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Splicing to Add a Line
I tried to add a telephone line (extension) to a room without any wiring. I went to my attic, cut a line (which is for two other rooms) and spliced the wire which I fed to the 'new room'. At first, none of the three worked. Then I checked the splice and tried to 'make it better'. The two existing telephones worked but the new one didn't. Now, all three don't worked. I unplugged all the telephones and tried plugging them back in with no success. By the way the kitchen telephone worked all through out. I even tried testing the bedrooms telephone in the kitchen and they are OK. Did I burn out something? Can I test the lines with a multimeter?
You usually don't splice to add a telephone line. Find a telephone that is at the end of the line - wires coming in to the jack and none going out. Run your new connection off that telephone jack. Your kitchen telephone is probably on another line coming from the service box and that is why it is ok.
Make sure all your wires in the splices are insulated from each other and that all the like colors are connects. Typically, yellow and black go together for one line, red, and green for the other. If you have only one phone number then only one pair is in use. The other pair of wires is installed spares.
You can check for a problem at your bad phone jacks by using your ohmmeter to make sure there is NO continuity between any of the wires.
Two Lines, but Only One Works
I have two lines coming into a new house.... I can only get dial tone on one.... What is the proper way they should be hooked up if I open one of the jacks and look at it?
I am not sure, but I believe the wires inside are red, green, black and yellow. The red and green are usually the 'hot' ones; the other two are not really doing anything.
Inside your box outside there will be four wires and a ground. Green, Red, Black, Yellow. The green and red operate one line (green is ring red is tap) and the black and yellow operate the second, if installed. Look in the box and you will see five screws in a pattern like this @(B) @(G) @(GD) @(Y) @(R) Make sure the wires are securely attached to each screw. Use a line tester and test both lines. If you get a broken circuit, something is amiss in the house. If not, call the telephone company and tell them to activate your second line!
You might also want to check all of the outlets in your house; often you will find that the electrician that wired the house only wired the red and green pairs. You will want to make sure that all four wires are connected and are tight. If this does not work, take your two-line phone outdoors to the demarcation point on your house, where you phone lines come in. There will be a test jack that will be wired for both lines. If you don't get dial tone on the second line, there is no second line, and the phone company is responsible, if there is, you are.
First, look at the box where the service starts. Most new houses are wired using a Network Interface Connection (NIC box). Anything from that box and into the house is your responsibility. The box and line from the street is usually the phone companies. In my box, there are two regular RJ11 phone jacks that the house wiring plugs into. By unplugging the house wiring at this box, you can test the two lines at the box. By eliminating your house wiring, you are testing the phone company's service up to but not including your house. If you do not get two lines and your ordered two lines, call the phone company. If you do get two lines, then suspect your house wiring. Plug your house wiring back in and begin checking outlets in your house. Some builders try to save money and run the same wire to all phone outlets. One bad wire in an outlet can mess up the entire wiring. I suggest you buy a phone line tester and a 2-line splitter. The tester will show green if outlet is wired correctly. You will need a splitter to test line 2 of the same plug.
Installing 2nd Phone Line
I would like to have the two telephone lines for my house. Since our computer internet connection is getting more and more use, we are now to the point where two lines are a must. I have been advised that my house is pre-wired for two lines. Aside from contacting the phone company to activate the second line, can you provide me with any guidance on what I can do for myself to save $$$ with installation.
Here is the scoop. All telephone wire has 4 wires in it. red black yellow and green. But a phone only uses 2 wires.. so every house is wired for 2 lines. You will need to have the phone company supply your house with an additional line (You DON'T have two from the street to your house)
In your box outside will be the two new lines.. you will attach them to the black and yellow wires.. which up to this point were unused. then... where you want the new line, attach the phone jack to the black and yellow instead of the red and green. Know what I mean??
No Dial Tone
Why won't the phone get a dial tone.
