Wierd telephone line problem

[iceboy99]

For the past month I've been having a weird problem with my phone line. My cordless phones get a buzz on the line (no dial tone) and the non-cordless phones just go dead. If you call the line, you get a buzy signal. If you plug into the interface box outside the house, you get a dial tone.

At first I thought it was a phone causing the problem. Then I started disconnecting all of them until I was down to a corded phone that wasn't connected when the problem first surfaced.

Here's the weird part - the problem comes and goes. It seems to happen only during a certain part of the day - roughly between noon and 5pm. If the line is dead at 1:00pm, it usually will be ok by 6:00pm

We did have the phone company out just before this problem started happening, but that was an outside line problem. There is construction around our neighborhood, but if there was an outside line problem again, why would I be getting dial tone at the interface box? If it's a house wiring problem, it makes no sense that it would come and go on a seemlingly scheduled basis. I'm sure that if I could the phone company and told them that everything was ok at the interface box that the problem is mine.


I'd appreciate any thoughts.

[iceboy99]

For those who are interested, I thought I'd pass on what I've found. I decided to call the phone company even though the problem appeared to be in my house (since I could get dial tone at interface box). The automated system did a test on the line and indicated that the problem was in the network and they would dispatch a repairman. Wierd, I thought, but I would rather the problem be somewhere else then my wiring!

When he came he checked the wiring at the interface box and determined that there was a short to ground somewhere in my house. Then I started thinking about where the wiring goes and it all started to add up. The outside wiring goes into the attic, where there is a "patch panel". This is were a distribution to the individual jacks happens.

Remebering that my problem seemed to be only happen during mid-day, it all started to make sense. Apparently, changes in temperature were subtly changing the dynamics of the wiring connections somewhere. Something expanding or contracting as a result of attic temperture was causing the problem.

Bottom line is that I used a meter to check wires for the short to ground and I think I found it. After removing that wire from the patch panel, the phone started working right away. I would have done this earlier on, but the fact that the problem was appearing and disappearing on such a regular basis made me discount wiring as the problem.

Hope this helps someone.

[HayZee518]

Was this patch panel one of those punch down boards? If the tail of the wire was a little too long it would hit the terminal adjacent to it and opposite it.