Saturday, October 27, 2012

Wiring

Several months ago, we noticed that the cordless phone, whose base is plugged into a kitchen socket, was having static problems -- sometimes, severe static problems.  Another phone, plugged into a socket in a different room for the same phone number, did not have problems. At first, we thought that the problem was with the phone itself -- the other phone being plugged in was a regular landline handset - but after plugging the landline handset into the kitchen socket -- static -- and the cordless base into the other socket - no static - we concluded that it must be something to do with the physical wire from the junction box to the kitchen socket.

I just poked my head into the attic crawlspace. Oh yeah, I forgot - , we have layer of blown-in insulation up there. We suspect that when the guys were doing that, they did something to that wire.  So, we think, replace the wire.  How hard can that be?

When we had the kitchen remoded, I got to go up into the attic, pull the wire across the rafters, and drop it down into the channel where the new socket would be.  It wasn't easy, but it wasn't incredibly difficult.  Now I'm fifteen years older, twenty pounds - easily - heavier, and much less limber. Plus, of course, there is blown-in insulation everywhere.

I am sure that it's possible.  Got any trained chimps?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

No but I can tell you from experience you need to be careful. Sometimes it both easier and cheaper to have someone do it for you.

Cerulean Bill said...

Oh, i agree. Trick is finding who.

Tabor said...

Trained mouse is more likely and I did see a show on that actually.

Unknown said...

As an ex-telephone-installer, I can definitely recommend bill's advice. If you're not sure of what you're doing - it can be a painful (and often expensive) lesson in "how not to do it".

Anyway, crackling is almost always at either end of the wire. If the phone is old enough (and that can be difficult to ascertain), it has a carbon-particle microphone; they crackle like nobody's business when they get old. Otherwise, it's more likely to be an oxidized connection - get some wet-n-dry (go to an Ace hardware, where you can generally find someone who will understand what you need) and rub the contact points gently. (Note: it is a bit irritatingly difficult.) If possible, strip a bit more wire and redo the connection. Wrap the wire clockwise - the same way as the screw threads.

if the other end is not a screw connection, you might need a little plastic doo-hickey. Or ask at the same Ace hardware. (You might get lucky at a Home Depot; I've had one or two retired tradesmen give me solid advice - not so much at Lowes. I've noticed those guys work the late shift.) The doo-hickey is much more expensive than it needs to be, but it's cheaper than an electrician. There should be no reason to change the actual wire!

If it's the phone jack, it really depends on what you buy to replace it. The ones at the Home Depot are easy, bit useless. The ones you can get at Lowes are more expensive, but I've noticed they tend to last longer. And, unless they're on some sort of cost-cutting binge, they come with a little plastic tool (aka the plastic doo-hickey) to push the wire into the connector.

Wire doesn't usually go bad - connections, however, do. (Wire that's wrapped in insulation should *never* go bad!) It's probably the jack - the connectors are little springs and they tend to lose their tension after awhile. Change that for a few dollars before trying to change the wire! (And if you need more information, leave me a note on my blog and I'll do what I can to help. I expect to be chained to my laptop for the next few days. Unless the power goes out - which is entirely possible, and even probable.)

Cerulean Bill said...

We have some wire, and before we go to great lengths, we're going to take about 4 feet of it, replace the connection with a new one, clip into a freestanding socket, and see what the result is. One thing that surprised me whenI looked at the socket was that only two of the wires are in use (at least, on this end....)

Unknown said...

That's right - it should be a red/black pair, or a white-blue/blue-white pair. (It can be anything, as long as it's the same on both ends!)