BT junction box

thebullsback

Hi all,in our home we have a very old BT junction box ( BT cable comes in house then goes into this box before going to phone socket ) its old and unsightly .Can I change this box or better still solder a new length of cable on to the BT cable from outside ?
I say BT cable but Im actually with EE.
Any advice please .

teddysmum

When we first had our line, some 30 years ago, there were not enough connections on the pole, so a large box was fitted next to the usual socket. After a while, BT removed it, but I don't remember whether this was the result of my request or their offering, as it was so long ago .

Roland_Sausage

You're not meant to and if the line ever develops a fault that requires an engineer visit and it was obvious that there was a DIY work done on it it would potentially be chargeable.

Saying that, it's easily enough done and if you did it properly nobody would know it was a DIY job.

If you wanted to do it properly, remove the old box and note which of the internal wires are connected to which wires coming from outside (specifically terminals 2 and 5 if numbered as any others don't matter)

Then replace it with one of these. Pull the circuit board out of it (it's not needed) and crimp the wires together with a couple of these. Then screw the lid on.

Whatever you do, don't use solder to do the job.

Buzby

It is still BT's cable! As it is upstream of the Master Socket, technically it is something you have no right to interfere with. Whilst you may undertake the work and 'get away' with it, there remains a risk if something goes wrong and there is a call out, you will be hit with the full cost of regularising the modification, and this could happen at any time in the future.

Only you can decide if it was worth the risk.

teddysmum

Perhaps, contact BT and say you are concerned about possible electrical faults in something so old ? They may wish to remove it in case they are considered liable for any accident it causes.

Scrounger

Roland_Sausage wrote: »

If you wanted to do it properly, remove the old box and note which of the internal wires are connected to which wires coming from outside (specifically terminals 2 and 5 if numbered as any others don't matter)

Then replace it with one of these. Pull the circuit board out of it (it's not needed) and crimp the wires together with a couple of these. Then screw the lid on.

Or use one of these:



Scrounger

Roland_Sausage

Scrounger wrote: »

Or use one of these:



Scrounger

These are meant for external use and wouldn't be used inside a house. Also BT no longer use them.

They're also a lot larger than the one I mentioned, and the OP was concerned about the cosmetics of it.

Scrounger

Roland_Sausage wrote: »

These are meant for external use and wouldn't be used inside a house.

Agreed; the op mentioned that he would rather have the joint outside of the house:

thebullsback wrote: »

... or better still solder a new length of cable on to the BT cable from outside?

This looks like the little brown box that BT fitted to the outside of my house and it comes with crimps.

Scrounger

Roland_Sausage

Maybe I misunderstood but I assumed that the cable comes in from outside, goes into this box and where it joins to the internal cable, and the OP wants to replace this box with a new joint on the inside.

Either way, if he wants to do it to BT standards he would still need the joint on the inside as internal cable is not meant to be used outside and external cable is not meant to come more than a short distance into the property.

Also, the brown boxes are no longer used and black sausage shaped waterproof closures are used instead.

Scrounger

Alternatively, replace the internal junction box with a NTE5A Socket and run the extensions from that:


It works for me. :beer:
Scrounger

Buzby

Roland_Sausage wrote: »

These are meant for external use and wouldn't be used inside a house. Also BT no longer use them.

They're also a lot larger than the one I mentioned, and the OP was concerned about the cosmetics of it.

This is an internal box, NOT external. It is where the external dropwire changes to internal. There is no waterproofing, and the terminals would rust quickly. Indeed, the picture is of a generic block (no BT logo) and would be easily spotted as a DIY conversion.