Worsening static and now completely dead. The phones test OK on the network interface device box attached to the exterior siding of the house, which suggests that the problem is inside the house. We have a maintainance policy for inside the house. Could this problem be due to mice chewing wires? If so is there a danger? -- Worried
=A0We have a
The mice are the ones to worry... the voltage on the wires is around
75 Volts, DC, on an open line, IIRC. Enough to get their attention, but NOT a fire hazard, as the current is limited in the local loop.Since you do have a contract, now is the time to call the. You might check -- are ALL interior jacks giving trouble, or just one or two? If only one, check for loose wire, just tighten them down a tad.
Mice chewing wires, or more likely a spider nest in the back of the demarc box, or in the basement ceiling. How old is your house? In an older house, the spot in the basement where the demarc is jumpered over to the old legacy house wiring, is often not very well done. Or, it could simply be a fubar'd phone on one jack, or one rusty jack. Unplug ALL the phones, and carry one phone around from jack to jack to see if problem can be localized.
It can be a tedious PITA, but it ain't rocket science. Start with what you know works, the test jack at the demarc, and work back from there. Only change or add back one thing at a time.
No, there isn't any danger, unless you wear a pacemaker or something, and are holding tip in one hand and ring in the other, when the phone rings. If you are paying for inside maint, let them figure it all out.
-- aem sends...
Thanks, that's a relief.
Called Verizon Friday and they said a tech would be here Monday, which is hard to believe. In the past, we've had to wait five or more days for service, and now with much of their resources being allocated to FIOS, I expected an even longer wait. Now let's see if he shows up Monday.
Thank You.
Are these standard telephone lines or are you using a cable phone service?
Assuming it is traditional phone lines, then it could be nothing more than a poor connection somewhere. You just have to track it down.
I don't know much about the line backer insurance policies. I suggest you read what is covered and see if it is covered. Funny thing about those. When I had traditional phone lines they tried to sell me that service. Under the rules of my local public utility commission, the provider was responsible for the interior lines, even without the insurance.
You can easily determine if it is a short or an open circuit with a multi-meter. Remove all phones and detach the house phone wiring from the network inferface device. Now measure the resistance across the two middle contacts (red/green wires) of any phone jack. If the resistance is close to zero then you have a short.
If there is indeed a short, it would be interesting to see how the telco technician locate and fix it -- there is no simple tool to locate short circuit.
Hmmm,
75V DC? Where is that number coming from?
If you have miniature sockets (phone jacks) especially if they are mounted in a cool outside wall they could have moisture from condensed humidity from warm house air on them. That can cause corrosion to build up between those thin wire contacts. In a typical six contact jack the telephone line is often on the two closest together centre contacts. (Red/Green wires). When the phone is 'on hook' (not in use), there is some 48 volts DC across those two possibly humid contacts all the time. When the phone rings there can be some 100 volts AC across the contacts. So we have the ideal set-up for what is called 'tracking' whereby minute amounts of metal 'migrate' onto the insulation between the two contacts and make an intermittent and noisy connection across the phone line. Some years back the telephone utility I worked with had some considerable trouble with noisy phone jacks which by then had been in use for some 5 to 10 years. Cleaning the area between the contacts in each jack is often not successful and a better solution is to replace the corroded and 'crackly' ones. All the jacks should be wired back to a central point. And if a noisy jack/s is suspected each jack can be disconnected one at a time until the faulty one is found. And as suggested replaced. Unfortunately the much used design is a poor one; the centre contacts being no more than one millimetre apart! Permanent wiring of each phone or use of those 'old fashioned' four pin plugs was/is more reliable. Maybe this suggestion helps. I haven't heard of anyone blanking off telephone jacks that are in cool locations and as to whether this would prevent/slow down the corrosion/tracking/noise!
UNPLUG ALL CORDLESS PHONES, then try a single old style corded phone thats proven working at the interface.
cordless phones are a main cause of wierd failures
Time Domain Reflectometer, fast and easy if you know how to use it.
-48VDC + inflation or Oabama's stimulus?
I had a wire break in an outlet box in the kitchen. Install by phone company was somewhat sloppy twenty years before and I figure vibrations in floor may have stressed the wire. No bugs or mice did it. I fixed it myself as I had no contract.
Out of his professional posterior orifice. The nominal on hook DC battery voltage on a POTS line is 48 volts DC. I've never seen it run over 55 volts DC on a CO line. The nominal ringer voltage is 90 volts AC at
20 HZ or 20 cycles per second for the electronically correct. Party lines use different ringer frequencies for each customer.TDD
Do you have any small dogs that may mark their territory by spraying the phone jack? Most folks can't believe it when it happens.
TDD
If its inside they see $$$$$$$$$$$$ JERRY
I had the same problem once, and it was very difficult to find the reason... what happened is corrosion inside a phone receptacle that was never used. This corrosion caused a short circuit in the phone line. At first it was intermittent and it gradually got worse. Simply replacing the receptacle at the wall fixed it.
I am also on Verizon since last year. they changed out the demark box when I went to Verizon.
So last month I got the crackly phone, got worse over several days, then died completely. I determined the demark jack worked fine. the problem was between my demark test jack and the terminals going out the lines in the house. The demark box itself was defective. However, the tech jury-rigged the fix. He just attached the output lines to a RJ11 plug and plugged it into the demark test jack. Thanks a heap, Eric.
When I was living in my trailer and had my phone wires strung though the bushes someone was chewing on my phone wires. I think it was rabbits. After a while the copper would oxidize and begin to short out with the other wire. They seemed to only chew on the live wires. Not enough voltage in their diets, I guess. It would start out as static and get worse.
Sounds like something on Star Trek.
"Uhm, Kaptan, muh time domain refractometer be telling me we won't do warp speed until we get to a star base for repairs. Unless that green blooded pointy eared thing wants to have a try at it."
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