Land line phone

[abunaitoo]

Having trouble with one of my phones.
It seems to be shorted someplace.
Phone rings for a split second continuously. I un-plugged it.
I replaced it with another one I had.
Stopped ringing, but phone not letting calls come in.
Changed the wire, but something is still wrong.
I probably mixed up the wires.
Anyone know what the color code, for the wires, should be????
4 wires black, green, red, yellow.
All the other phones work fine.

[JimB..]

Take a quick look at the back of a jack that is working, copy that.

Sorry, it’s been too long since I had to wire a jack.

[kodiak1]

Have a cell phone? Don't need the land line for a fax or something else?
Tell your provider Bye Bye and save the monthly cost..
Did it six years ago and never looked back.
Had 3 land lines House, Buisness and Fax costing 400 to 450 a month. Not no more, bumped up my cell plan everyone is more than happy to email you what they want you to have.

[jmort]

Get Magic Jack for VOIP aka internet home phone for around $2 a month.
If you are self-employed you can write off you cell phone if you have a home phone.

[abunaitoo]

Found a diagram on-line.
I have a cell phone. Old one. Only use it to call out in emergencies while on the road.

[RED BEAR]

keep the land line. i wouldn't have a cell phone. wife has one for emergency. i gave her number to gun store while waiting for an instant check. when call came she could not figure how to answer it. needles to say it gets used a lot.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

The red and green are the two that matter. Only two wires got to the central office. If you reverse them the phone will still work but the red should be first.

[RU shooter]

Have a cell phone? Don't need the land line for a fax or something else?
Tell your provider Bye Bye and save the monthly cost..
Did it six years ago and never looked back.
Had 3 land lines House, Buisness and Fax costing 400 to 450 a month. Not no more, bumped up my cell plan everyone is more than happy to email you what they want you to have.
Not always the case , our local provider for phone cable and Internet actually reduced our bill by 12 bucks a month to have a land line in a package deal with the net and cable ! We told them sure we'll do it , they hooked it up we had it about a month got nothing but robo calls on it so we just unplugged the phone BUT we're still paying 12 bucks less a month .

[trapper9260]

I got a land line and no cell. A cell would not last for how I am and might kill it or lost it. So for now I stay with the land line.

[Boaz]

[QUOTE=jmort;4369898]Get Magic Jack for VOIP aka internet home phone for around $2 a month.
If you are self-employed you can write off you cell phone if you have a home phone.[/QUOTE

I agree . Bought a $39.00 Magic Jack at Walmart 5 years ago ...has never failed . So up to now have saved ..$2553.60 !

[smokeywolf]

Same exact thing happened to our land line phone about 3 weeks ago. Had to unplug it. I don't believe in coincidence.

[Wayne Smith]

We're keeping the land line. After a hurricane it's about the only thing that works!

[Reddirt62]

We're keeping the land line. After a hurricane it's about the only thing that works!That is why we kept ours for years (finally dropped it) but due to tornadoes. We live just north of Moore, OK.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Greg G.]

Red and Green are whats called the tip and ring, old terminology from when operators would move cables to connect calls. You should be able to measure 48 volts DC between them and about 270 volts AC when a call comes in, AKA ring voltage. If no 48 volts then they might have used yellow and black. They used to power the lighted Princes phones with them or use them for a second line in a house. If no 48 volts then broken wire somewhere between your phone and your service drop.

[MrWolf]

My cell signal is bad in these mountains - I had to put up my own tower. Landline us for emergencies and actually having a conversation without being stuck near tower. Just bought wireless phones that connect via Bluetooth to house phones. Works great as cell can sit in one spot. Cell also provides my internet for the house. Verizon unlimited plan. I get as good internet speed on that as do folks with the old copper lines in this area.

[birch]

Land line owners with no cell phones are the last of a breed. These folks are free and still know what it is like to miss a call because they are outside mowing the lawn or will call back after they are done eating. I am happy to be one of them.

However........since so few customers are using land lines, the telephone companies do not really care if folks are having problems. You can get through after you wait for about 45 minutes, and then the company takes its sweet time getting to your house to fix the problem.

.......but then again, when the phone line is down, you don't get calls during dinner. Ahhhhhhhhhhh..........smells like the late nineties where I am sitting.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Red and Green are whats called the tip and ring, old terminology from when operators would move cables to connect calls. You should be able to measure 24 volts DC between them and about 270 volts AC when a call comes in, AKA ring voltage. If no 24 volts then they might have used yellow and black. They used to power the lighted Princes phones with them or use them for a second line in a house. If no 24 volts then broken wire somewhere between your phone and your service drop.
Written like a true phone man. I have not heard the words tip & ring since retiring. Tip referred to the tip of the plug used on switchboards. Ring referred to the brass ring found on the plug. I installed and worked on switchboards for many years. Of course that was a long time ago.

