I'm having a slight issue here with a model 500 "L/M"... These models don't seem to get wired up the normal way. It uses the 425E network..

https://www.telephonecollectors.org/library/weco/we500lm.pdf

This is the schematic I followed, and out of all schematics I looked at, this one worked, I could talk and dial. But, it has me wire the ringer up to a terminal strip that doesn't exist in my phone, let alone to wires not used on the phone cord.

See here's the other problem, the ringer is only 2-wires, red and black, not a 4 wire ringer that I see all the time.

So, how do I hook this up? It's odd enough how it's wired compared to other 500's, but it seems to work minus ringer.

Oh forgot to mention, two wires from the swithc, green and white, are also unattached and have seemingly no where to attach.

With these now for wires total, the phone works great otherwise.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/phone-1.jpg

Oh, and yes, I did replace the phone cord with a new one, the original was damaged, and I just used a 2 wire 1-line cord since that's all that's needed anyways..

Remove the slate from "A" and put it on "K". Then red to "L2" and black to "F".

Don't worry about the green and white. Just store them.

-Hal

There is no slate on A. The schematic shows that the ringer coil should have 4 wires, but in reality, it's only 2, just red and black, no slate or slate red..

But, I tried putting red to L2, and black to F.. When plugged into the jack, I got a single "goonnnnng". Picked up the handset, had a dialtone, and a single "cling" from the phone. Put the handset back on hook, and "gonnnnng". Interesting..

Call the phone from my cell, BUSY signal. Huh?

Ok, try this. Red to "A" and black to "F". Now jumper "K" to "L2".

-Hal

I'm going to try that. In the meantime here's a video of the odd behavior.



Note in the vid I did hook up the green and white wires to connect the handset only when off the hook, to possibly prevent the ringer voltage hitting the handset, and wired it up like it "should".

With that in mind, I'll try your recommendation to seemingly get around the two-wire coil and use that cap in the network via a jumper.

Good idea, brb..

Thank you thank you!! It worked!!

The ringer coil has to have a cap in series to block DC otherwise it presents a low resistance when placed across the line. Whan that happens the line goes off hook hence the busy signal.

-Hal

Ahh thanks for the information.



I made another vid of it working 100%, so awesome.

Thanks again!

I just saw this thread...Hal, you da man! Glad it works! I like to see old technology used with new technology

Yep, even better is it worked with the Vonage V-Portal, it even showing visually what I dialed.

PS: I want to replace the hadset cord as it's super sticky, smells funky, and has a slightly scratching sound.

I want it to look really retro and install a straight cord, not a coiled one. What kinda cord do you reccomend? New is what I'm after, but also, what length did the straight corded 500's have?

You might be able to find some old cords on ebay, I have never looked for a 500 set. The only phone I have with a straight one is a 302 phone and it's cloth covered. Very old but super cool.

Dont' really want an old cable, would like a new cable, but to emulate the old look. The 500's seem to have a rubber cord, not cloth, which would make it super easy.

Next would be to get an RJ11 connector for me to crip a rounded line cord myself.. (I crimp ethernet RJ45's all day long, so RJ11 shouldn't be that hard..) Though I think I might give the phone cord a twisted pair wire, if it won't cause harm, to keep noise to a minimum..

I've never seen round handset cords that are not coiled but I'm sure they exist.
RJ11? You mean 6 pin 6 position plug
Most, if not all line cords are flat, not twisted.

RJ11, what the phone jack is.



I know they are flat, but in computers (I see your CompTIA certified, so am I), they twist it to reduce interference as it's UTP, and not shielded.. I figured a phone could benefit from that effect also...

PS: Early 500's had a straight cord: https://www.tiscali.co.uk/media/ima..._1949WesternElectric500DeskTelephone.jpg

Oh god I feel like an idiot.

I forgot, RJ11 had spots for 6.. My bad!

The wire in the walls is twisted pair. The line cord won't really matter...

I don't have land line, only VoIP. But anyways, thanks for letting me know..

I'll go to Radioshack tomorrow and hopefully they'll have the wires I'm after, and some connectors. Though unlikely, Radio Shack isn't like what they used to be anymore..

I would check with these guys for the handset cord.
https://www.phonecoinc.com/
RS will have the modular plugs..any hardware store should also.

Whew, gonna have to get used to the ringer on this thing. LOL

I was just sitting here with headphones on (noise cancelation type mind you), and the phone rang, even with headphones and music, it scared the crap out of me.

Wow, some powerful gongs, haha.

They can be adjusted you know. And if it's still really too loud, you can always remove one of the gongs.

Sam

You can lessen the sound of a C4A ringer by putting various lengths and thicknesses of Scotch tape (the opaque type in the green dispenser) on the gongs.

A little piece will dull the resonations a little, and a lot will make the gong sound like a dull thud.

I had it on low volume.

I might scotch tape it. It's just so loud.. Woke up others early in the house this morning when a girl called, haha.. No secrecy there.

