Fixing my old phone

[The Wingnut]

My WE 302 doesn't ring at all, and dialing immediately brings up 'please hang up and try again'. Possibly a network problem. It works, otherwise. I can use it as an extension.

 

[Rosie]

My WE 302 doesn't ring at all, and dialing immediately brings up 'please hang up and try again'. Possibly a network problem. It works, otherwise. I can use it as an extension.

If you contact the phone company and tell them you are using a rotary phone, they will reset something, I'm not sure exactly what that will allow you to use your rotary phone. I think 302s came with a seperate ring box and that may be why yours doesn't ring.

 

[mackenzie]

hi folks and telephone experts.
I just got my first bakelite phone, an Urmet. I figured out how to polish it ( I'm clever..). But I've got some paint on the cloth cord and the metal thing on the dial circle ( sorry, I don't know the words for these parts in english, looks rusty. Can anyone tell me how to fix these things.
Thanks in advance
-M

 

[Vornholt]

If you contact the phone company and tell them you are using a rotary phone, they will reset something, I'm not sure exactly what that will allow you to use your rotary phone. I think 302s came with a seperate ring box and that may be why yours doesn't ring.

Unless your local system is doing something non-standard, that shouldn't be necessary. The phone system still allows use of rotary equipment on the same lines that allow everything else from touch-tone to high-speed data. I have all types of phone equipment in use here with no trouble.

 

[docneg]

So, I have many different hobbies/skills. One of them just happens to be restoring antique telephones, radios, phonographs and typewriters.

If you don't mind a question: One of my beloved WE 202s started having problems with the cradle. Once a day I'd hear a tiny voice coming from somewhere saying "If you'd like to make a call, hang up..." It kept connecting and typing up the line even though the handset was squarely on the hook. What do you think I should do first?

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[skinnychik]

Have you tried hitting it? Maybe if you take it apart and poke at it that'll help.

Sorry. I know nothing, but that's what I would do. Then I'd take it to those guys at Batteries Plus who are apparently amateur electrical engineers. They fix all kinds of stuff and sometimes they don't charge at all.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

If you contact the phone company and tell them you are using a rotary phone, they will reset something, I'm not sure exactly what that will allow you to use your rotary phone. I think 302s came with a seperate ring box and that may be why yours doesn't ring.

Most phone companies still allow for rotary phones to be used, but some have updated and don't allow for pulse dialing anymore, so you may just want to contact your phone company and see if your rotary phone is still compatible with their system. They don't have an external ringer box, the bells are built into the phone. There are schematics online and great web-sites as well, one I am a member of, the forum members are very helpful and have helped me many times with phone problems!

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

If you don't mind a question: One of my beloved WE 202s started having problems with the cradle. Once a day I'd hear a tiny voice coming from somewhere saying "If you'd like to make a call, hang up..." It kept connecting and typing up the line even though the handset was squarely on the hook. What do you think I should do first?

Thanks for any ideas.

Long shot in a million here, but my personal nightmare with a problem like this. I spent an evening with the guys on the "Rotary Phone Forum" over a problem I thought my '58 WE-500 had. Heck we tried everything and I ended up unplugging the phone. I had been testing my office line with my cell phone because I was hammered with messages from the office telling me my phone was busy all day. Every time the phone was picked up, it was fine. If you wait a few minutes it would go off hook again. Well, for kicks I called the office line with the rotary phone un-plugged and it STILL did it! Turns out my modern junk cordless died and was causing the problem! It never did it again after the cordless was swapped out. (With the same phone, but new)

Or, it could be the network, but rare....

 

[AtomicEraTom]

"Rotary Phone Forum"

This is the site I Was talking about. Great folks over there, and they love to help folks trying to get old phones going!