Sounds like you've got a wire loose or not connected to the correct terminal. Phone connectors can be a bear if even one wire is out of place. Check for loose wires and also check to be sure you have the proper COLORED wires connected...Most often, red-green serves one phone line black-yellow another... If you used a modular system, check to make sure the connectors are ok. It is a common problem for plugs and jacks to not connect properly.. Check out the link below, this may answer a few questions for you! http//www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/4116/index.html
Adding Extra Phone Jack for Main Line
Our house (which we bought 3 months ago) has a phone jack in the kitchen and in the second bedroom. (There is an additional jack in the master bedroom but we were told by the prior owners that this jack had a different number and it has it's own separate box just outside the house.)
We would like to add a jack for the main phone line in the first bedroom/office but don't know how. We're in California and the house is on a raised foundation with a crawl space. So, how do we go about adding an extra jack?
You can tap in and run the wire one of two ways.
At the point of entry will be a connection box that you can connect the new wire to, or you can open either of the other two jack outlets and connect them there.
Phone wiring is fairly simple. Buy phone wire, and it comes in 4 colors. Just connect the like colors together. In the entry box, you can connect them to spare terminals. In the phone jack, you would connect them to the same screws as the like color wire is on there already.
You can run that wire under the house, so just drill up (DON'T MISS) into the wall where you will mount your new box. Buy a the face plate with the one jack outlet... and the box to screw the plate to.
Static on Telephone Line
I have moderate to severe static on one of my two telephone lines. Seems worse when it's raining or very humid out. I know a little about telephone lines, I installed my second one from the outer wall of the house to the rooms, and it works perfectly. A while back, I got some intermittent static, but it seems to be getting worse. I called the telephone company, but was told that if the problem is inside my house, they charge by the MINUTE! They and I checked and sure enough, it seems that there is no static when connecting at the junction box at the outside wall of my house. I have replaced most of the wall jacks, and tried disconnecting each telephone, but the static persists, and it's driving me insane. I tried tapping on each wall jack to see if I could change the static, but no difference. I don't think I have an interior junction box as I have traced virtually all lines to each room with out finding it. I purchased a line checker at the local mea-hardware store. It indicated that all the jacks on the bad line had the polarity reversed, and after checking each jack with the same results I reversed the red/green wires from the street and got a good polarity, but still have static. Any suggestions? The other telephone for my computer and one telephone are clear.
Static means a poor connection, at either end of the wire, or possibly a worn spot anywhere along the run. It's a pain; but isolating as many sections as possible is the only way to pinpoint it. As a repairman, if isolating takes longer than running new, I run new. I have seen staples cause moisture to get into the sheath where corrosion gradually eats the copper, static is the last hurrah before the inevitable open circuit. If replacing the whole circuit is impossible, piece out all the sections you can get to with new, if still noisy replacement is necessary. You can run telephone signals through existing electric wires by using an adapter at most electronic stores (about $30-$50) per adapter.
Another idea:
Try wiring a jack with a short wire directly to the outside box and see if you have static at that point. If not, maybe you should try some better quality wire, run it through a window in a different area of your house, away from where the old wire is coming in, just to see if you still have static. Maybe you have the telephone wire to close to an electrical line or something like a fluorescent light or motor that runs constantly. I know a "going bad" fluorescent bulb or transformer/starter will raise havoc with radios and such. I take it you've tried switching telephones from jack to jack.
Common sources of static:
Cheapo phones are 50% of all trouble. Next are answering machines and modems, they are hooked in to the line, they can be a problem.
Next is any wiring outside the house, look for weather beaten cable, I have seen the outer coating dry rotted off of wire. Any jacks that have corrosion in them, you can tell because the pins are green. Bathroom jacks, basement jacks, kitchen jacks are biggies.
Next, wiring in the basement or crawlspace. Look for mouse chews, rubs, clothing hanging on the wire to dry, etc. etc.
Getting More Than One Phone Jack to Work
I have just moved into a new apartment. I have at least 5 different phone jacks but only one of them works. Is there a simple way that I can connect at least one of them myself?
Go to the working jack, unscrew it from the wall and see if there are any loose wires there that could go on to the other jacks. Usually, the first jack of a group like yours is connected to the phone company line and goes from that first jack to the second, then to the third and so on. Each jack then has a total of four wires behind itself for a single telephone line.
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