You might try moving the bias spring.

Oh, how do I do that?

'scuse me while I go in a corner and break my knee kicking myself in the posterior.

OK, now then, take the cover off the phone and look between the 2 gongs. One end of a piece of stiff wire should be visible in a funny little cut-out, move it to the other position in the cut-out. Use needle nose pliers or a very strong pair of tweezers. Don't man-handle it, although it is strong, it is small!

Bias spring moved, and it got louder. It was already in the high setting.

I rotated the bells slightly since they weren't "even", and this was the result.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/phoneelect.jpg

Now it's softer. Odd, but it worked..

Is that a twist tie used as a jumper?

Yes, haha, temporarily. I'm getting real jumper wires, new line cord, and new handset cord, all cloth reproductions from a company here in the US that makes them.. Want to retrofit it with the cloth type.

But yea, that twist tie is completely temporary, and I made sure nothing was shorting for the time being..

The gongs were offset so when your turned either the right or the left gong (don't remember which) the gongs got closer together (softer) or further apart (louder)

No, not that kinda of uneven ness.

The gongs appear "crooked" as seen in the picture.. Hard to explain, I'll try to re-word this later.

Where did you order the cords from? Just wondering.

From here: https://www.houseoftelephones.com/cord-line-cloth-spade-modular-black-7.html

That's the line cord I ordered too. I am getting a cloth handset cord custom made, which will ship out hopefully Friday..

Looks good! I've got their site bookmarked for future reference.

Cool. Remember, if they don't have what you want, from what I see, they will custom manufacture it for you.

Problem with me was this: https://www.houseoftelephones.com/cord-handset-cloth-spade-spade-black-4-conductor.html

If you know the 500 series WE, you'll know that cord won't work, as the speaker in the handset is like another 8 inches away, and those cords wouldn't be long enough on the speaker wire. So, I asked for a special cord, extra 3 dollars, and they are custom manufacturing one for me that has the speaker wire elongated for the 500 series handset.

That's pretty cool!

A new part of my restoration of this phone. I polished the heck out of the bells. They look SO new now.

One on the left was before, and unpolished. One on the right was almost done...

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/ringer1.jpg

And here both are done!

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/ringer2.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/ringer3.jpg

Nice! what did you use to polish them?

Hopes Brash Polish

https://www.old-fashioned-values.com/get_item_hopebrass_hope-s-brass-polish.htm
This?

Yep, that's it, even the "NEW! Works Faster!" tag, haha.

To clean both bells, for my first time polishing anything, it took me about an hour and a half..

Finally got the cloth cords. Their restraints did work and had to reuse the original ones..

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/oldphone1.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/Evilweredragon/oldphone2.jpg

Man that looks sharp!

Veterans want to know, WHAT HAPPENED TO BRASSO?!

John, what do you mean?

Jeff those who have served know that BRASSO kept your gear bright and shiny.

Gotcha...we still sell it at the hardware store

Sorry to bring up such an old thread, but I am having the same problem with the same type set up.

I have a WE 500 and the ringer coil only has 2 wires. Red and Black. Also with the 425E network.

I followed hbiss advice Seen here.



Yet the ringer still does not work.

Here is a photo of the coil.



I notice mine has the black thing on it (with the numbers and letters P8292ZN19) yet any photo I see of other ringer coils does not have this.


Any help would be appreciated.

Thank You

to the board.

You can start off by properly completing your profile. "Home" just doesn't cut it, at least not with me. At least a State, preferably a city as well. We like to know who we're helping out.

Also wanted to ad. when I first got the phone the red and black wires from the ringer were connected to L2 and G respectfully. When the line was called the ringer vibrated a little but no ring.

Sorry I am a very private person and have had some bad dealings with people using my personal information (such as me posting my location on a profile) I pray you understand.

Well, you can tell from the clapper and the pivot mechanism that you have a "frequency ringer", designed to work on a party line, where the ringing frequency was different for the different subscribers.

So even if you have it wired up the same as a straight line ringer, it is not going to respond to the standard 20 cycle ringing voltage.

I was afraid of that. If I order a 4 wire ringer can I just replace it?

Yes, if you replace the entire ringer assembly, you should be fine.

Honda E., thank you for posting a picture of your ringer! Seriously, frequency ringers are rare these days, and just finding a picture of one is a challenge. In the future when this comes up again, someone will have that pic to refer to.

They are rare because people toss them in the trash after they put in a standard ringer. The only folks who save them are hard core pack rats, err, I mean collectors.

Jim
**************************************************
Speaking from a secure undisclosed location.

I gave my son a truck full of ringers to scrap hit the screws with a grinder and get the gongs off....

I did keep the ring generator that lets you select the frequency via jumpers

we used to swap out a lot for folks that wanted a second phone but where on a party line ....

Well I was going to keep this one for parts ( I like to build other things from spare parts)But if it is that rare I will keep it in tact.

That is really cool! I've never seen a ringer like that-