Changing a phone extension at master socket

[HarryHornby]

Hi Guys,


Another  question for the font of focer knowledge.


I currently have a punched down extension coming out of my BT master socket and running all round the house (upstairs and downstairs).  Cutting a long story short, turns out I have an old master socket and a new. Because I didn't know about the new one I cut the extension to get rid of it at a point I thought was at the end of the cable run, turns out it's at the beginning, I've soldered it but it's crap, I've lost a lot of bandwidth.  Plus, I actually don't want the cable where I've cut it anyway.


SO, I want to run a new extension, one that this time rather than going upstairs and downstairs though 6 extension sockets just goes from the master socket to a new one in the hall, a run of about 10m


Question 1


Can I snip off the old extension that's coming from the master socket (leaving bits of the cables punched in) and simply punch in a new extension over the top?  Will the old, still attached extension (even if it's only 20mm in length) cause noise problems?


Question 2


Can I simply cut the BT wires and repunch them on a new master socket and then punch the new extension over the top?  I've read about high voltages on this wire, the fact it's owned by BT etc etc and the fact that if I want them to do this seemingly simple job they'll want £150 


I work in computing, and I've punched down CATV cables before, so I'm ok with doing that part of the job.


Ta Muchly

[Fazerider]

Q1: Yes. No, a very short unterminated length won't cause any problems, but you can wriggle the unwanted wires out from the connector with a pair of pliers.
Q2. Yes. Don't do it in a thunderstorm, otherwise it's harmless enough. The 50v dc line power won't give you more than a slight tingle, but if someone calls you while you've got your fingers across the wires the 75v ac might make you jump.

[Robbie8666]

Q2.  The 50v dc line power won't give you more than a slight tingle, but if someone calls you while you've got your fingers across the wires the 75v ac might make you jump.

to make sure no one calls you whilst doing this take your phone of the hook! 

[clayt74]

The new master sockets usually have 2 IDC blocks. 1 for the BT line coming in and the 2nd to terminate an extension. I would completely remove the old cable, cut and strip back the new extension cable (so you know you have good undisturbed copper) and punch it down using a proper tool.
Its the only way to ensure good bandwidth

[HarryHornby]

Cheers guys.  I've ordered a new master socket with the 2 IDC blocks.  Will wait until we have a clear day with no storms forecast and give it a go :-)