Telephone Repair Recommendation?

[SweetieStarr]

Hi all,

I have a Crosley desk telephone in need of repair. It looks like an old rotary phone, but is actually a newer phone. It's been working fine, but now has a very loud buzz. Crosley will not repair it because it is a discontinued model. Anyone know of a telephone repair place in the Los Angeles area, preferably towards the Westside?

Thanks!

 

[SweetieStarr]

Can anyone help me with this please? The phone still needs repair.

 

[vitanola]

Sorry to be the bearer of ill tidings, but these new "Crosely" branded telephone sets are not really repairable. The old, reliable induction coil-condenser-carbon transmitter circuit, used with minor modification in most telephones made from the 1890's until the 1980's has been replaced with acheap solid state cirtuit board, which was not designed to be repairable.

You might consider looking for a nice Western Electric 302 desk telephone set to replace your Crosley. These sets were made by the millions, and although it has been more than sixty years since the last of these instruments left the Hawthorn Works, they are yet easily found. If you find one that hasn't a modular plug, or is otherwise not working, many of us here on the board can walk you through the simple repair of this excellent instrument, which is probabl thesingle most reliable home electric appliance ever made.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Sorry to be the bearer of ill tidings, but these new "Crosely" branded telephone sets are not really repairable. The old, reliable induction coil-condenser-carbon transmitter circuit, used with minor modification in most telephones made from the 1890's until the 1980's has been replaced with acheap solid state cirtuit board, which was not designed to be repairable.

You might consider looking for a nice Western Electric 302 desk telephone set to replace your Crosley. These sets were made by the millions, and although it has been more than sixty years since the last of these instruments left the Hawthorn Works, they are yet easily found. If you find one that hasn't a modular plug, or is otherwise not working, many of us here on the board can walk you through the simple repair of this excellent instrument, which is probabl thesingle most reliable home electric appliance ever made.

Just wondering with the old phones compared to what we have now, what is needed to make say an old dialer phone work on the new phone systems? From what I understand the old dial front type phones will not work being directly hooked up due to no digital signal? If so, what is there to make the old phones actually work?

 

[Ross817]

Lovemyhats2.

I think you are referring to the difference between pulse dial and touch tone (DTMF) dial. Most modern Central Office Switches do not "listen" for pulse dialing anymore after the phone goes off hook. This is why many people buying vintage rotary phones can get dial tone but the rotary pulse signal isnt accepted by the Central office to process the intended calling parties destination. There are Pulse to DTMF converter boxes that go inline between your vintage rotary phone and the wall. Sandman.com would be the first place I would look for one.

-Ross

 

[LizzieMaine]

If you have a POTS line -- copper-wire based Plain Old Telephone Service -- rotary dialing will usually work without any adapters, especially if your phone company is a Bell System descendent. If you get your phone service from an internet or cable-TV company, you'll most likely need a pulse-to-tone adapter. I'm a Fairpoint regular-phone-line subscriber -- a company that's the last remains of the late, lamented New England Telephone -- and I've never used anything but rotary phones.

 

[Undertow]

Hey Lizzie, I have a '36 Stromberg-Carlson desk phone and wall phone (same models). I'm planning to cannibalize the wall phone into the desk phone. As you know, these S-C phones aren't dial; they're the crank style. Would the pulse-to-tone adapter work for something like that?