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HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

1 edit

HiVolt to TilhasBB

Premium Member

to TilhasBB

Re: Bad wiring story...

To check your jack polarity with a digital multimeter, set your voltage scale to DC Volts, and a range that will accommodate 50 Volts. If your meter is autoranging, don't worry about it. Take your jack apart, and touch the Red(+) probe to the Green wire, and the Black(-) probe to the Red wire. If your meter reads somewhere between 50-52V without a negative sign, your polarity is correct. If it reads a negative value, you can fix it by swapping the wires, and then testing again. Or, you could pick up a cheap tester like the one above for literlly a few bucks, and save yourself the time and hassle of taking apart every jack in your house.

Line 1
Green Wire (Tip) = Positive
Red Wire (Ring) = Negative

Line 2
Black Wire (Tip) = Positive
Yellow Wire (Ring) = Negative
Tyreman
join:2002-10-08
Cambridge, ON

Tyreman

Member

The testor is available in boxed kits($21.00approx.)for adding line jack(cable,jack,testor,instruc. etc.) now at Radio Shack... checked 3 stores didn't have tester available separate but said it was around 7-8 dollars.. no knowledge of when they come into stores so thats why I made that fast "jack checker" up
dslrocksya
join:2002-02-28
ca

dslrocksya to HiVolt

Member

to HiVolt
Tried to get a phone line tester from Scrap Shack Canada today....... it seems that they no longer sell them on their own. You can get on within a jack kit for about $20 cdn. Bought it but made sure I could return the jack kit.

Checked all my jacks....... on my way back to the shack for the refund for the jack kit.

Thanks Scrap Shack

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

Yeah you guys are right, the tester isnt sold separately anymore... I was at RS earlier today to pick up some solder, and I looked arount the phone accessories, and it was only included with the jack wiring kit... Too bad, I remember paying like $2.99 for it separately like a year ago.
dslrocksya
join:2002-02-28
ca

dslrocksya

Member

I saw that there was a similar one at Home Depot USA....... but what about Canada...... any where else to get one with out getting ripped off by scrap shack?

Apostolic
join:2003-12-09
Montreal, QC

Apostolic to HiVolt

Member

to HiVolt
How about a reading of 52.8 on the polarity check?
Tyreman
join:2002-10-08
Cambridge, ON

Tyreman

Member

Nothing serious.

blueeyesm
join:2003-09-05
Waterloo, ON

blueeyesm to HiVolt

Member

to HiVolt
A lot of Bell techs are not always qualified... a friend of mine ( we both graduated in the same electronics program, at a college)knew some of these testers,.. some just had very basic knowledge, if that .. but then again, these guys aren't exactly high paid, and at that time these gyus were contractees through Bell. I agree he should have done a thorough search, but if they don't have a thorough foundation in the field they are in, thats when bad work occurs.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

Yeah those independent contractors aren't exactly always all that bright. I had bad experience with Rogers cable techs over the years, which were contracted out to some company (Mastec I think).

anon234
@nutnbut.net

anon234 to dslrocksya

Anon

to dslrocksya
Try a place like Electrosonic, Sayal Electronics or Active Circuits (all are in the same area - Finch & Victoria Park Ave.) Also look in the Yellow Pages for electronic components and / or test equipment. Might take a few phone calls but I'm sure you'll be able to find it.