Replacing the wire from the demarc to the house


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Old 05-16-07, 06:42 AM
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Replacing the wire from the demarc to the house

Hopefully this makes sense...

I've got a 40 year old house with some telephone issues. For a while I noticed that any time it rained our phone lines would get a lot of static. I had the phone company out twice to look at it and they didn't find anything on either trip so I guess it's up to me now. Last night I was looking at the cable that runs from the demarc box on the outside of the house down into the basement and I noticed that there is a bare spot on the insulation that has started to rust. I played around with that for a bit and went back inside to find that I had no dial tone at all so I'm pretty sure that the problem lies in this rusted cable.

My question is, what kind of cable is that? It's an old cable, looks to be about 16 gage or so and it only contains 2 wires. I've checked at Ace Hardware, Lowes and Home Depot and no one there knew anything about it. Is there such a thing any more or is this some old telephone tech that has gone out of style in the last 40 years?

Also, when I find this cable I'd like to run the new cable form the demarc box and splice it into the existing cable outside the house. I'd really prefer to replace the whole cable but it leads to a place between the finished basement ceiling and the floor above where I assume there is a hidden junction box of some sort. Replacing the whole cable would involve cutting up some drywall, which I'd like to avoid. Can this cable be spliced outside the home? Is there any way to waterproof it well enough?

At some point I plan to re-wire the house but for now I'd like a quick fix to just get the telephone working again.

Thanks
Chad
 
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Old 05-16-07, 12:18 PM
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Cat 5e computer cable is what is used in new telephone installations; only the blue and blue/white conductors are actually used on a typical home phone.
 
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Old 05-16-07, 02:30 PM
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no reason for or advantage in using "cat 5 computer cable " for voice . cat 3 works just fine (also the jacket on most cat 5 cables isn't UV resistant as its rated for indoor use only )

what you are describing is Telco drop cable , still used , sounds like the demark is actually in the basement the reason for the heavy gage is for distance .

you can splice outside , use splices like this
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2501534&cp=2032052

be sure you put the splice in a weatherproof splice box or wrap them well with electrical tape as the insulation on the individual conductors isn't UV resistant while the outer jacket is
 
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Old 05-25-07, 07:38 PM
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re:

what colors were the pair of wires (red/green, black/yellow?)

16awg would not be used for telecom. 22awg and 26awg.
 
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Old 05-28-07, 10:46 AM
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Yep, that would be drop cable, and the phone company's to replace if it is required. Your wiring responsibility begins on the house.
 
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Old 12-19-07, 12:17 PM
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Originally Posted by mango man
no reason for or advantage in using "cat 5 computer cable " for voice . cat 3 works just fine (also the jacket on most cat 5 cables isn't UV resistant as its rated for indoor use only )

what you are describing is Telco drop cable , still used , sounds like the demark is actually in the basement the reason for the heavy gage is for distance .

you can splice outside , use splices like this
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...534&cp=2032052

be sure you put the splice in a weatherproof splice box or wrap them well with electrical tape as the insulation on the individual conductors isn't UV resistant while the outer jacket is

The advantage is if you eventually move to VOIP or POE phones to use Cat5e or Cat6 cabling.
 
 

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