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Old 1st Jan 2019, 11:11 am   #1
James-J
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Default US Ericofon on BT

Happy New Year!

It's my wife's birthday today and I proudly presented her with a beautiful looking Ericofon I had bought from the US. The website and seller confidently told me all we would need was an adaptor from RJ11 to BT and so I bought one and wrapped it with the phone.

However, plugging it in we don't get a dial tone and cannot call out. The handset speaker becomes active, but no noise beyond a slight humming. The adaptor seems to be a straight through adaptor, so nothing much to go wrong there.

But here is the interesting thing, if I take it down stairs to the main socket, it still doesn't work, but there is a small RJ11, which I assume is for a broadband modem (which we don't use) and it works on that socket. It's a bit crackly, but perhaps that's another issue (the phone wasn't cheap and was supposed to have been completely restored).

Any thoughts anyone?

Many thanks for your time.

James
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Old 1st Jan 2019, 11:35 am   #2
julie_m
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Default Re: US Ericofon on BT

You will need an adaptor which connects the middle two wires of the RJ11 to the outside two wires of the RJ431.
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Old 1st Jan 2019, 11:54 am   #3
OscarFoxtrot
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Default Re: US Ericofon on BT

Try one of these
https://www.bcedirect.co.uk/products...=6952428994593
or a broadband microfilter
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Old 1st Jan 2019, 12:00 pm   #4
OscarFoxtrot
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Default Re: US Ericofon on BT

Or (sneaky) rewire the phone extension socket on the wall so the wires to 2 and 5 go to 3 and 4, and disconnect and insulate the other wires.

Even just temporarily so that her present works 'on the big day'.
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Old 1st Jan 2019, 1:19 pm   #5
Dave Moll
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Default Re: US Ericofon on BT

Quote:
Originally Posted by OscarFoxtrot View Post
or a broadband microfilter
... plugging into the ADSL socket of it of course.

As with the ADSL socket you described, this will connect the outers (2 & 5) of the BT plug to the inners (3 & 4) of the RJ11 socket. It seems that your adaptor is a "straight" one that doesn't provide the necessary cross-over as described above.

The crackliness you describe is indeed a separate matter.
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Old 1st Jan 2019, 2:28 pm   #6
dagskarlsen
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Default Re: US Ericofon on BT

This picture may be a good illustration to how it is should be connected:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....PL._SY355_.jpg
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Old 2nd Jan 2019, 10:15 am   #7
James-J
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Default Re: US Ericofon on BT

Hi all,

Thank you so much for all your replies. We've decided it works best in the lounge anyway, so for now I will just use the ADSL socket, but will get the crossover adapter suggested if we want to move it.

As I mentioned there is an intermittent crackle in the ear piece, is there a good beginners guide to tracking down the source of this?

James
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Old 2nd Jan 2019, 12:52 pm   #8
Dave Moll
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Default Re: US Ericofon on BT

The crackle could either be caused by the carbon-granule transmitter (microphone) or a dirty switch contact within the switch that's operated by the button on the bottom of the 'phone. The contacts should be accessible for cleaning (e.g. a squirt of good-quality contact cleaner) once the case is removed.

Beware that the receiver (earpiece) is phyisically attached to the case and wired to the chassis, so be careful not damage its wires when removing the case.
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Last edited by Dave Moll; 2nd Jan 2019 at 12:56 pm. Reason: note of caution
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