Telephone bell wire filter

[DIYspanner]

I have a BT i plate (bell wire filter) fitted to the master BT socket in my house.

If the filter develops a fault, could this prevent the phones from ringing on incoming calls?

 

[OwainDIYer]

it could, depending on whether the phones take their ringing signal from pin 3 or not. Many modern phones are 2-wire and don't need the separate bell wire.

 

[DIYspanner]

This is the type of plate I have fitted


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NTE5-BT-M...897279981&po=&ps=63&clkid=5487219450861904708


I bought mine from a retired BT engineer in 2010 selling them on ebay who recommended them for solving ADSL speed issues.

He advised using the three wires, 2, 3 and 5.


I suppose the option available is to but another plate to see if it cures the problem.

 

[opps]

Why not just remove the bell ringer wire?

 

[DIYspanner]

That's what I've now done and so far its seems to have solved the problem.

Faulty bell wire filter capacitor? ......... A pity, its a BT branded plate!

 

[Alarm]

You never needed the bell wire.

Get the drift now?

 

[DIYspanner]

I merely took advice from the retired BT engineer who sold me the plate, on which terminals to connect.

I'm not a telecom engineer so I had no idea whether the bell wire was required or not.


As the phones now ring without fault, with 2 and 5 only connected, I appreciate the posts above - many thanks.

 

[bernardgreen]

If the bells could not ring with the bell wire connected then it is likely that the A and B wires ( terminals 2 and 5 ) were crossed between the NTE 5 and the other sockets and one or more of the bell capacitors in the phones was shorting out the AC ringing voltage.

 

[DIYspanner]

All was wiring away from the master was done by me so I know it was correct and the problem of the phones not ringing was solved disconnecting wire 3 at the master.

I forgot to mention, while the fault of the phones not ringing existed, which was intermittent, when I picked the phone up, there was no dial tone either, total silence until I pressed the plunger to reconnect.


All is now well though thanks.

 

[simonpolly]

All was wiring away from the master was done by me so I know it was correct and the problem of the phones not ringing was solved disconnecting wire 3 at the master.

I forgot to mention, while the fault of the phones not ringing existed, which was intermittent, when I picked the phone up, there was no dial tone either, total silence until I pressed the plunger to reconnect.


All is now well though thanks.

You probably have a intermittent rectified loop fault,the incoming ringing voltage is going to earth and preventing the bells from ringing

 

[DIYspanner]

Ref: intermittent rectified loop fault

How would I go about checking wiring / sockets for such a fault.

 

[Infidel]

A good old 9083 multimeter, select 1000 ohm range keep bashing the the a b reversal button until you see a reading , no reading no rectified low ir.
All clear now?
I think you will find that will nearly always be an external fault on the line plant, but having said that if any of the sockets are on a bit of wall that is damp or suffers from condensation and moisture is getting into the socket this could cause a problem. Watch out for any blue salt like deposits on the connections front and back or the telephone cord plug, and any connector boxes you may have used.

 

[DIYspanner]

ref:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NTE5-BT-M...927784228&po=&ps=63&clkid=5763440214684505727


If the above is faulty, with only 2 & 5 connected, could this cause intermittent loss of dial tone?

When this happens, if I press the plunger, the dial tone comes back.

 

[Infidel]

Try using a different phone in the socket(it could be a faulty instrument or cord) and make sure the faceplate is very securely fitted.