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telephone baseline replacement problem

Due to static on my phone I decided to replace my (twenty year old) telephone baseline and the even older jack. I've run the new line, connected the red and green lines to the red and green screws inside the new jack and also connected the red and green lines to the screws on the box outside. It looks just like the old line except now the line doesn't work at all. The test jack inside the box works fine. Does anyone know what I might have done wrong? I am at a loss and the phone company won't check it without charging me a huge fee.

Reply to
pokey1984
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If you have described your situation completely then I suspect that you severed a wire with a staple during installation. Shunt the red and green at the box (Network Interface Device or NID) by using an alligator clip lead. DO NOT DISTURB YOUR WIRING. TEST IT AS IS. Measure for continuity using any appropriate test tool such as a continuity tester, multi meter, tone sender, or tone and butt set. If you do not have a loop at the jack with the red and green shunted at the NID then one of the two conductors is open in between.

Reply to
Tom Horne, Electrician

Hi, That test is half valid if staple pin has shorted wires. When I do something like that I run the wire, test it and I start stapling. Only logical way of doing it. Try the phone at the box outside and start all over again I guess. Good luck, Tony

Reply to
Tony Hwang

I don't actually have a tester and wouldn't know how to use it if I did, but I didn't use stples, I used adhesive strip things, I forget what they are called but I learned my lesson from the first time I ran a phone line. (I'm apparently not safe with a staple gun. :) )

I know very little about electronics, but installing a phone seemed very simple the first time I did it. It's a very simple run, I connected it at the box, ran it inside through a hole in the wall, stuck it to the baseboard along the interior wall to where I wanted the jack, then conected it to the jack.

Does anyone have any more suggestions? I'm at a loss and desperately trying not to call the phone company or an electrician.

Reply to
pokey1984

in buffalo ny, only the center red and green are used for your first line and just hook them up to the jack. in any order. if no dial tone, try replacing the red with yellow at both ends. if no dial tone, try replacing green with black at both ends. still no dial tone and no meter? perhaps look at the dollar store for an inexpensive tester. and some small alligator jumpers. you only need two wires for the phone to work. test the phone by connecting it outdoors? you've possibly broken a stripped wire beneath a screw or nut. maybe it's time to buy that $25 meter to save a $82 telephone company visit.

Reply to
buffalobill

"pokey1984" wrote

So the wire was connected to the outside box's terminals all the time you were messing with the other end (pulling, cutting, connecting)? Maybe you shorted out the phone company's circuitry, and you'll be receiving a rather huge repair bill any day now.

Reply to
MasterBlaster

You did remove the insulation from the wires when you put them under the screws?

Reply to
Rich Greenberg

I tried switching the colors, too. It looks like I may need the phone company after all. I do have service if I plug the phone directly into the box (in the test jack) so I'm at a loss. Thanks anyway and if anyone has any more ideas, let me know.

Reply to
pokey1984

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 14:23:41 GMT, "MasterBlaster" you were messing with the other end (pulling, cutting, connecting)?

LOL. I don't think so. The phone company seems protected from this sort of thing. I've "blown a fuse" at the phone company many times,** and if I wait 10 minutes, it always starts working again.

**I forget what I was doing when I did this. it was a while ago. Scared me the first time.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

Reply to
mm

No, the circuit was connected correctly, I stripped the wire and attached it to the screws as directed.

Actually, my problem has been solved and I feel like an idiot now. :D You see, what I didn't mention (I didn't realize it was relavent) was that my telephone box is designed for a mobile home. Where most boxes have a small wire for the test jack, mine doesn't. The test jack is automatically available when you open the cover. In order to have service, you must close the door. I was testing the phone with the cover open. It didn't matter that I connected it just fine. (The first time I did this, it was with a standard box. I didn't realize what hte problem was with the different box.)

So, Thank you to everyone who offered me advice, I will remember most of it (especially the bit about checking my circuits before I staple my wires, that is good advice) for next time.

Thank you, everyone!

Reply to
pokey1984

"pokey1984" wrote

I meant hooked to their system, with the other end flailing about, like plugging a new lamp cord into the wall, THEN trying to thread the other end up through the lamp's metal body to the socket. *ZAP*

Don't worry, we won't laugh.......... much.

Well, who in the land of Whoville thought that up? Better smack him! Glad you got it "fixed".

Reply to
MasterBlaster

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