Incoming calls on my landline won't ring the telephone handset bell

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Incoming calls on my landline won't ring the telephone handset bell

Mikey377

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#293597 1-Feb-2022 13:24

To cater for future power outages (we live in the sticks) I have bought an ex British Telecom landline phone, model Decor 100 dating back to around 2000.

It was advertised as working, and is clean and in good condition. Plugged in to my ADSL filter and hey presto....dial tone, able to make calls, perfect. However, the bell won't ring on incoming calls, although when I know there is an incoming call I can lift the handset and connect to the call. I am reasonably handy with tools, use of multimeter, etc, and the phone is easy to get into.....can anyone please suggest what the problem could be, and what i should do to resolve.

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#2859978 1-Feb-2022 13:46

It will be a 3 wire phone needing connection to the ringer capacitor that once was in the master jack and then was in each 2 wire jack before being deleted as most modern phones don't need it.

richms

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#2859982 1-Feb-2022 13:52

You can buy a plug in ringing adapter to deal with vintage phones that need a third wire. If you have the phone on a RJ45 socket then find someone offloading old PABX masters that they're decomissioning from old phone installs. Or find an old master socket and attach it on the end of a cable from the DSL splitter.

https://www.modempak.co.nz/product/bt-2-wire-phone-ringing-adaptor/

Richard rich.ms

Mikey377

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2860041 1-Feb-2022 14:23

wow, really helpful thank you. My set up is as follows:

RJ45 wall socket, then an adaptor which allows a Telequip DSL381 (ADSL filter) to plug into, then a 431A plug connected to the phone.

If I buy the BT phone ringing adaptor you mention will that resolve my problem, plugged in after the ADSL filter and before the phone?

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#2860054 1-Feb-2022 14:45

Really curious about how much you paid for that phone.

Was it a lot cheaper than just buying this one that just works?

Mikey377

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Wannabe Geek

#2860059 1-Feb-2022 14:58

good point, but paid next to nothing! However, i hadn't realised that such phones were still available....

nztim

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#2860062 1-Feb-2022 15:01

The two wire and two contact standard came in circa 2010 you can still by 2 wire 3 contact jacks from CDL - however unless you are especially attached to that phone just get one that works on 2 wire

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

nztim

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#2860063 1-Feb-2022 15:04

On another note if you are going to use PABX Master RJ45 to BT what ever you do never put more than one of them on a line, they have other circuity similar to the old Master Jackpoint (resistor etc) for line fault detection two of these on a line mgiht have unexpected results

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Mikey377

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#2860072 1-Feb-2022 15:17

I only have one of these old phones and don't intend to use another.... But can someone please answer my question regarding my set up and the use of a Modempak BT 2 wire phone ring adaptor I posted at 14.23 PLEASE.

nztim

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#2860087 1-Feb-2022 15:44

Mikey377:

I only have one of these old phones and don't intend to use another.... But can someone please answer my question regarding my set up and the use of a Modempak BT 2 wire phone ring adaptor I posted at 14.23 PLEASE.

ADSL Filter > 2 wire Modempak > Phone

I presume you are using self install filters, you will get performance from a proper master filter installed on the line

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gzt

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#2860140 1-Feb-2022 16:45

There are modern full featured phones that will continue to work without power with reduced features.

Mikey377

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#2860143 1-Feb-2022 16:49

I know, but thank you. I am enjoying the challenge of getting this old BT phone to work, but am hoping someone might actually answer my comment posted at 14.23 today.

Bung

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#2860184 1-Feb-2022 17:57

Mikey377:
If I buy the BT phone ringing adaptor you mention will that resolve my problem, plugged in after the ADSL filter and before the phone?

Yes that is all it is designed to do, plug into a 2 wire circuit and make a 3 wire ringing connection available.

nztim

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#2860211 1-Feb-2022 19:16

Mikey377:

I know, but thank you. I am enjoying the challenge of getting this old BT phone to work,

Can relate to you here, my parents have an NZPO Type 100 which is connected to an ATA and its kinda cool having the old phone still functioning - its red too!

but I have answered your question above what you need to do

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Mikey377

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Wannabe Geek

#2860329 1-Feb-2022 22:53

Thanks to all who have contributed. My homework was to better understand the phone system and how it works. Seems that older phones such as the one I have need a third wire (the ring wire) to function properly....this was derived from a 1.8 microfarad capacitor in series with a 470kohm resistor across the incoming wire pair, with the third wire coming off at the junction between the two components. I assume therefore that the "Modempak BT 2 wire phone ring adaptor" mentioned earlier does just that.

My thanks to all who have helped, much appreciated.

nztim

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#2860342 1-Feb-2022 23:33

You only need the capacitor , the resistor is for telcos to test the line, this is from the 90s master socket days

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