Telephone extension wall socket removal

mattyrobin · 09-10-2011, 18:27

Hi

Newbie - so go easy on me folks.

Quite a simple query really & hope someone can advise.

We have a 'cable & wireless' telephone extension socket fixed to the skirting board in the bedroom which isn't used. We have just ordered a new superking size bed & need every inch we can get to fit the bed in.

I want to remove this socket from the wall as it isn't any use & will simply hide the redundant cable under the carpet / floorboards.

Question is - if I remove the socket / box & associated wiring - will the rest of the Virgin telephone system 'go down' in the house or is this extension wiring totally independent of the main telephone wiring?

I intend to remove it all carefully & will tape up any exposed wires etc, but just wanted to know if it is safe to do so without the fear of the rest of the telephone lines in the house remaining intact?

Many thanks in advance

MovedGoalPosts · 09-10-2011, 18:35

Is this the master socket, or an extension.

If it is the master socket you need to keep it.

If it is an extension you can disconnect it, but ideally find where it was extended from and disconnect in that socket too.

mattyrobin · 09-10-2011, 19:12

Thanks for your speedy response.

I can only imagine that this bedroom socket is an extension socket as the main cable to the house enters through the lounge wall where the TV is sited and there is a telephone socket in the lounge too.

The previous house owner had plenty of cat 5 cable running around the house to various bedrooms - obviously before the days of wireless.

---------- Post added at 18:12 ---------- Previous post was at 18:08 ----------

Thanks for your quick response.

I can only imagine that this is an extension socket as the main cable TV 'cable' enters the house in the lounge and there is a phone socket in the lounge too.

It wil be fairly hard to find out where it is an extension from as the wires go into the floorboards.

The previous house owner had cables going everywhere

progers · 09-10-2011, 20:30

Quote:

Thanks for your quick response.

I can only imagine that this is an extension socket as the main cable TV 'cable' enters the house in the lounge and there is a phone socket in the lounge too.

It wil be fairly hard to find out where it is an extension from as the wires go into the floorboards.

The previous house owner had cables going everywhere

Fairly easy to determine what it is. If it's an extension it will just have connectors on the back. If it's a master there will be a capacitor and another component.

mattyrobin · 09-10-2011, 20:41

Thanks.

Can you please divulge a bit more info about your reply as this is a wee bit too technical for me to understand?

Graham M · 09-10-2011, 20:48

In the attached image, the socket style on the left is USUALLY on modern installations an extension socket and the socket on the right is indicative of a Master Socket because it has extra circuitary in to make the phone ring (not used so much anymore as most of us have digital cordless phones) so the faceplate is removable at the bottom to attach extension wiring and access the test socket.

mattyrobin · 09-10-2011, 20:58

Wow thanks

The socket I'm talking about actually resembles the bigger one of the two (the one on the right in your photo with the the removable bottom half.

There is a twist however - ALL three phone sockets in the house (lounge, hall, bedroom) are the same. I assume this will make it even harder to work out which one is the 'master'?

progers · 11-10-2011, 16:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattyrobin

Thanks.

Can you please divulge a bit more info about your reply as this is a wee bit too technical for me to understand?

Look at the back, this is a master socket

This is an extension socket

mattyrobin · 11-10-2011, 18:09

Thank you very much for this information. What a wonderful forum!. I was looking at tackling the removal of the socket this evening - so I'll have a look for the capacitor. I understand now thanks to your photographs.

Great stuff..

mattyrobin · 11-10-2011, 18:28

DSC04164.JPG

DSC04165.JPG

These are photos of the socket removed. Am not sure if this upload of the photos has worked?

mattyrobin · 11-10-2011, 18:30

Yes the upload has worked. I hope this makes everything a bit clearer as to what I have.

The big box to the right is a TV point I think for attaching a V box?

progers · 11-10-2011, 19:08

That appears to be your master socket; you can see the surge arrester. If you remove it, your phones won't ring UNLESS you move it to where your other socket is and replace that by this one, keeping the wire colours the same and connecting them to the same pin numbers as now

mattyrobin · 11-10-2011, 19:19

I'll have a look at the other ones in the house (lounge & hall), will take photos & post them ASAP. This way you can hopefully give me your final opinion. Like I said a couple of posts ago - all 3 sockets in the house have the same fascia.

Standby..

mattyrobin · 11-10-2011, 19:30

DSC04166.JPG

DSC04167.JPG

Here we go.

The photo with the carpet on the skirting is the one in the lounge (the one we use our digital cordless phones from)

The other photo is the socket in the hall which we also don't use

Hope this helps. Thanks once again - much appreciated believe me...

GrimUpNorth · 11-10-2011, 20:10

Just my little bit of input...

It's possible to have more than one 'master' socket on one line.

In the distant past to sort out a problem with bad continuity I swapped a slave for a master as there were only 2 'good' cores on the extension cable and I didn't fancy chasing out walls to replace it - a tip I picked up from a Telewest Engineer. Its all to do with the Ringer Equivalence Number, a master socket has a REN of 1 (I think??) and a phone line will support a total REN of 4 before problems start.

Cheers
Grim