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Cambridge Paul · 29-01-2011, 15:47

Hi
I'm attempting to sort out my next door neighbour's extension phones. He's with Virgin and we live in Cambridge. When I looked at the master socket, one of the two internal wires (6 core "modern" white sheath) was connected to the customer side of the socket via the press down terminals (but only 2 and 5) whilst the other was connected on the Virgin side to the screw terminals A and B. Going around the house there wasn't a slave socket to be seen, they were all masters, three BT and one Virgin (yes, a genuine master socket).
Tracing the wiring it very quickly went into pre 1970 Blue, Brown, Green and Orange. Then the tale becomes really tangled, because some of this wiring runs into the next door property because it predates the division of the structure (of which our houses form parts) into separate units.
My questions are
1) Should I continue with the two wire system (which is what this is) even though it's not kosher?
2) What is the status of the second Virgin Master box, as it's electrically on the Virgin "side", since if I try to put the whole system on to 3 wire, I will have to take the guts out of the master socket, leaving the faceplate to do the work.
Regards
Paul

29-01-2011, 15:47	#1
Cambridge Paul Inactive Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 3	Bitten by historic wiring Hi I'm attempting to sort out my next door neighbour's extension phones. He's with Virgin and we live in Cambridge. When I looked at the master socket, one of the two internal wires (6 core "modern" white sheath) was connected to the customer side of the socket via the press down terminals (but only 2 and 5) whilst the other was connected on the Virgin side to the screw terminals A and B. Going around the house there wasn't a slave socket to be seen, they were all masters, three BT and one Virgin (yes, a genuine master socket). Tracing the wiring it very quickly went into pre 1970 Blue, Brown, Green and Orange. Then the tale becomes really tangled, because some of this wiring runs into the next door property because it predates the division of the structure (of which our houses form parts) into separate units. My questions are 1) Should I continue with the two wire system (which is what this is) even though it's not kosher? 2) What is the status of the second Virgin Master box, as it's electrically on the Virgin "side", since if I try to put the whole system on to 3 wire, I will have to take the guts out of the master socket, leaving the faceplate to do the work. Regards Paul