Any electricians here? (Hardwiring a cooker advice)
- Thread starter Minnie_the_Minx
- Start date
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Anyway, good news, my friend (who's an electrician of sorts and who disconnected something that caused me to have an electric shock in the bath) finally got back to me and said he'd do it. Unfortunately phone call was interrupted when I was checking what he'd want me to buy.
Derailing my own thread, how easy is it to fit a new faceplate to a telephone socket? When electricians gave me a new plug socket recently, they must have knocked phone socket which is above new socket because shortly thereafter, phone stopped ringing, although the line is fine. I rang Zen and they said it's definitely not the phone line as it works in the tester socket, so it must be the faceplate and I need to replace that.
Phone connection is currently in the tester socket and rings, but that's only a temporary solution
Derailing my own thread, how easy is it to fit a new faceplate to a telephone socket? When electricians gave me a new plug socket recently, they must have knocked phone socket which is above new socket because shortly thereafter, phone stopped ringing, although the line is fine. I rang Zen and they said it's definitely not the phone line as it works in the tester socket, so it must be the faceplate and I need to replace that.
Phone connection is currently in the tester socket and rings, but that's only a temporary solution
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
You may have to get a photo of what you mean.
If you mean the wires have come out of the back of a modern telephone socket, in theory you need a "punch down tool " to force the insulated cores into the bifurcated contacts to make the connections, but you could probably do it without.
On the other hand I doubt such a tool is expensive.
If it was me, I'd twist the wires together.
EDIT :-
62p plus postage !
I wouldn't be surprised if the DIY shop did a faceplate with one of those bundled with it.
Take a photo of which wires go in which slot and / or cut the plate off with some ends left in.
If you mean the wires have come out of the back of a modern telephone socket, in theory you need a "punch down tool " to force the insulated cores into the bifurcated contacts to make the connections, but you could probably do it without.
On the other hand I doubt such a tool is expensive.
If it was me, I'd twist the wires together.
EDIT :-
62p plus postage !
I wouldn't be surprised if the DIY shop did a faceplate with one of those bundled with it.
Take a photo of which wires go in which slot and / or cut the plate off with some ends left in.
Last edited:
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
It depends on the socket. If you're talking about a pukka BT network termination equipment (NTE) socket, it should be a piece of cake assuming they haven't buggered the socket itself, which will make it *marginally* trickier.
A photo would help - it may even be that you don't need anything new.
I'd respectfully suggest that you don't take GG's advice and twist wires together - two reasons. 1., intermittent phone problems are a COMPLETE pain in the arse, and you WILL have intermittent phone problems if you don't punch down the wires properly, and 2. twisting them together almost certainly ends up with you in contact with the wires for a while, and although it's only about 50V, it's still an unpleasant shock to have.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
I'm not exactly sure what the problem is. The wires look intact to me. Not there at the moment so will have to post a picture later.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Is it one of these?
And, out of casual interest, do you have ADSL broadband at the premises?
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Is it one of these?
And, out of casual interest, do you have ADSL broadband at the premises?
Yeah, I'm currently using the test socket. No separate broadband socket
That's not identical though. The wires go towards the left.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
They may go to the right as well though, can't remember 
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
And the front plate (the bit held between finger and thumb in that photo) - is yours exactly like that? One socket?
ETA: I'm having trouble finding anywhere that sells just the single-socket front plate - most of them want to flog you the ADSL splitter one.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Yeah, just one socket, which makes me think, maybe I should install one for broadband, rather than having an adaptor?
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Well, you may as well, yes. So you currently have an ASDL splitter coming out of the test socket, into which your phone and ADSL router are plugged?
Ie., one of these:
?
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
ah, you edited post. Yes, one of those
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Yup. So an NTE5 ADSL filter faceplate will be just the job. Get to it!
They vary quite widely in price - I'm not expert in the finer details to know why or if an expensive one is necessarily better.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Yup. So an NTE5 ADSL filter faceplate will be just the job. Get to it!
They vary quite widely in price - I'm not expert in the finer details to know why or if an expensive one is necessarily better.
Yeah, was just looking at the normal faceplates and big differences in prices. So, are the ADSL ones wired differently?
Oh, not going to Homebase now. My electrician friend told me to wait 'til I have cooker so he can take a look, then he'll just go and get the stuff. Don't know whether he'll go to some rip-off hardware shop or Homebase/B&Q though.
Zen told me Maplins sell faceplates. Would normal hardware shops or Homebase/B&Q sell them as well?
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
I don't know any old electricians, and what about the blue, brown, green and yellow? 
I don't know any old electricians, and what about the blue, brown, green and yellow?
They are only blue, brown, green and yellow outside the walls in your house. They remain the same old black, red and green out of sight of the end user.
It is a ploy by electricians to keep the skills a secret, they are all Luddites by nature.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
Not any wiring done recently.
2004 new regs came in, still some cowboys using up old stock to the last knockings.
This is why they introduced Part P Certification to stop dodgy work being signed off on buildings.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
The ADSL ones incorporate the filter, so you get the POTS (telephone) and ADSL plugs on the front of the plate, instead of having to plug in the microfilter.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Is that so?
