Phone cable wiring

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dmrauckland

15 posts

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#265715 6-Feb-2020 20:41

Hi all -

Sorry if this is the wrong forum; I searched phone cabling and read several posts that were in this category, and seemed like the closest match!

I have done a bedroom renovation recently, and like some of the other posters, didn't need/want the phone jack in the bedroom any longer. I cut the wires and didn't think any more of it. STOOPID.

A week or so later, my partner realised our alarm didn't phoning us when we accidentally set it off. I plugged a phone into the jack it's wired off downstairs, and it's dead :(

This is the jack downstairs where the alarm and a jack in another bedroom feed off; it worked a few weeks ago as I replaced the siren and when I tested it, it phoned me. I am guessing that the wires on the left hand side of the image come from the bedroom upstairs where I disconnected the jack (the blue & blue/white ones), and the two cables on the right where red/black are used, go to the alarm and other jack in the downstairs bedroom:

Click to see full size

Then upstairs where I did my 'handywork'; I've got this:

Click to see full size

I know the white cable at the top went along the wall to the jack as I can see it here:

Click to see full size

And then there is the grey cable at the bottom, that I'm surmising was also feeding into the jack in the top bedroom where I was renovating. I don't remember, but I can't figure out (a) how else the bedroom jack was getting a line in, and (b) what else it would have been doing :)

I've tried connecting just about every combination I can think of, and have checked the other upstairs phone jacks to try and figure out if I can see where it originates - no dice. I should say the other two jacks I have upstairs are working fine, so it's not the exchange etc...

So - could anyone with more experience / common sense than me please suggest how I can figure out which wires from the grey cable need to connect to the white cable, or if there's any easy way of figuring out which in the grey cable are the ones in use? Also - when I say I tried lots of combinations, I focused connecting the blue & blue/white from the white sheathed cable that I think is going downstairs to all the colours of the grey cable. I touched them together with my partner listening for dialtone on a phone downstairs. Let me know if this isn't the right way to test; I have a multimeter if that helps!

Sorry to be such a dope - I'd really appreciate any help!

Cheers,

David

dmrauckland

15 posts

Geek

#2413872 6-Feb-2020 21:26

For what it's worth - I think I have confirmed the white wire with blue / blue-white / green / green-white does go from the bedroom jack I disconnected to the downstairs one that feeds the other two outlets.

I twisted the unused green / green-white wires together downstairs, and then used the multimeter in continuity mode, and it beeped when I touched the green / green-white wires individually upstairs. When I separated them downstairs, the multimeter didn't beep upstairs anymore.

So at a loss as to what I need to do to try and figure out which wires to use from the grey cable, and if somehow this cable has been damaged :(

Bung

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#2413874 6-Feb-2020 21:38

I would have picked red & white in the grey. A mystery where that comes from if it's not connected to either of the working jacks.
The alarm wiring is a bit mickey mouse, it looks as if flexible extension cable has been used as house wiring but at least the stranded wires have a pigtail of solid before being connected to the jack.

dmrauckland

15 posts

Geek

#2413878 6-Feb-2020 21:58

Thanks for the reply 😀. I've just twisted red to blue and white to blue-white, then red to white and blue to blue-white, but no dialtone downstairs for either 😬

Yes - agreed it looks like the internal extension cable; the alarm was wired up in a hurry before the plaster went on one night, and I suspect it was what the chap had to hand.

Is there any way of finding out which pair in the grey is correct, or would I need to find where the other end of it goes? Is there any possibility of two wires internally from the point at which it comes into the house?? I just can't see any grey cable going to either of the working upstairs outlets.

nztim

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#2413888 6-Feb-2020 22:12

dmrauckland:
Thanks for the reply 😀. I've just twisted red to blue and white to blue-white, then red to white and blue to blue-white, but no dialtone downstairs for either 😬

Yes - agreed it looks like the internal extension cable; the alarm was wired up in a hurry before the plaster went on one night, and I suspect it was what the chap had to hand.

