How to Install a Wall Telephone Jack
Your home may already have telephone jacks in more than one room, but from time to time you may have a need to add another jack. It's easy to add a new telephone jack as an extension of the existing telephone circuit by tapping into a working telephone jack. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Working telephone jack
- Spare surface-mount telephone jack
- Drill
- Screwdriver
- Mounting screws included with telephone jack
- Telephone wire
- Electrical pliers
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Instructions
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1
Run a length of telephone wire from the location of the existing jack to the location where the new jack will be installed. Using the electrical pliers, strip off half an inch of the top insulation layer from both ends of the telephone wire. Strip half an inch of insulation from each of the interior (colored) telephone wires.
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2
Loosen and remove the spare telephone jack's retaining screw. Separate the telephone jack cover from the telephone jack base plate.
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3
Place the base plate against the wall, and drill a pilot hole into the wall through one of the base plate mounting screw holes. Install one of the mounting screws through the screw hole and into the pilot hole. Tighten the mounting screw so that it holds the plate against the wall snugly. Drill another hole in the wall through the other mounting screw hole, and install the other mounting screw in through the base plate.
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4
Loosen the internal (colored) terminal screws on the replacement jack. On the side of the telephone wire that is to be installed to the new phone jack, insert the stripped end of the red telephone wire under the red terminal screw. Tighten the terminal screw so that it holds the wire to the metal part of the telephone jack terminal. Repeat this step for each wire and its corresponding terminal screw color. Once the wires are installed, replace the telephone jack cover over the telephone jack base plate. Reinstall and tighten the cover retaining screw.
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5
Loosen and remove the jack retaining screw from the existing telephone jack. Separate the telephone jack cover from the telephone jack base plate. Loosen each of the terminal screws so that the wires can be removed from the terminals.
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Twist the red wire that came from the existing jack together with the red wire going to the newly installed jack. Place the twisted wire pair under the red terminal screw on the existing jack, and tighten the screw so that it holds the wire pair to the jack terminal. Repeat this step for each subsequent wire color.
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Replace the telephone jack cover, and insert the jack retaining screw. Tighten the screw so that it holds the jack cover to the jack base plate. Both telephone jacks are now active.
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References
- Photo Credit network image by Aditia Patria Warman from Fotolia.com
