How about a payphone for the arcade??

toolguy said:
My local CL has one listed for $12 right now, clean and the same as yours. Not sure if its still available but peoples local CL might be a better buy then these.
Click to expand...

I just looked at that. It's a Western Electric/AT&T case which means it probably is a "dumb" phone from the local Bell Telephone system. Would take much work to convert to home use plus without the key you'll have a tough time getting into it. They used hardened steel locks so drilling is very tough.

Here's that payphone discussion from the other forum:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=75466.0
 
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KenLayton said:
I just looked at that. It's a Western Electric/AT&T case which means it probably is a "dumb" phone from the local Bell Telephone system. Would take much work to convert to home use plus without the key you'll have a tough time getting into it. They used hardened steel locks so drilling is very tough.

Here's that payphone discussion from the other forum:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=75466.0
Click to expand...

Well there always this one! BO too. LOL!!!

http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/for/1862883239.html
 
KenLayton said:
Boy that's one of those weird ass TIDEL payphone cases. Haven't seen one of those in 20 years. It uses a combination of GTE, Western Electric, and Tidel's own parts.
Click to expand...

Not sure if its still available either at this point... This thread just got me thinking, I would like one but if they can be hard to open as you state without a key, and if these things cost $30-50 to ship from Texas, I might try to find one around me.

Ironically my parking meter had an easy lock to drill out, but you cannot compare the two locks and I don't know what year my parking meter is from.
 
Yeh those lock picking videos have been out there for a while. That's why my former operator switched from Medeco to Abloy payphone locks.
 
Great now I gotta get the info off the somewhat empty payphone I have.

I also have a not-empty payphone that works and makes calls on a standard line, but its locked and I have no keys for it.

Makes me wish I would have grabbed some extra parts and keys back in the day. I used to live next door to a scrap dealer for At&t ;-) Turns out having free phones to tear apart in oh, 2nd grade makes you a geek for life apparently :)
 
Ken, with the Western Electric phones what needs to be modified for home use? I thought those were basically ready to go for home use aside from the coin issues.

I've had mixed success on drilling the locks, it helps alot if you have an open phone to look at to understand how the lock works. The technique I've found that works well is drilling only enough to get a slotted screwdriver in and then forcing the tumblers to turn, turning the screwdriver with vice grips. The last one I did my rather expensive drill bit was ruined on a previous lock and I was actually able to get it out simply by prying away what was in the way. If you completely drill the lock out you still need to get in the cavity with needlenose pliers and pull the latch bar free.
 
KenLayton said:
If the payphone has Medeco brand locks and you don't have the keys, here's how to pick it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy_ITXmk47Q
Click to expand...

That guy must be a pro. I recently "dealt with" a medeco lock that had pins like this. They were nasty. I don't think the casual picker or even the determined criminal will take the time to learn to pick those efficiently.

spp-serrated.jpg
 
Ken, I've seen that page before, it's very informative, but I've never been able to find any info on specifically what's needed to modify on a western electric phone.
 
I started another thread about payphone discussion (Kens' Payphone thread) to keep the discussion out of the OPs thread here, but more or less...

Your phone if older is probably a "dumb" phone that was controlled by the phone company. If so, chances are it'll just work with a regular line like a regular phone, but no coin functionality. I have one I just plugged in and it worked fine as is. I have no keys so I never opened it (yet).

If your phone was updated or is newer, it might have a "smart" board installed, where the original chassis was swapped out with a newer one. If so, those are more or less self-sufficient with proper programming, and will requires coins to make a call even on a standard phone line.

If you really want the coin function to work, you would need to get one of these smart boards to replace the original chassis/board. Once you have the smart board, you can get a place like Payphone.com to program it for you for about $25. They call the phone using a modem and upload programming to it.
 
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On the Western Electrics, you can hook them up to the phone line and they'll work fine as-is. However, problems will start once you start putting coins in them. Without the collect/refund signal from the phone line, coins will pile up in the hopper and jam. When this happens, some of the switches on the coin relay will get stuck and drag down your phone line to a constant busy signal.
 
All FYI.

The guy that heads up our payphone dept has told me to put the sales of these phones on hold. He didnt give me a reason other then "he doesnt have time to deal with this right now."

If/when it goes back on I will post to this thread.

matt
 
gamefixer said:
All FYI.

The guy that heads up our payphone dept has told me to put the sales of these phones on hold. He didnt give me a reason other then "he doesnt have time to deal with this right now."

If/when it goes back on I will post to this thread.

matt
Click to expand...

well dang. i wanted to come by and grab one!
 
I know someone in the Chicago area that is selling a working Western Electric Payphone with keys in case someone is looking for one.
 
klorvinborno said:
Ken, with the Western Electric phones what needs to be modified for home use? I thought those were basically ready to go for home use aside from the coin issues.
Click to expand...

See this guide:

http://reviews.ebay.com/Converting-...0006247533?ssPageName=BUYGD:CAT:-1:LISTINGS:4

And this guide:

http://www.islandregister.com/phones/3slot.html

This forum has some good payphone wiring information:

http://www.sundance-communications.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/ubb/forum/f/45.html
 
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