larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) (07/19/90)
In article <9826@accuvax.nwu.edu> the TELECOM Moderator writes: > I'd been there all of five minutes, I guess, when the board got real > busy for a couple minutes, and sure enough, my arm accidently knocked > over that Pepsi and sent it dribbling down inside the ringing keys on > the front panel. The board started buzzing, and lit up like a > Christmas tree, various lights blinking off and on, etc. This is a fairly common problem, and many a PBX position has suffered this affliction. A particularly serious case which comes to mind occurred in the late 1970's, and was related to me by a friend who worked as an PBX installer-repairman for N.Y. Telephone. To meet the pressures of interconnect competition, New York Telephone offered some NEC wire-spring relay/crossbar PABX's during the mid-1970's. In particular, a NEC NA4-09 was installed at a medium-sized local hospital. There was only one console position. One evening on a weekend, no less, the operator spilled a chocolate milkshake all over the console. Needless to say, it ceased to function properly. Both New York Telephone and the hospital were in a panic because the telephone company had no spare NA4-09 consoles *anywhere* in the state. The installer-repairman spent several hours laboriously cleaning switch contacts until some semblance of operation was attained. The console was then replaced a few days later. What made the situation even worse, was that the UNA (Universal Night Answer) function was inoperative (after all, they never used it and never knew that the pair to the night bell was broken), and that had to be repaired first in order that *any* call could be answered while the position was down. Not a great situation for a hospital! I think a few people learned some hard lessons after that one. Having examined telephone equipment that has suffered water damage, the worst problem I have seen is electrolytic corrosion which *immediately* starts once a conductive path is created across a contact switching 48 volts DC. Merely removing the water using, say, a hair dryer is not enough. The contacts then have to be cleaned of corrosion using a burnishing tool - IF the corrosion has not progressed too far. Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. "Have you hugged your cat today?" {boulder||decvax||rutgers||watmath}!acsu.buffalo.edu!kitty!larry VOICE: 716/688-1231 || FAX: 716/741-9635 {utzoo||uunet}!/ \aerion!larry [Moderator's Note: And I'd venture to say the guys who did the repairs were very dedicated and talented. The whole job was probably the top priority for them for several days. An aquaintence of mine, long since retired from Illinois Bell, did emergency switchboard repairs for hospitals, police/fire units, etc. In April, 1968, during the riots here which followed the assasination of Martin King, he was right in the middle of the riot zone one night drying out/replacing cables damaged from a broken water pipe at Bethany Brethren Hospital. Those old timers at Bell in the '60s and '70s were very good. PT]