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Old 15th Aug 2019, 1:56 pm   #1
Vakito227
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Default GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

Hi all, I've recently converted a GPO 232 telephone with a Bellset 26 to work on modern phone lines with the Rotatone kit.

I can make and receive calls absolutely fine but the bellset does not ring when I try call it.

Here's the kicker: my house does not have an active BT socket and instead our telephone line comes via our Virgin hub 3.0 router through an RJ11 plug. I have seen on other forums that the phone line from here is VoIP and not PSTN but the fact I can make and receive calls through an analogue phone without any converter determines that's false.

The only reason I can think of is I wired the phone to the diagram shown on the rotatone website and perhaps that was made under the assumption people would be using a BT master plug with a capacitor already there and left the one in the bellset out of the circuit. Could it be possible that the virgin router does not have a ring capacitor and I need to wire one into the bellset to replace the large boxy one already there?

Anybody else had experience wiring old phones to non BT sockets?

Cheers
Peter
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Old 15th Aug 2019, 2:46 pm   #2
ThePillenwerfer
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

I think you've hit the mail on the head about the lack of capacitor.

Link B4 and B5 together and move the Blue wire to B3.
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Old 15th Aug 2019, 2:50 pm   #3
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

If the phone really connects to your router via an RJ11 (small Perspex plug with latch on top, contacts below) then there almost certainly won't be a ringing capacitor in circuit; this would be provided by some RJ11 to BT adaptors, or integral to any phone with an RJ11 connector.

If the phone connects to the router via a BT plug (flat Nylon plug with contacts on top, latch at end) then there may or may not be a ringing capacitor in circuit.

Do you see an AC voltage (enough to make you jump, so don't touch it with your bare hands) across the line when it's ringing?

The fact that your "analogue line" is not a direct line to a telephone exchange isn't important; it's designed to emulate exactly that, including generating the ringing voltage and progress tones. (In fact, it might even use the same IC as an actual exchange line card.)

EDIT: Posts crossed.
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Old 16th Aug 2019, 12:00 am   #4
Graham G3ZVT
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

As Julie says, you do have VoIP, and when properly implemented it should be indistinguishable from a traditional POTS line. It's how all "landlines" will be delivered in the not too distant future.

ThePillenwerfer's solution uses the bell-set's internal capacitor and should get you going.

The alternative is to use one of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RJ11-teleph.../dp/B00DK2PG86

I don't know if you have an RJ11 plug on your linecord, or a normal British type of phone plug, and VM provided you with an adaptor. It may look like the one in the above URL, but it probably does not contain a ringing capacitor. They can get away with that on 9 out of 10 occasions because modern phones generally do not require an external capacitor (which is located in the master socket of a traditional wiring scheme)
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Old 16th Aug 2019, 7:54 am   #5
Dave Moll
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

Quote:
Originally Posted by rambo1152 View Post
The alternative is to use one of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RJ11-teleph.../dp/B00DK2PG86
That particular item on Amazon says:
Quote:
Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
but there seem to be plenty available elsewhere for under a fiver.
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Old 19th Aug 2019, 12:23 pm   #6
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

Thanks for the advice, have a capacitor en route and will give an update when I fit it

Peter
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Old 19th Aug 2019, 2:26 pm   #7
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

Unless it's been removed at some point the Bellset should already have a capacitor in it connected between B3 and B4.
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Old 26th Aug 2019, 7:50 am   #8
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

I suppose I just assumed the over 70 year old capacitor would be dead since nowadays we're replacing capacitors from the 70s and 80s
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Old 26th Aug 2019, 12:18 pm   #9
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

It's a funny thing but I've never come a cross a duff capacitor in a GPO telephone so they must be a type that has aged better than others. I suppose that the demands on them aren't as great as in more sophisticated equipment either.
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Old 26th Aug 2019, 1:05 pm   #10
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

Oh really? It's a bit poor of me for not checking it to be honest and just assuming! Well, the capacitor I ordered more than a week ago still hasn't arrived in the post so what I'll do tonight is reconnect the original up as per your diagram and see what happens
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Old 4th Sep 2019, 11:15 am   #11
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

Original capacitor was toast, the legs going in to it were severely corroded and one of them actually pulled out with minimal effort. Left it in for originality but used a modern capacitor instead.

Telephone works as it should now!
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Old 4th Sep 2019, 2:06 pm   #12
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Default Re: GPO 232 with Bellset 26 won't ring!

Glad you got it sorted.
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