atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Telephone Repairs & Equipment WECO 2554BMP

Hello,

My efforts to get this phone working have led me to this forum. I'd just like to say up front that many of the members here seem to belong to that special, dying breed of techs who solve problems with real world experience, common sense, and dirty hands. But flattery aside .. here's the problem:

The phone is a 2554BMP. Inside I see early/mid 70's dates; it has the chrome plated metal hook. Everything about it functions perfectly except the mic. The phone rings and dials out, and you can hear the other party clearly. But the mic seems completely dead.

I've tried using a known-good handset and cord to no avail. I checked for continuity between the red and black wires of the handset jack and the first set of wiring posts inside the phone .. no apparent wiring problems there.

I'd be quite grateful for any thoughts on this. Thanks!

are you sure your using the right handset ?

it may take a carbon transmitter and if so a "known good handset " may not have the correct transmitter

if its not the transmitter or cord then its the network

I wouldn't think it would be worth replacing

welcome to the board BTW

If you mean the handset transmitter, it's the old carbon type and they could go bad, usually not just totally dead though. What type dial pad does it have on it? Does it have the metal contacts around the dial and on the back? Could be something as simple as dirty contacts on the dial.

The transmitter seems to be completely dead. I can't hear myself talking, and the person on the other end can't hear me either.

I am pretty sure the handsets I'm using are interchangeable; they are both similarly aged WECO units. The one included with this phone does function when I connect it to my other WECO phone, although not particularly well.

Although it's quite possible there's something wrong with the network, I have plugged a different phone into the same wall jack and it seems to work fine.

the network is the part of the phone that all the wires plug into ,

are both transmitters the same color ?

look the same ?

The two handsets I have are very, very similar. One's white and the other is red. Both have the same shape and size. If I unscrew the mouthpiece, a disc shaped microphone pops out. Both handsets are modular.

I'm a bit embarassed about my misunderstanding of "network", I'm a phone novice.

microphone=transmitter

so both are black and look the same ?

like bill said , it could be the dial , I do seem to recall a bad network can cause the problem also

Those networks were pretty solid. I'm betting dial contacts. Does your dial have a hard clear plastic coving the bottom? If you have the older non solid state dial you will see copper color contacts on the back. Take a clean piece of printer paper fold it and run it through the wipers on the dial several times on each one. Mine as well do the contacts on the side while your at it. If that doesn't help, it could be as Skip said the network, or the dial is toast.

Bill, I have a tool in one of my bags for just what your talking about,used to have a removable screw top to reveal a flat,thin metal blade. I would use wd40 on it and then clean all the contacts around dial pad.Must be years since i've used it.

burnishing tool , I have a couple of them too , used them on some contacts not to long ago

sometimes you needed to bend the contacts on the dial a little to get good contact

So do I but it won't reach to Houston. Actually typing or copy paper works pretty well if you don't have one, just make sure it's clean.

Hi,

Thanks very much for all the replies. I rubbed a piece of paper between the contacts on the underside of the dial and now it works. Outstanding! Thanks!

Thanks for letting us know what the fix was. :thumb: