Telephone Line Problems

[kcb559]

*We have two telephone lines in our house. Line #1 feeds two phones and both phones work fine. Previously, I took the red, green, black and red wires from each of the two phones, twisted them together and attached them to the corresponding posts in the box outside. *Line #2 feeds four phones and recently I've started having no dial tone on any of the four phones on line #2. (They were hooked up just like the phones on line #1) All I get is a sort of sound like a phone is off the hook and also occasional feedback. *I went outside and individually attached the four wires from each of the four phones onto the proper terminals and each time, each phone got a dial tone. Then I twisted the wires from the four phones all together (color-coded, of course), attached them to the proper terminals and I'm right back to no dial tone and the weird sounds mentioned above. What gives?

[Joseph Meehan]

I suggest going back to all four on the line and try disconnecting one at a time. See which one may be drawing too much current for the system. It sounds like a bad phone to me.

[SQLit]

Two phone lines,,, separate numbers?

the color scheme you site is wrong for phone wire. Pairs should be red,black, and yellow,green. Check your box out side the home and see if one of the wires has broken. If you have two phone lines then your going to have to separate the pairs. WAG if you have two reds then you have crossed them somewhere.

[barry martin]

Hi!

K > *We have two telephone lines in our house. Line #1 feeds two phones K > and both phones work fine. Previously, I took the red, green, black K > and red wires from each of the two phones, twisted them together and ^^^ That should be yellow - typo?

K > attached them to the corresponding posts in the box outside. K > *Line #2 feeds four phones and recently I've started having no dial K > tone on any of the four phones on line #2. (They were hooked up just K > like the phones on line #1) All I get is a sort of sound like a phone K > is off the hook and also occasional feedback.

If you did use a black/red combination may have worked until a phone from both lines were used simultaneously. (I'm guessing here.)

K > *I went outside and individually attached the four wires from each of K > the four phones onto the proper terminals and each time, each phone K > got a dial tone. Then I twisted the wires from the four phones all K > together (color-coded, of course), attached them to the proper K > terminals and I'm right back to no dial tone and the weird sounds K > mentioned above. What gives?

Is there a cordless phone and/or answering machine on Line #2? A surge on the electric line (the wall outlet - 120v) could do some oddball things to the device, and since it is connected to the telephone line....

Though the problem is with Line 2 the error could be in Line 1's wiring if Line 2's wiring is connected through. (If you had considered a two-line phone in a location this may have been done.) As someone else suggested, disconnect either the line feeding a telphone jack or disconnect the line cord from the telephone one at a time to see if this clears the problem. Disconnecting the line cord will test from the disconnect point to the phone, not the in-wall wiring, of course.

Do you have any pets who may have gnawed on the wiring, or a wire running under the carpet or throw-rug? The wire could have been worn through, causing a problem.

One test I've used is the "blow test": blow into the mouthpiece and should hear a whooshing noise in the earpiece if there is power to the telephone. (May or may not work for cordless phones.) If the wire is disconnected or shorted you won't hear the sound.

- ¯ barry.martinþATþthesafebbs.zeppole.com ®

• I just steal 'em, I don't explain 'em.

[spacekase]

first off, phone lines from outside work in pairs, red/green & yellow/black. not red/black like DCV electrical. about the phones not working. two most likely contributors. 1) four phones together draw too much current for the supply to keep all four operating - i believe that wiring in parallel to the supply verses in series is proper wiring scheme.... 2) RF interference from one unit on the line, answ machine, cordless, specially lit, DSL modem.... i guess the problem could also arise at the jacks. crappy qual jacks can cause interference for phones just like for cable TV. they can generate RF interference just like an attached unit can.

[kcb559]

****************************************************************

Thanks all for the input. A few clarifications.

1--There are 4 phones connected to Line #2 of the outside box. 2--3 of the 4 phones are cordless. 3--At the outside box, Line #2 has 4 screw terminals that are color-coded red, yellow, black and green. 4--The cables from each of the 4 phones mentioned above each contain 4 wires...red, yellow, black and green. 5--Prior to attaching the wires to the outside color-coded terminals, I twisted all the red wires together from the 4 cables, all the green wires together from the 4 cables, all the yellow wires together from the 4 cables and all the black wires together from the 4 cables. 6--I then attached each of the 4 (now ONE) color-coded wires to the corresponding color-coded terminals at the outside box. This is EXACTLY how the phones have been hooked up to the outside box for the past 13 years without a problem. 7--I now have 2 (both are cordless variety) of the 4 phones hooked up to the outside box as mentioned above and have dial tones on both. Guess the problem may lie in one or both of the other two. More testing tomorrow.

-KCB