Is there any way of finding out which pair in the grey is correct, or would I need to find where the other end of it goes? Is there any possibility of two wires internally from the point at which it comes into the house?? I just can't see any grey cable going to either of the working upstairs outlets.

I have all the gear including cable toner to trace the right cables and fix this for you but I am
guessing your in Auckland not Wellington

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

dmrauckland

15 posts

Geek

#2413890 6-Feb-2020 22:15

For completeness, these are the other two jacks in the house that are working:

Kitchen - am wondering if this is where a cable comes in from outside, as it's towards the front of the house, and is in the same room as the switchboard:

Study - both outlets come from the same cable; the one at the bottom (blue/blue-white) has a phone plugged into it and is working fine; the other one is labelled ADSL and I remember the chorus-man telling me it was no longer in use when I got VDSL many years ago.

Thanks in advance - it's driving me nuts :(

dmrauckland

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#2413891 6-Feb-2020 22:17

nztim:

I have all the gear including cable toner to trace the right cables and fix this for you but I am
guessing your in Auckland not Wellington

Unfortunately - yes, in Auckland. Am wondering if somehow the grey cable has been damaged, as I reckon I've tried most combinations - it's bloody time consuming with the jack I want to test downstairs!!

nztim

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#2413898 6-Feb-2020 22:25

dmrauckland:
nztim:

I have all the gear including cable toner to trace the right cables and fix this for you but I am
guessing your in Auckland not Wellington

Unfortunately - yes, in Auckland. Am wondering if somehow the grey cable has been damaged, as I reckon I've tried most combinations - it's bloody time consuming with the jack I want to test downstairs!!

https://www.cablemax.co.nz/products/ct-tone05

get yourself one of these, it sends a frequency down the cable which the toner can pick up, will help you detect breaks etc

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

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dmrauckland

15 posts

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#2413901 6-Feb-2020 22:30

nztim: https://www.cablemax.co.nz/products/ct-tone05

get yourself one of these, it sends a frequency down the cable which the toner can pick up, will help you detect breaks etc

Thanks, I’m probably being really dense, but I don’t know where the Grey cable goes, so can’t hook anything up to the other end of it to test? Sorry if I’ve missed the point 🤪

michaelmurfy

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#2413903 6-Feb-2020 22:34

Instead of doing that just flick a message to @coffeebaron who can get everything fixed up for you and at the same time ensure you're getting the best speeds from your VDSL connection.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

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nztim

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#2413908 6-Feb-2020 23:03

dmrauckland:
nztim: https://www.cablemax.co.nz/products/ct-tone05

get yourself one of these, it sends a frequency down the cable which the toner can pick up, will help you detect breaks etc

Thanks, I’m probably being really dense, but I don’t know where the Grey cable goes, so can’t hook anything up to the other end of it to test? Sorry if I’ve missed the point 🤪

It is probably going to the ETP (white Telecom box on the side of your house)
It looks like you have a mix or jack points some wired in series and the others in a star it could do with a cleanup. As @michaelmurfy said get someone local in AK to fix it up for you :)

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

richms

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#2413913 7-Feb-2020 00:00

If you still have sockets working, and the alarm is now disconnected from the line totally then it was never installed correctly to be ahead of all the phone outlets.

There is clearly some other connections happening somewhere and it would be best to get the alarm correctly connected as the first thing on the line if you are planning on continuing to get copper phone service and an alarm that uses it for a long time.

Richard rich.ms

Bung

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#2413932 7-Feb-2020 06:51

That's assuming that the alarm does "line grab". It may not, I'm surprised it didn't detect the loss of connection originally and local alarm.

As you have a meter there should be dc volts across the working pair in the grey cable. I've spent a lot of years forgetting this but seem to recall red/white, blue/green & orange/black being normal pairs but try any combination.