tunes the dials.  I had purchased a vintage dial from Steve Hilsz a while back, but I don't remember if it was him or someone else who worked on TT dials.

Just looking for suggestions at this point.  I actually have a TT Princess that is in the same situation.  I see replacement dials online for around 15 bucks, but if these originals just need cleaned, I'd rather keep them in use, and send both for repair, if needed.

JT

[Key2871]

I'm guessing you have voip, do you have other touch tone phones on that line?
I'm thinking your system isn't set for tone service correctly.
Because if you hear the tones in the receiver it should work.
I would have another set and try the buttons on your touch tone with the handset off the hook with another phone to see if your hearing the tones loud and clear.

[Babybearjs]

check the wiring.... I had the same problem and found it to be a broken wire at the spade connection... once fixed, started to work fine!

[guitar1580]

I'm guessing you have voip, do you have other touch tone phones on that line?
I'm thinking your system isn't set for tone service correctly.
Because if you hear the tones in the receiver it should work.
I would have another set and try the buttons on your touch tone with the handset off the hook with another phone to see if your hearing the tones loud and clear.

No, I don't have VOIP.  I'm in a one horse town with the oldest of old systems.  I have rotary and touch tone phones in the house, with no issues.  Listening to the tones from another phone in the house I can hear all of the tones from all keys clearly, but they don't break the dial tone.

I did not see any visibly broken wires or spades.  I tightened a few screws that were a little loose, but still no dialing out.  I'm going to post a photo here in a few min., because it could just be wired wrong.  Maybe someone will notice something.

I did notice a couple of the keys are a little sticky.  They don't stick down, but when you go to press, they feel like they're stuck in the up position, and click a little when they break free.  So it could have had coffee or soda pop spilled on it at some point.

[guitar1580]

Pretty nice phone other than the dial issue.

[Key2871]

Well considering your on an older switch, I'm wondering if the dial pad even though it works, is a bit out of tune.
Because if you have other tone phones and they work, that is what I would suspect.
That's all I can think of, and perhaps someone else could have the solution. Good luck with it.

[Jack Ryan]

Well considering your on an older switch, I'm wondering if the dial pad even though it works, is a bit out of tune.
Because if you have other tone phones and they work, that is what I would suspect.
That's all I can think of, and perhaps someone else could have the solution. Good luck with it.

I agree, if you can hear the tones (do they sound right?) but can't  break dial tone, the frequencies must be off.

Are you able to check the frequencies?

Jack

[guitar1580]

Yes, the beeps sound strong and clear, the same as another 2500 that I have.

I don't know how to check the frequencies. 

I don't have much test equipment, other than a voltmeter.  No oscilloscope, frequency generator, etc.

[Jack Ryan]

If you're a musician you can probably adjust to a working phone by alternating between the two.

There is likely a video that shows how to adjust using Audacity - that way you don't need any test equipment. You will need a non-magnetic tool to adjust the inductor slugs.

BSP 501-164-115.i10 - Station Dials 35 Type is in the TCI library.

It doesn't really help much though as if there is anything wrong (eg can't break dialtone), it says to replace the dial.

Jack

[guitar1580]

Thanks for the info.  I'll look that BSP up.

It seems like a while ago when that Princess stopped working, I found some old threads here that talked about those adjustments.  That may have been where I saw that there was someone who you could send dials to.  I'll search the old threads again a little later.

I may try to take it apart and see about cleaning those contacts too.  I'd like to see what is making the 4 and 6 buttons stick.  The original number card was still there, and was stained from liquid, but I don't see any dried stains inside. 

[stub]

guitar1580,
                 You can e-mail or call Steve Hilsz and ask .   https://tinyurl.com/uz6xems
                  Hope this helps.  stub

[guitar1580]

Thanks very much, Kenneth.  I did not have Steve's current contact info.  That is a big help.

JT

[dsk]

You may do some tests:
Visual analyzer is free, and may recognize the frequencies.
When you push 2 buttons on a row, you should get a single frequency, and when you push 2 buttons in a column, you should get
another frequency.  That will result in 3 x 4 frequency combinations.
Explained: https://tinyurl.com/ncnoz5h
On the oldest dial pads it is 12 switches who might be cleaned just by using plain paper and slide it between the closed contact springs.

dsk

[Key2871]

Yea you would need an analizer to verify the frequencies.
But having the dial cleaned and adjusted would be best.
I had a set given to me once the phone worked but it didn't make both tones.  Come to find out that it got dropped and part of the coil separated thus affecting the tones produced.

[HarrySmith]

On the early dials the cores seperate on the back. Easy to spot and easy to fix.
I once opened one up and cleaned the contacts, it worked fine after. I think I posted on here about it but I could not find the topic with a quick search. I will look again later to see if I can find it.

FOUND IT: http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=4432.0