Hi!

K *We have two telephone lines in our house. Line #1 feeds two phones
K and both phones work fine. Previously, I took the red, green, black
K and red wires from each of the two phones, twisted them together and
^^^
That should be yellow - typo?

K attached them to the corresponding posts in the box outside.
K *Line #2 feeds four phones and recently I've started having no dial
K tone on any of the four phones on line #2. (They were hooked up just
K like the phones on line #1) All I get is a sort of sound like a phone
K is off the hook and also occasional feedback.

If you did use a black/red combination may have worked until a phone
from both lines were used simultaneously. (I'm guessing here.)


K *I went outside and individually attached the four wires from each of
K the four phones onto the proper terminals and each time, each phone
K got a dial tone. Then I twisted the wires from the four phones all
K together (color-coded, of course), attached them to the proper
K terminals and I'm right back to no dial tone and the weird sounds
K mentioned above. What gives?

Is there a cordless phone and/or answering machine on Line #2? A
surge on the electric line (the wall outlet - 120v) could do some
oddball things to the device, and since it is connected to the
telephone line....

Though the problem is with Line 2 the error could be in Line 1's
wiring if Line 2's wiring is connected through. (If you had
considered a two-line phone in a location this may have been done.)
As someone else suggested, disconnect either the line feeding a
telphone jack or disconnect the line cord from the telephone one at a
time to see if this clears the problem. Disconnecting the line cord
will test from the disconnect point to the phone, not the in-wall
wiring, of course.

Do you have any pets who may have gnawed on the wiring, or a wire
running under the carpet or throw-rug? The wire could have been worn
through, causing a problem.

One test I've used is the "blow test": blow into the mouthpiece and
should hear a whooshing noise in the earpiece if there is power to the
telephone. (May or may not work for cordless phones.) If the wire is
disconnected or shorted you won't hear the sound.

-
¯ barry.martinþATþthesafebbs.zeppole.com ®

* I just steal 'em, I don't explain 'em.
---
þ RoseReader 2.52á P003186
þ The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA 563-359-1971
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXMod V1.13 at BBSWORLD *

(barry martin) wrote in message news:1561832631.3630.68.6132529.1789959139.RIMEGa ...
Hi!

K *We have two telephone lines in our house. Line #1 feeds two phones
K and both phones work fine. Previously, I took the red, green, black
K and red wires from each of the two phones, twisted them together and
^^^
That should be yellow - typo?

K attached them to the corresponding posts in the box outside.
K *Line #2 feeds four phones and recently I've started having no dial
K tone on any of the four phones on line #2. (They were hooked up just
K like the phones on line #1) All I get is a sort of sound like a phone
K is off the hook and also occasional feedback.

If you did use a black/red combination may have worked until a phone
from both lines were used simultaneously. (I'm guessing here.)


K *I went outside and individually attached the four wires from each of
K the four phones onto the proper terminals and each time, each phone
K got a dial tone. Then I twisted the wires from the four phones all
K together (color-coded, of course), attached them to the proper
K terminals and I'm right back to no dial tone and the weird sounds
K mentioned above. What gives?

Is there a cordless phone and/or answering machine on Line #2? A
surge on the electric line (the wall outlet - 120v) could do some
oddball things to the device, and since it is connected to the
telephone line....

Though the problem is with Line 2 the error could be in Line 1's
wiring if Line 2's wiring is connected through. (If you had
considered a two-line phone in a location this may have been done.)
As someone else suggested, disconnect either the line feeding a
telphone jack or disconnect the line cord from the telephone one at a
time to see if this clears the problem. Disconnecting the line cord
will test from the disconnect point to the phone, not the in-wall
wiring, of course.

Do you have any pets who may have gnawed on the wiring, or a wire
running under the carpet or throw-rug? The wire could have been worn
through, causing a problem.

One test I've used is the "blow test": blow into the mouthpiece and
should hear a whooshing noise in the earpiece if there is power to the
telephone. (May or may not work for cordless phones.) If the wire is
disconnected or shorted you won't hear the sound.

-
¯ barry.martinþATþthesafebbs.zeppole.com ®

* I just steal 'em, I don't explain 'em.
---
þ RoseReader 2.52á P003186
þ The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA 563-359-1971
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXMod V1.13 at BBSWORLD *

************************************************** **************

Thanks all for the input. A few clarifications.

1--There are 4 phones connected to Line #2 of the outside box.

2--3 of the 4 phones are cordless.

3--At the outside box, Line #2 has 4 screw terminals that are
color-coded red, yellow, black and green.

4--The cables from each of the 4 phones mentioned above each contain 4
wires...red, yellow, black and green.

5--Prior to attaching the wires to the outside color-coded terminals,
I twisted all the red wires together from the 4 cables, all the green
wires together from the 4 cables, all the yellow wires together from
the 4 cables and all the black wires together from the 4 cables.

6--I then attached each of the 4 (now ONE) color-coded wires to the
corresponding color-coded terminals at the outside box. This is
EXACTLY how the phones have been hooked up to the outside box for the
past 13 years without a problem.

7--I now have 2 (both are cordless variety) of the 4 phones hooked up
to the outside box as mentioned above and have dial tones on both.
Guess the problem may lie in one or both of the other two. More
testing tomorrow.

-KCB