Phone/ASDL Secondry Socket

[Davelesley1944]

I have installed a secondry socket (extension from main socket) with a phone port and an ASDL port. The ASDL port is working fine but the phone will not work from the phone socket. The same phone will work from the master box and did work from the extension box until recently. I have changed the extension box but to no avail. Has anyone any idea why this should be?
Many thanks.

[Keef]

Sounds like either a bad connection in the extension wiring, or a duff ADSL filter in the extension socket.

I've scrapped several filters over the years: some are duff on arrival, some die in service.

[jimtherev]

You might try changing the two main wires over (2 & 5 on the master, if memory serves correctly.) Shouldn't make any difference, but I've heard in the past where a particular make of phone objects to connection the 'wrong' way round. Worth a try, at least...

[mixture]

Davelesley1944,

Is it definitely a secondary socket and not a master socket you're trying to install as a secondary ?

[BOAC]

did work from the extension box until recently - chances are Keef wins the cigar.

Dave - unplug the ADSL and the filter and try the phone.

[Ancient Observer]

I recently had problems with my phone line as it comes in to the house. Everything looked fine, and my tinkering did no good at all.

I got a BT engineer in who, most unusually, appeared to know his stuff.

He simply shortened a couple of the leads and put them back in. It worked. Weird, huh! I always wondered why phone engineers left so much spare wires inside connection boxes.

He said that not-quite-complete connections that looked perfectly OK were a common fault.
Whilst not an issue for me, he added that another common fault was that wires that looked OK could have a break in them that could not be seen. His solution for that was to prove that a wire worked somewhere else, and then to replace it, making sure that complete connections were made.

[Davelesley1944]

No its is definitely a secondary ASDL wall socket.

Yes that was what I was hoping for so I bought a new socket.

Unfortunately the filter is built into the socket.

Yes I think it looks like a rewire job.

[The Flying Pram]

He simply shortened a couple of the leads and put them back in. It worked.The length was unlikely to have made any difference, but assuming the box used push-in IDC connections they may have been the problem. I was a BT engineer for 23 years, and regularly encountered poor/intermittent connections with this type of socket & terminal block. Almost invariably it was due to the wrong insertion tool being used. People would try anything, including screwdriver blades, as the "proper" tools were not easy to get hold of, and expensive for just the one job. Unfortunately this tended to permanently bend the two metal contacts apart, so they wouldn't bite through the insulation and make a good contact. These terminals are also not designed to accept more than two wires (or the third one won't make a reliable contact). Nevertheless finding 3 or sometimes 4 was not unusual!

The polarity shouldn't make a difference - the ringing current is AC, so phones have to cope in any case. IF there is a fault with the speech & dialling circuit it may be a problem, but that would be rare. As pointed out above, the filter is built in with a combined phone/ADSL socket, so can't be changed. Like Keef I've had faulty examples of these units. Can you try a plain phone socket on the wires, to see if that works O.K? A cheap, disposable insertion tool is normally supplied with DIY phone jacks/wiring kits, so there is no excuse to bugger up the slots now!

Also note that the bell/ringer circuit, which used to be supplied from the "master" socket is now part of each filter. This means only two wires are needed between master and any secondaries. Removing the existing wire (terminal 3) is recommended, as this will often improve the broadband speed.

[Ancient Observer]

I agree that it wasn't the length it was the connections.

[dazdaz1]

The Flying Pram..... (off topic sorry) Can one still call the operator, tell them your a T/O on detachment and request to make a (free) service call? :E

[The Flying Pram]

@ dazdaz1 - I VERY much doubt it!!! You are showing your age:D

I got out in '96 - I could see the writing on the wall, when they started actively recruiting graduates to fill management posts, stating "no experience needed". I don't recognise any of the Openreach engineers I see about these days. I believe they are mostly taken on and sent out into the big, wild, world after a few weeks training. The handful of former colleagues I know, who are still in the company, are keeping their heads down until they can claim a pension:(