Any telecoms experts/engineers?

mmj_uk · 10 Jan 2013 at 16:06

Our phones have stopped working downstairs, upstairs seems fine...

Looked at the box outside and besides it resembling a spaghetti junction, I managed to clean all of the dirt off the 20 year old wires and make this high class diagram:

Assuming it's not just a loose connection in one of the cable joiner things is there anything wrong with this circuit and can anyone please show me what? there are a couple of loose wires and I have my suspicions but don't want to mess without absolute certainty.

Thanks.

mmj_uk · 10 Jan 2013 at 16:54

Nobody know then?

Should there be a blue+white wire coming out of the cable which isn't working and plugged in somewhere?

ZG002 · 10 Jan 2013 at 16:56

Have you done any recent work?

mmj_uk · 10 Jan 2013 at 17:01

The box lid was knocked off yesterday and I think I might have trapped one of the telephone wires putting it back on, or maybe something got pulled out when I was scrunching them up to go back in.

There's a loose blue and white wire hanging from the line which isn't working so I'm thinking that might have gone somewhere? as the line which is working has 3 wires connected to the circuit.

peterattheboro · 10 Jan 2013 at 17:05

You should have blue and white/blue connected on line 1+2. The orange is just the ringer wire.

From the looks of the diagram you only have 1 blue connected.

Typically you'd have a BT line coming in (blue and white/blue) to the back of the master socket. From there you'd then connect your extensions. Blue to 2, orange to 3 and blue/white to 5. Match them up on the other end of the line.

The orange isn't required if you have a phone that uses AC mains but if it's an old phone then that's what makes it ring.

mmj_uk · 10 Jan 2013 at 17:08

peterintheghetto said:
You should have blue and white/blue connected on line 1+2. The orange is just the ringer wire.

From the looks of the diagram you only have 1 blue connected.

Typically you'd have a BT line coming in (blue and white/blue) to the back of the master socket. From there you'd then connect your extensions. Blue to 2, orange to 3 and blue/white to 5. Match them up on the other end of the line.

The orange isn't required if you have a phone that uses AC mains but if it's an old phone then that's what makes it ring.

Like this? this is what I was thinking but I wanted a second opinion.

we're on Virgin so most of the wiring is outside in the box, it's one number but we have 3 phones on 2 cables.

peterattheboro · 10 Jan 2013 at 17:10

It's messy but it should work.

You haven't got a master socket as it's star wired.

I hate those

ZG002 · 10 Jan 2013 at 17:11

Yep, Connect that blue and white wire back in with the other blue and white.

mmj_uk · 10 Jan 2013 at 17:13

Ok thank you all.

I will do it tomorrow morning when it's light, it's pitch black outside.

Again many thanks.

mmj_uk · 10 Jan 2013 at 17:14

peterintheghetto said:
It's messy but it should work.

You haven't got a master socket as it's star wired.

I hate those

No idea what star wired is but this was fitted about 20 years ago so times might have changed since then.

leaskovski · 10 Jan 2013 at 17:45

Its star wiring, you really want BT to come out and sort that out for you.

Anyway, you said the junction box got knocked. Thats probably trapped a the cable, and if its old stuff, it might have actually broken a wire hence no dial tone. BT won't sort that out even if they stuck a master socket in without charging you as its inside the property.