[Greg G.]

Written like a true phone man. I have not heard the words tip & ring since retiring. Tip referred to the tip of the plug used on switchboards. Ring referred to the brass ring found on the plug. I installed and worked on switchboards for many years. Of course that was a long time ago.

My first job was fixing circuit cards for a company the made PBX systems for hotel/motel phone systems. That was back when they payed you to fix electronics instead of throwing it out and buying a new one.:smile:

[NyFirefighter357]

The problem with hard phone lines provided by the cable provider is the signal is digital and converted at the box in the panel. Polarity matters and depending on the service the phone may work one way but not the other. I.E. Have tone & can call out but doesn't ring on incoming calls. IF you don't have a tester like I do, find the two wires that get you dial tone if your still having problems reverse them. When we first got cable/internet/phone we had a problem with not getting incoming calls, I found the polarity was reversed with my phone line tester and once reversed it worked just fine.

[abunaitoo]

i think I found the problem.
The phone jack is all corroded.
I think it maybe shorting the wires. Red and green.
Since Radio Shack closed, don't have a go-to place for stuff like that.
I'll need to drive to town and see if Home Depot or Lowes has it.

[waksupi]

i think I found the problem.
The phone jack is all corroded.
I think it maybe shorting the wires. Red and green.
Since Radio Shack closed, don't have a go-to place for stuff like that.
I'll need to drive to town and see if Home Depot or Lowes has it.

Ask your local phone company.

[Rick N Bama]

The standard for the 4 conductor wire is to use Red & Green for the dial tone. Voltage between the two conductors should be 48vdc when idle and 100+vac when ringing. At least that's the way it worked for the Bell/AT&T Companies. It's been 16 years since I retired from the Phone "Factory", but I still remember the color codes.

[Rick N Bama]

The standard for the 4 conductor wire is to use Red & Green for the dial tone. Voltage between the two conductors should be 48vdc when idle and 100+vac when ringing. At least that's the way it worked for the Bell/AT&T Companies. It's been 16 years since I retired from the Phone "Factory", but I still remember the color codes.

Lowe's Home Depot and maybe Walmart will have a replacement jack.

[Greg G.]

The standard for the 4 conductor wire is to use Red & Green for the dial tone. Voltage between the two conductors should be 48vdc when idle and 100+vac when ringing. At least that's the way it worked for the Bell/AT&T Companies. It's been 16 years since I retired from the Phone "Factory", but I still remember the color codes.

Lowe's Home Depot and maybe Walmart will have a replacement jack.

You are correct, been a long time since i worked on that stuff. Don't know why I said 24 volt tip to ring, we ran a + and - 24 vdc power supplies connected ground to hot to make 48 volts dc, getting old I guess.[smilie=b:

[GOPHER SLAYER]

If your red & green wires were shorted it would not cause the phone to ring. It would make your line permanently busy. I have no idea what is going on with your phone line to cause the phone to ring continually.

[William Yanda]

Thanks for the tip. I recently called on a client who's phone was out. Opening the jack, one wire was broken. choice of blue, blue w/white and one other. I connected the orange to the red, blue to the green and got a dial tone. Client was very thankful. If the phone co had come out to do what I did in 10 minutes or less it would have been $80.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

You are correct, been a long time since i worked on that stuff. Don't know why I said 24 volt tip to ring, we ran a + and - 24 vdc power supplies connected ground to hot to make 48 volts dc, getting old I guess.[smilie=b:
Let's pray you will never forget. blue-orange-green-brown-slate.

[Rick N Bama]

Let's pray you will never forget. blue-orange-green-brown-slate.

As well as "Why Run Backwards You Varmint" :bigsmyl2:

[jimlj]

Land line owners with no cell phones are the last of a breed. These folks are free and still know what it is like to miss a call because they are outside mowing the lawn or will call back after they are done eating. I am happy to be one of them.

However........since so few customers are using land lines, the telephone companies do not really care if folks are having problems. You can get through after you wait for about 45 minutes, and then the company takes its sweet time getting to your house to fix the problem.

.......but then again, when the phone line is down, you don't get calls during dinner. Ahhhhhhhhhhh..........smells like the late nineties where I am sitting.
News Flash!!!!
This can be done with cell phones as well. When I'm not traveling, mine sits on the counter next to the wall where the land line phone used to be. I answer it if I'm expecting a call from someone I want to talk to. The ringer is easily shut off when I don't want to be bothered. Cell phones are handy when you break the flange on your exhaust pipe where it connects to the turbo, on a Sunday afternoon, at Walcott Junction, middle of nowhere Wyoming. Land lines are worthless in that situation.

I have a message that states "If your call is important to you, leave a message. If it's important to me, I'll call back"