Does that mean it's still possible to get old-colour twin-and-earth somewhere, then?
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
I just pulled out old cooker, and have already forgotten what colours they were. I think there was a black one and a red one, or it may have been a brown one and a red one and I can't remember other colour
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Here's my socket
hm, didn't get a very good picture of how wires are connected to the faceplate. Anyway, Zen said a fault was showing up when I used the normal socket, but not when I used the test socket. Normal socket is that bit in the front of the picture with what looks like 6 metal thingies, so I'm guessing that is faulty, or the wiring is loose, but the wires all look like they're going into their little notches
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
It's possible that one of the wires going in there is fractured, or that it isn't punched down properly. Ideally, you'd get (or borrow) a punchdown tool and just go over those connections. Chances are it's not the faceplate, anyway.
Er...do you have any other extensions in the house?
ETA: because, actually, the front socket is connected directly via the built-in plug to the test socket. So the reason you're getting a fault at the exchange is because there's something wrong (probably a short) with the wiring that terminates with those 4 wires onto the IDC punchdown connectors.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
*confused*
So it is the faceplate or is it the wires on the other bit (I'm going to call it the backplate as I don't know what it's called, but the bit that's connected to the wall)
I'm able to use the phone, but it's just that it's not always ringing when connected to the proper socket.
Yes I have another connection in bedroom but that's not worked for years, ever since the housing replaced the windows directly above socket
I went to test that the other day and discovered I couldn't even push up the little "windowy" thing to even plug it in. Maybe someone replaced it one year when electrics were being looked at and I just can't remember it being done. Didn't look like there was any paint on it that had made it stick
Doesn't really matter as I have phone plugged into a normal plug socket, but it's a pain if I rearrange my room and wanted it plugged into that one, but not really a big deal
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
The way it works is this.
BT provide you a telephone circuit. In an attempt to separate "their" bit from yours, they terminate it in one of those NTE5 faceplates. So that "test socket" is BT territory - what plugs into it is yours.
IF you just have one phone, you plug an unadorned front plate in, just like yours, but without the wires. Service is delivered to the front of the plate, as per, and you plug in your phone and call away merrily.
If, however, you want telephone extensions, etc, then that is "your" wiring, and you have it installed in your house, and terminate it on those punchdown connectors (the 6 slots). When you put the faceplate onto the NTE5, your wiring is connected into the telephone circuit. If there is a fault of some kind, the first thing BT will ask you to do (as Zen have) is to take the faceplate off the NTE5 and test the circuit by plugging directly into the BT ("test") socket.
So what Zen are telling you, in effect, is that some aspect of the wiring that terminates on your faceplate, and (presumably) goes somewhere else in your house, is faulty, and is causing a fault to show up at their end. That is almost certainly a short circuit between the pair of wires that provide the phone service.
If you don't have any extensions anywhere else in the house, and don't plan to use any phone sockets elsewhere, you can just pull those wires off the IDC connectors (grab them near the connector and give them a firm tug upwards), and you should find that when you put the faceplate back on, there is no error showing at the exchange.
The alternative is to debug the wiring, which is usually a bit of a pain in the arse if the fault isn't obvious.
BT provide you a telephone circuit. In an attempt to separate "their" bit from yours, they terminate it in one of those NTE5 faceplates. So that "test socket" is BT territory - what plugs into it is yours.
IF you just have one phone, you plug an unadorned front plate in, just like yours, but without the wires. Service is delivered to the front of the plate, as per, and you plug in your phone and call away merrily.
If, however, you want telephone extensions, etc, then that is "your" wiring, and you have it installed in your house, and terminate it on those punchdown connectors (the 6 slots). When you put the faceplate onto the NTE5, your wiring is connected into the telephone circuit. If there is a fault of some kind, the first thing BT will ask you to do (as Zen have) is to take the faceplate off the NTE5 and test the circuit by plugging directly into the BT ("test") socket.
So what Zen are telling you, in effect, is that some aspect of the wiring that terminates on your faceplate, and (presumably) goes somewhere else in your house, is faulty, and is causing a fault to show up at their end. That is almost certainly a short circuit between the pair of wires that provide the phone service.
If you don't have any extensions anywhere else in the house, and don't plan to use any phone sockets elsewhere, you can just pull those wires off the IDC connectors (grab them near the connector and give them a firm tug upwards), and you should find that when you put the faceplate back on, there is no error showing at the exchange.
The alternative is to debug the wiring, which is usually a bit of a pain in the arse if the fault isn't obvious.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Well it was BT who installed sockets (and extension) in the first place, but obviously not them that damaged the wiring. Don't really want to pull them out in case I decide to ever get the one in the bedroom fixed.
That was around 20 years ago though
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Well, first thing is probably to trace along the wiring and note anywhere it looks like it could be damaged - obvious kinks in the cable, places where a staple has squished it down particularly viciously. If there's nothing obvious, it could be a problem in the socket at the far end (which sounds like it needs replacing anyway). Get your electrician mate to take a look in that and see what's going on.
Worst case scenario is that you have to run another length of telephone cable from the NTE5 to wherever you want the extension socket - that's no big deal; it's cheap enough, and not hard to do.
