Phone plug "snot"

[Max]

This is a weird question I know but it's a weird problem.

We have a bathroom phone outlet and the phone just quit working one day. I had originally thought that it might be a faulty phone since the rest of the phones in the house worked.

Come to find out that when I tested the phone in other outlets it was fine. I pulled the panel off the wall and discovered this "snot" all up inside the plug..similiar to half dried rubber glue (but clear).

This "snot" was causing the phone plug to not make good contact.

Soooo...I replaced the entire outlet, put everything back together and everything worked fine again for several months.

Well, now it's back and I have the same problem.

Does anyone know what's causing this? Humidity? And if so, where is this stretchy glue like substance coming from?

Any telco experts out there? It's just weird. There's nothing else inside the outlet that could be dripping on the plug and besides, this "snot" is *inside* the plug where the 4 wires are exposed.

tks.

max

[HeyBub]

Caller ID?

[Meat Plow]

Did this just start happening? Had the phone in the bathroom long?

[Max]

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 09:23:33 -0400, Meat Plow graced this newsgroup with:

the first time it happened, was a couple of years ago after the (new) phone had been in the bathroom about 6 months.

After replacing the outlet, it happened again about a year later.

We've given up at this point and just removed the phone but I'm just curious what could be causing this and where this "snot" could be coming from.

It has a smell very similiar to rubber glue but clear. It also has similar characteristics as rubber glue in that it's pliable.

The best way I can describe it is that it looks like if someone just squirted clear rubber glue into the recepticle and then plugged the phone cord in.

[Abe]

Do you have a son that's going through puberty in the house?

[Max]

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 06:30:25 -0700, Abe graced this newsgroup with:

Nope and it's not a public restroom. Just me and my wife and SHE isn't into that kind of mischief.

[Meat Plow]

Odd, maybe some by product of hot showers, bath and hair products. How many females us the bathroom?

[Max]

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 09:38:05 -0400, Meat Plow graced this newsgroup with:

Just my wife and the bathroom doesn't get particularly steamed up either as the ventillation system is quite good.

We actually use another bathroom for hair "stuff" so there's no hair products used in that bathroom either.

The amount of this snot is also quite a bit. I'd say, about equal to a pencil erasers worth jammed inside the recepticle.

Needless to say, it's nearly impossible to dig enough out to form a good connection with the 4 prongs and phone cord.

[jJim McLaughlin]

Rather than all the "what is it..." " How could it be there..." stuff, just concentrate on preventi / removal.

Use a couple of Q tips soaked in rubbing alcohol, about once a week, and keep the damn phone jack clean.

Phone in the bathroom?

Weird.

Long, long , long ago I was in a law firm office in a big downtown highrise in beautiful downtown Detroit. Big, big, big downtown law firm.

They had phones in the mens room.

And a fancy "tone" type paging system in there, to tell partners and / or associates that they had a call (not of nature) that they had to take.

I understand client service, but that is insane.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Is the phone outlet mounted in a regular electrical box in the wall?

[Jim Redelfs]

That is waterproofing encapsulant, similar to the "icky pic" jelly that is inside "filled" telephone cable.

I carry a couple of such connecting blocks (jacks) on my truck to install in place of a conventional (dry) outlet that has been compromised by moisture.

The phone plug should connect JUST FINE through the stuff. A bathroom location (I have a phone in each of my three bathrooms) is a prime candidate for these "waterproof" jacks due to the high environmental moisture.

Many/most outdoor Standard Network Interface Devices (S/NIDs) use such encapsulant/jelly for the same reason. It's harmless and should be left in place.

That your phone wasn't connecting properly in the bathroom jack is probably due to some OTHER problem, not the jelly. Good luck!

[Eigenvector]

Sounds weird, and I think it is too, but at work there are plenty of people who talk on cell phones while in the can or standing at the urinal - and they ain't laywers either. Who would want to talk to them, and that has to be the most unpleasant conversation you'd ever had.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Yeah, but when he changes the jack, the phone works. Maybe just a little surface corrosion on the contacts? Q-tip, alcohol, blow torch, whatever?

[Phisherman]

So who's been in the bathroom for the past several months? I hope you wore rubber gloves.

[dpb]

My thought too... ...

...

Probably another connection that is intermittent (like the back of the block that makes contact again after being messed with for a while.

--

[Clark]

jJim McLaughlin wrote in news:xsydnc90nf4jquDbnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Not at all. A phone conversation while on the "throne" turns otherwise wasted time into billable time. Ya gotta think 'bout this like a lia^H^Hawyer.

[Jim Yanik]

"Eigenvector" wrote in news:OIydnc835YzlouDbnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Some people carry "multitasking" WAY too far....

[Max]

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 15:51:01 GMT, Phisherman graced this newsgroup with:

LOL

[Max]

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 10:38:28 -0500, Jim Redelfs graced this newsgroup with:

AH HA! Ok. I'll see if maybe there's an intermittent short somewhere else up the line. Thanks!

max

[Max]

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 08:09:50 -0700, jJim McLaughlin graced this newsgroup with:

Actually, it's not really that weird. I didn't answer the phone if I was actually..uh..doing certain things but it allowed me to answer the phone if I happened to be in thar area of the house.

Suffice it to say that it's important that I'm available by phone, either cell or landline almost anytime.

The next phone is in the masterbedroom and isn't convienent to get to.