5 replies to this topic

[HappyMuffin]

Ok. So, a year or so back, I got this phone.









I spent a lot of time cleaning the inside out, it was really dirty. During that time, my mom picked it up and dropped it because it wasn't assembled. The phone worked fine before the drop, but now it's having issues.


After talking to someone(he reccomended that I ask you guys) about it, he confirmed my suspicion; that it probably has something to do with the contacts behind the dial. At first, I would dial a number, and after releasing it, the dial tone would continue.

Then, I messed with the contacts.




The one on the right in particular. See that little plastic thing resting at the ends of the contacts? It was lodged before, but I nudged it a little and now it's spinning with the thing it's attatched to. This has ended the issue with the dial tone coming back, but when I dial a number the call doesn't go through.


This is where I leave you. I'm gonna go smoke my pipe, and hope that I return to some helpful suggestions.

[nwbell]

That is a seriously l33t phone. Hope you can get it working, and sorry I can't offer any worthwhile advice...

[replax]

here's some theory:
pulse dialling is done by taking the phone on hook and offhook quickly. So dialling a 1 is like quickly hitting the "on hook" pins where the handset rests. dialling 0 is like hitting it 10 times.

So get some practice and try dialling your operator without the dial, just hit the hook 10 times see if an OP comes on. Just to make sure you can still pulse dial in your area. I don't know that any telcos have stopped accepting them, but you never know.

ok, now that you know that. There should be 2 exposed metal pieces in there that when touched make it go "on hook" If one is bent, or they never touch then it will not work. Manually move them to try to dial your operator. If all that works, then you know the rotary bit is not moving them. It's supposed to make them touch and once per digit. So look there for problems.

[HappyMuffin]

Two questions. When I have completed dialing, should the contacts be touching or apart? Because they're apart for me right now, and when I try to hang up the phone with the hook, it doesn't hang up, because they're apart.

[HappyMuffin]

Nevermind!!! I got it working! YAY. Can someone help me get that damn number out of the faceplate though?

[Strom Carlson]

Ah, the good old Western Electric 7-type rotary dial - all-metal goodness. Fortunately for you, I have a 500 set with the same type of dial on it, manufactured less than a year after your dial was manufactured.

Here are some photos. Each file is over two megabytes so I'm not putting them inline

http://www.stromcarl...al/DSC00488.JPG

This first photo is the dial at rest (with the plastic cover removed, of course). There are two sets of contacts - the one on the left serves to short out the earpiece of the phone while you're dialing so that the loud clicks don't deafen you, and the one on the right opens and closes the telephone line while the dial is unwinding. Note how, when at rest, the contacts on the left are open (to allow you to hear) and the contacts on the right are closed.



This next photo is the dial while being wound up:

http://www.stromcarl...al/DSC00489.JPG

Notice how the contacts on the left close, while the contacts on the right stay closed. The little plastic piece at the end of the right-hand contacts has now rotated out of the way to keep the dial from dialing while it's being wound up...once you let the dial go, it rotates back into place.



This next photo is the dial while unwinding:

http://www.stromcarl...al/DSC00491.JPG

This photo is with the right-hand contacts open, but the plastic thing on the end will cause the contacts to open and close while the dial is unwinding. Once the dial comes back to rest, the right-hand contacts remain closed while the left-hand contacts close to allow you to hear the line again.

Hope these help - if you want more photos, let me know and I'll try and take them for you.

Nevermind!!! I got it working! YAY. Can someone help me get that damn number out of the faceplate though?

Dammit, after I took all those nice photos for you

Anyway, to remove the fingerwheel, get a paperclip. Rotate the dial as far clockwise as it will go, then push the paperclip into the small hole between the fingerholes and the dial card. Rotate the dial further, and the fingerwheel should come right off. DO NOT FORCE IT OR YOU WILL BREAK THINGS.