UKC

My phone line went down the other day and it turned out to be due to a wire which had corroded to such an extent it had split in two and I'm looking to both repair it properly and prevent it from happening again (without paying £130 to bt).

The setup is this: bt's big black wire comes down the side of my house then goes straight in through the corner of the window (no down and up bend) so the water creeps through and into the house, it extends past the internal wall about an inch where there is a junction box with the two wires crimped onto the standard blue/white internal wires and then it goes to the bt master socket. The junction box was covered in white crystaline stuff and very damp, the exposed wires all blue and that corrosion had even spread all the way along the wire from the junction box to the master socket and turned the screw holding it in blue too.

It is inside the junction box where the wires have corroded and as a temporary fix I just soldered the broken one together. This happened before about 3 years ago and the bt engineer that came round crimped the wires together and was kind enough to pretend the problem was outside the house but told me really I should be charged for it, the woman I spoke to from bt also told me this yesterday. She also told me I wasn't allowed to touch the master socket as it was bt's property.

My question is this, is there any need for the junction box or can I just wire the main cable coming in straight into my master socket? I'd like to drill a hole through the wall and rerout the cable properly and I'm loathe to pay bt to crimp some wires together which imo is down to whoever installed it not being bothered to drill through a granite wall and not looping the cable down and up so water can't run down into the house.

I've looked at various tutorials online but most have instructions for connecting all the other wires, the way the last bt engineer left it only the two wires were connected to anything so I thought I'd seek ukc's expertise.

In reply to Sharp:
Can't answer your questions other than to say mine (newer house) does not have a junction box and is wired straight into the master socket. Also, from my past dealings with BT I've always been told up to and including the master socket was their responsibility. If a fault was after the master socket a charge would be made, but not with the socket or if before. Last time I called them out (a few years ago now), the engineer said the fault was before the master socket so no charge.

Have they changed their charging policy? Seems unfair if they charge for work before the master socket when you are not allowed to interfere with it!

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

I was under that impression too.
As it's down to shoddy workmanship on their part they should sort it and if not move to cable (assuming it's available)
I have not done it with BT but when my sky system packed in and sky wanted something like £100 for a new box I told them to cancel my account to get a free install from virgin and look and behold sky sorted the problem free.

In reply to Sharp:

I don't know much about this myself but as I recently had my master socket replaced I can tell you what the engineer told me:

The junction box is necessary with older style cabling (specifically the drop cable which runs down the front of your house). When this is upgraded to the latest standard used for current installations the cable can be run straight into the master socket. The normal way to do this is to reroute the cable straight through the wall into the back of the socket, leaving the junction box and cable through the corner of the window for the bin.

Not sure how to blag a free upgrade other than be a new customer who has never had fully functioning broadband! Although after my fourth engineer visit I've had enough free upgrades and would just like a working connection...

In reply to All:
Thanks for your replies, I'm still not really sure what to do. In an ideal world I think bt should fix it but realistically it means a lot of time on the phone trying to explain it to 10 different people, taking a day off work for an engineer to come and then lets face it there's no guarantees they wont charge me anyway - I've heard that anything before the master socket is bt's responsibility but the bt engineer was quite clear that they considered the junction box internal wiring and it was my responsibility, I've also read this on some bt forums. I think the catch 22 is that the junction box is the demarcation line but bt still own (or rent me) the master socket so I can't touch either.

At the moment it's just plugged into the master socket and seems to be working fine so I think I'll just go with rerouting the cable myself and hope that's ok. There wasn't much inside the junction box, just an empty plastic box with two clear plastic connectors, I guess I could wire these into the back of the master socket in case they act as some kind of protection or do something fancy.

Thanks

In reply to Sharp:

If the water is coming down the outside of the insulation then you should be able to control it with some mastic and paint. If it's coming down the inside of the insulation which can happen no amount of U-bend where it comes through the wall will stop it.

jk

In reply to Sharp:

Hi Ben, you could re route the cable direct to the main master socket without the need for a connection box if there is enough length left once you reroute the cable.
the reason for the junction box is that the external cable needs a connection point to the internal cable but the external cable can be and often is wired directly to the main socket. the main reason for not bringing external cable inside is that its bigger and tougher and doesn't look good on skirting's.
on many houses the main socket is fitted on the inside of the external wall and just wired direct. you will need a small kroning tool which can be bought at diy or online for a few quid, unless its an old style socket in which case a screwdriver will do.
the main socket not the connection box is the demarcation point but here is the important point regarding being charged or not.
firstly even though openreach maintain everything up to the main nte socket as part of your line rental agreement its all down to what the engineer considers to have caused the fault.
if its fair wear and tear then you "shouldn't get charged" but if the fault is due to damage and this will include rubbing on trees within your property you will get charged.
if the water is coming from a break in the outer insulation of the cable and running down the inside of the cable then re routing it isn't going to help, it will just happen again.
if its coming through the window into the box due to a bad sealant then re routing will resolve it.
does the cable run through trees in your garden from a pole, if so then its the most likely source and if the trees are inside your property then you could get charged unfair as that seems.
re the two wires that's all you need and doesn't matter if they are reversed.
if you need any more info pm me and I can give you a few tips , if you do report it and think the water ingress may be due to sub standard work from the last repair or installation take a photo so you can fight your corner.
cheers.

In reply to buzby:

I have a friend who sorted out the problems himself. I doubt BT's records on master socket are that exact if there was a future problem.

You could buy a legit Openreach/BT master socket from web and move it to where you reroute their cable. Just do a neat job and they'll believe it was an old BT install. They can spot any new installs - the engineers have gone down hill on standards - all the good ones have switched to other firms.

In reply to Philip:

bt don't have any records of where your socket is and wouldnt care anyway. have sent you a pm Ben.