Telephone jacks, the in-home interface between a tabletop telephone and the telephone network, hold an almost mystical reputation for their ability to facilitate conversations with people in far off locations. When a jack ceases to function, telephone company technicians often charge upwards of $100 to troubleshoot and rewire a phone jack, but you can do it with only a screwdriver and very basic wiring skills.
Instructions
1. Remove the jack cover. In most jacks, the cover, or the plastic shell that protrudes from the wall, is held in place either by plastic snaps or a single screw. On models with plastic snaps, simply grasp the cover firmly and pull it away from the wall. On models with a screw, use the appropriate screwdriver (flat or Phillips head) to remove the screw and pull the cover away from the wall.
2. Remove the wire coming into the phone jack. A wire, usually from the baseboard, wall or floor, should enter the jack from the bottom. The wire that enters the jack is actually a collection of four color-coded wires bundled together by insulation; when the wire enters the jack, the insulation is removed and the four wires are individually secured either by small metal clips or screws. If the wires are held in place by clips, simply grasp each wire and firmly pull them out; if the wires are held in place by screws, loosen the screws, pull the wire away, and then retighten the screw while using caution not to dislodge any other wires the screw might be holding in place.
3. Replace any worn, frayed or broken wire. The wires are color coded according to their function: red and green wires power the primary line or provide service to a single-line telephone; black and yellow wires power the second line available on some two-line phones. If necessary, strip away insulation from the wire feeding the jack (the same wire removed in Step 2) to expose newer, cleaner lengths of wire.
4. Replace all wiring. With damaged, broken or dirty wiring replace, restore all wiring connections. Use care to ensure that all colored wires match, with the green wire from the feed connected to the green wire inside the jack and the red wire connected to the internal red wiring. If the jack only supplies service to a single-line phone, it is not necessary to reattach the black and yellow wires, but doing so is good practice. If the jack uses metal clips, it may not be necessary to strip insulation from the wires, though bare wire must be used in jack that use screws to secure portions of wire together.
5. Reattach the phone jack cover. If the phone jack uses a cover that is held in place by plastic clips, simply orient the cover so that the openings align properly and push it firmly onto the jack until it clicks into place. If the jack uses a screw to secure the cover, place the cover on the jack, insert the screw, and tighten it until it is secure. With the cover reattached, the rewired phone jack is ready for use.
Tags: held place, phone jack, from wall, jack uses, away from