Telephone socket replacement

webrits

I'm in the process of replacing the old Master phone socket in our house. Currently there is one of those plug-in extension jobbies in the existing master that extends off to another socket in another room.
My question is can I do away with the plug-in extender and wire both the incoming line and extension line into the back of the master socket? I was thinking the ring capacitor and surge arrester may mess up the extension.

Thanks !

Mr_Grumpy_7

Not legally.

Before you can install your own extension wiring you need to have an NTE5 master socket or similar. This socket allows to install additional wiring without touching BT's wiring. You should not connect directly to BT's wiring, but should instead connect to the front plate.

Take a look at:
http://www.wppltd.demon.co.uk/WPP/Wiring/UK_telephone/uk_telephone.html

Hope this helps!

star1_2

Strictly speaking your phone supplier will want you to retain the Split/Master (if you have one) as the incomming termination for their line from the Street.

If you just have a plain master, you can "punch down" the wiring from any Surface adaptor, on the rear of the socket.

There line will come in from your phone company and terminate on connections 2 and 4. Your onward extensions then connect to 2, 4 and then 3 - this process just be repeated throughout the house to the extensions.

You can repeat this as many times as you wish, either directly from the master, or onwards from extensions. The only thing you need to make sure is that the REN (Ringer equilivant number of connected devices, does not exceed 3-4 REN total), as thats about the maximum voltage that the phone company provides. Unless a device specifies it, assume that a phone, an answering machine etc - each has a REN of 1.0

YorkshireBoy

star1 wrote:

There line will come in from your phone company and terminate on connections 2 and 4. Your onward extensions then connect to 2, 4 and then 3 - this process just be repeated throughout the house to the extensions.

Hi star1,

I think you've posted this before recently? Are you sure it's 2 & 4?

I ask because I've done a lot of telephone work in the past (although none recently) and it was 2 & 5 then.

Indeed, a quick google search seems to indicate that it is 2 & 5, not 2 & 4 as you have stated.

star1_2

YorkshireBoy wrote:

Hi star1,

I think you've posted this before recently? Are you sure it's 2 & 4?

I ask because I've done a lot of telephone work in the past (although none recently) and it was 2 & 5 then.

Indeed, a quick google search seems to indicate that it is 2 & 5, not 2 & 4 as you have stated.

Thanks - yes - my fault .... 5.

Done so many of the things in my time - I never bother looking at the numbers - just krone down the opposites ....

manic

I'm having problems with my broadband & I think it may be a dodgy telephone connection.

My provider has advised me to connect my modem to my master socket (the NTE5 type), but I don't have one. I have the type shown first on the link posted by Mr Grumpy earlier.

This "master" socket does not connect directly to the BT line. The BT line comes from the pole to a "hook" under my guttering, then into a little white box on the outside of my house, a wire comes out of this box into the house under the floor in my bedroom. This wire then goes into another little white box (approx. 5 x 3cm) attached to terminals 2 & 5. Three other wires then come out of this box, each attached to terminals 2,3 & 5. I have established that these wires are for 2 extensions & the "master" socket.

The whole installation looks shabby & I was wondering if I can sort it out myself. I can get a new Austin Taylor NTE5 box (£6.46) & a new joint box, either BT (£3.50) or Austin Taylor (£2.50), from RS components.

Are there any issues with this, as the wire from the pole goes into a box outside my house & I will only be dealing with the wire inside my house.

Also, should the "master" socket I have at present really have been treated like just another extension.

Finally, if I do it, should I replace the old "master" with an ordinary extension socket.

Thanks.

Mr_Grumpy_7

Strictly speaking you need the NTE5 type of socket before you can start doing your own extension wiring. The reason for this is that the extension wiring is connected to the front plate of the NTE5 socket which is then attached to the back plate, thus connecting your wiring to the telephone network. Removing the front plate then isolates your extension wiring from the telephone network.

With your problem I would check all the connections are clean and secure, especially the one on the outside of the house. Also check the wiring... All of the sockets should be connected together using 2,3 & 5. One of these sockets should be the 'master' with C1 still connected. The other sockets should have C1 removed. The wiring from outside should then be connected to 2 & 3 on any socket.

If you were planning to DIY, I would buy some 6 core telephone cable, a new junction box for outside, a new NTE5 socket, and new extension sockets. Run the new wiring, connect the new NTE5 and extension sockets, and finally connect to the telephone network using the new junction box. I would remove the front panel of the NTE5 socket when doing the final connection to the network.

Hope this helps.

manic

Mr Grumpy.

Thanks for the advice.

Firstly, What is C1 that you refer to?

After reading the details on the link you posted, it is even more clear that the wiring has been bodged. There are multiple wires on the same terminal in the IDC junction box, where there should only be one per terminal.

I think that I will redo it myself & put a NTE5 box where the cable comes into my bedroom & then wire the extensions off of that. This will give me one master socket with 3 extensions.

Also, what type should the extension sockets be? I assume it would be one of the secondary types listed below (depending on the size i fancy!).

http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/searchBrowseAction.do?N=4294956537&name=SiteStandard&in_dim_search=1&callingPage=/jsp/line/line.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@0682350059.1156419874@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccjaddijgkdidhcefeceefdffhdgmo.0&cacheID=uknetscape&Nr=avl:uk

Finally, do i wire all 3 extensions into the NTE5 box, or take one wire from that into a junction box, then the 3 extensions from that?

Many thanks.

Mr_Grumpy_7

Hi Manic

C1 is a capacitor used for the ring circuit. If you connect a socket using just 2 & 3 you will need C1 otherwise the phone will not ring. On an extension socket you connect 5 in addition to 2 & 3, you can therefore remove C1.

For extension sockets you can use either master or secondary. The only difference will be that on the secondary, C1 will have been removed. In the past, BT engineers just carried master sockets and would remove C1 if they required a secondary socket.

You can connect all 3 extensions into the NTE5 socket, or run a cable to the first extension, and then onto the second, etc. etc. Be aware though that the suppliers of broadband modems often state that the telephone connection should be have as short a cable run as possible. The best way to achieve this would be to either make the first socket where you connect your modem, or connect the extension used for your modem connection directly to the NTE5 socket. If you take the first option, then you can purchase an NTE5 socket with a built in filter for all your extension sockets. This would save you having to use individual filters on your extension sockets to connect your normal phones.

manic

Thanks for your help.

Is there any place other than RS components that I could obtain the parts from?

Mr_Grumpy_7

manic wrote:

Thanks for your help.

Is there any place other than RS components that I could obtain the parts from?

You could try Maplin.