Phone Socket/Case

finto

Hey All,

My dog chewed off my master phone socket from the wall so my broadband is down. He actually pulled it off the wall so looking at it all the wires are bent.

It deosnt seem to be a standard phone case? It has multiple connections at the back to wire up different types of phones im guessing.

Does anyone know where I could bring it that would supply non standard phone sockets?

May be able to get a photo of it posted later.

Cheers

ethernet

If it was just mounted on a wallplate, you shouldn't have much trouble finding a replacement in any DIY shop. You only need to connect two wires, possibly more if there's an extension running off this socket.

You can also get a wall-mounted one. They're smaller in size. Perhaps this is the non-standard you you have?

Do post a pic and we'll see

vibe666

if it's the master socket you might not be able to get one in a regular DIY shop. i looked in maplins before (admittedly a couple of years ago) and they only had the standard ones. the master ones are quite different. maybe an eircom shop if they still exist?

ethernet

Master socket or not, a bog standard replacement should work. The master socket has extra circuitry. Not having a master socket on the first point off the incoming line isn't be a problem.

Avoid rip-off Maplin. They'll probably try and flog you a BT-style socket with 200% markup :rolleyes: :pac: Look for RJ-11 sockets (for use here).

Solair

The main purpose of the eircom master socket is to allow an eircom engineer to test your line and isolate the internal wiring.

There's nothing in them other than a totally redundant ringer capacitor which isn't even connected up when you plug in a phone. It's only there for backwards compatibility reasons i.e. if someone has a really old dial phone which required 3rd wire ringing. In practice, they were never used as Telecom Eireann (back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s) would rip out any old-fashioned wiring when they installed a new phone. They normally owned the rotary dial phone, so they'd take it away, hence there are very very few left.

Any bog standard RJ11 socket will do just fine.



Also, the polarity of phone lines in Ireland isn't actually an issue. The phone will ring and work in either polarity, so don't get too worried about it.

Connect up the two wires to the Red and Green terminals of the phone socket and you should be fine.

If an eircom engineer ever visits the house, they will automatically fit a new one free of charge. However, I'm not sure that saying your dog ate it is a good excuse

Irish phone wiring, is identical to North American wiring and very simple. It's just two wires, no fuss at all. Just keep your connections nice and tidy!

Don't use BT equipment, it's not compatible and it will add all sorts of totally unnecessary complications.
Just make sure you connect it up correctly and cleanly and try to get one that looks to be of decent quality.

finto

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the advice. Yes it looks like some kind of master box. I have it with me here today but again forgot the digital camer.

At the back there are 5 different connection blocks. 1 is labeled "Alarm2, another NT1, and the rest have no labels.

I was hopeing to get the same box somwhere, because the back plate is really stuck in the wall, years of plaster and paint have sealed it in big time.

Is there any eircom shops still going anywhere? They seem to have dissapeard around limierkc clare anyway