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Help With Rotary Phone Wiring

I have searched the groups already to see if any previous posts could help me with my problem, but most either point to sites that no longer exist or contain snarky remarks. So let me start by stating, up front:

  1. I am aware of what year it is. It is 2007.
  2. I own a cell phone and subscribe to DSL. I also have a satellite dish. My cars have EFI, not a carburetor. So I am not behind the times regarding technology.
  3. Not that I owe the sarcastic among us an explanation, but I am choosing to augment my touchtone phones with a rotary phone because I think it's cool. I really don't care what you think, so keep your caustic, derisive comments to yourself.

Okay, with those unpleasantries behind us, let's begin!

I just picked up a wall-mounted Western Electric rotary phone. When I went to plug it in, I discovered that, while there is a jack on the bottom for the handset cord, there isn't one for the line into the wall.

There is a rounded opening beside the the jack through which nothing protrudes, and I cannot discern its purpose. Through it I can see a portion of the left-hand ringer bell. On the back, there is, one- third the way down, centered horizontally, an oval opening whose purpose I also cannot discern. Through it I can see the wires that leave the dial assembly, and gear teeth related to the dial mechanism are also visible further back. All the wires here are connected to things except for two yellow wires which were either cut or are spare.

Now, removing the cover, the phone is laid out thusly: At the top, of course, is the chrome, metal hang-up bar. Below it is the dial assembly. Below this, on the left, is a black, rectangular wiring block marked NET 425B. On its side is stamped "C NET 425B," then a column of ovals marked, top to bottom, "GN," "B," and "R." Beside that is a group of markings with "F" and "A" in circles; then "RR" and "K" in circles; then an oval that says "G" and a circle containing "L1;" and finally an oval containing "L2." Then, in the middle, it says "8-58." This is clearly a diagram of the wiring block, though I have no idea what these letters stand for. Beside the wiring block to the right is a tape-wrapped electrical coil that almost certainly powers the ringer. The bells are below these, the low-tone beneath the wiring block and the high-tone beneath the coil. Stamped on the inside of the phone's backing plate are the numbers "554BMP," and there's a white sticker that says "8-75." (Is this a manufacture date? That'd be cool to know, because it would mean that the phone is three months older than I am.)

So! I need some kind soul to help me figure out what I'm looking at here so that I can wire this antique into my home line. There's nothing fancy with the home wiring; I have a single line with DSL filters installed. If someone could just tell me how to get a line out of this phone I'd sure appreciate it.

Do I just splice red and green wires from a phone line into the switchblock? Both the red and green wires from the handset jack are screwed into the same place on the wiring block--is that right? Are those two yellow wires coming from the dial assembly extra, or were they cut for some reason? Was this thing wired to be a prop phone on a stage someplace before it came to me?

Thanks in advance.

Reply to
S_Wear
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The phone dates back to a time when all phones were professionally installed and jacks were not used. Connect the line to the L1 and L2 terminals on the block. This assumes that the phone is still wired conventionally. For more information see

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These phones were always leased prior to the 1984 Bell System divestiture. The insides of them were recycled. From your description, the phone was originally manufactured in August 1958, and was reconditioned in August 1975. This was in the early days of modular connectors and the reconditioned phones were being retrofitted with modular plugs.

Reply to
Bob

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Reply to
Ross Herbert

Thank you, gentlemen. Looking more closely at the phone, I see that the screws to the L1 and L2 taps are backed off, so, you're right, this is clearly where the wires lived when last the phone was used. Also following what Bob said, I see now that there are other components labeled from 1958, so the phone is far older than I'd thought! I have a beige table model around in a box, too--I'll have to see how old that one is. Probably much newer since it has a modular jack installed already.

In any event, no rest for the weary, as the classic looks of this almost-fifty-year-old box will keep it in my service for years to come. I'm looking forward to hearing the melodic ring of actual bells instead of the electronic equivalent of today's phones.

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Reply to
S_Wear

A lot of 500 series type desk phones were converted to modular when they were sent to a service center, so the modular jack is not a real indicator of age. Special hand operated notching tools were made to convert the older cases to the newer configuration, and tooling was available to covert older handsets to modular. There was a large local company that rebuilt phones, till they had a fire that destroyed all their inventory a few years ago. I knew the owner, and several of the field techs that serviced business phone systems so I was in their shop quite a few times.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

Reply to
S_Wear

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