phone socket wiring

[shazzbat]

I want to put a socket upstairs in what is to become my computer room. I have an old (pre-socket) junction box on the skirting downstairs, which is fed from the master socket, and which in turn feeds 2 single socket boxes.

The junction box has four wires coming in from master socket.- orange connected to terminal I shall call 'A', blue connected to 'B' green and brown not connected. then the 2 socket boxes are connected opposite way round to each other, ie one is connected A to No 2 and B to No 5, the other is connected A to No 5 and B to No 2. Does it not make any difference which way round they are, are phones/modems/PCs not polarity sensitive?

Can I just connect 2 and 5 on my new socket to A and B?

And how come when I took the back off the phone, I found four wires connected inside it, although only 2 of them can be doing anything once they get to the socket?

TIA Steve

[Andrew Gabriel]

Domestic phone apparatus is not supposed to be sensitive to polarity. However, some things are, particularly some caller display units or modems with caller display function built in. If you don't want to use the caller display function, then it probably doesn't matter.

You have got a bodged install. The pin 3 signal is generated by the master socket, and should be connected to all sockets too. Some phones use the ring signal from this, so if it's missing, some phones can't ring. Pin 4 is a ground connection, but regular domestic phone apparatus doesn't need it. It was used on old party lines and is used in some BABX systems for earth recall, but is never connected in a domestic installation nowadays.

[Brian G]

Steve,

Would this link be any help?

Brian G

[ARWadsworth]

Are you sure the junction box is not feeding the master socket?

Adam