Hi, I want to add another extension to an existing jack, but I must be missing something, because the connections just aren't being made. Any suggestions as to what I might be missing? Do I need additional washers on the screws?
I haven't been inside a phone jack in a looong time, but usually 4 wires, red, green, yellow, black. In most cases only the red and green are used. This may be a dumb question, but did you strip the wires? There are some jacks that pierce the insulation, but if its a regular screw jack, the wires must be stripped of insulation. Its surprising how many wiring jobs I have fixed where someone did not know to strip the wire.
Another hint: examine a jack that works. If there are only two wires, those are the ones you need. Note their color and make sure you are connected to those two wires at some point in your house. You may need to trace back to a central wiring point in your house. If there are more than two wires in the working jack, note the colors of the two wires that end up at the two center contacts of your standard modular plug. Those are the ones that carry the phone signal.
Thanks Nick. Actually, the wires have changed, but there are numerous diagrams on the internet as to how to place the wires. The jack is a working jack, as I have a phone already connected there, and I have another wire running from that jack to another jack, which is also working, but an attempt to put another wire for another phone at a different location is proving to be challenging. I did strip the wires, as per the instructions I have seen,
Its hard to guess without seeing it. It sounds like you know how to wire a jack up. So that leaves me to guess that the other end of the wires are not going to the right point in your home. You don't have a volt meter do you? The proper two wires will have about 45 volts DC across them. Without a meter, you could rig up a tester with a corded phone plugged into a loose jack with some short wire scraps attached to the jack for test leads. With this, you can find dial tone at various connection points along your wires' path to the source point where it enters your house. Just chase that dial tone. You should definately get dial tone where it comes in the house and then follow your wires to the new jack, testing for dial tone at any connection points you find along the way. If this is old existing wiring, it might not be continuous to the main connection. It might stop by other jacks in the house and not connected properly behind the jack. If its a single run of new wire that you bought, its not unheard of to have a bad length of wire. Be very careful if you do this and be sure that you are only touching phone wires. Good luck.
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