Help Identifying Phone Block 1

[candulj]

Hey Guys,
Need help from more experienced techs on identifying the pictures of this phone block and what to do with it. This phone block is located inside a 30 year old apartment building with a total of 17 units. A buddy of mine who's an electrician sucked me into this one. I gave him a good piece of my mind for doing this. I need your help identifying the block and suggestion on how to recable this block. Apparently the rats chewed through the units phone lines and the electrician ran new CAT6 cable to each unit. He first called Verizon to come out and cross connect everything to the new cabling but the Verizon techs won't touch it. "I can't say that I don't blame them". Then he calls me and wants me to completely remove and replace this old phone block with a new cross connect or something appropriate. I've done my fair share of 66 blocks but this one has me concerned because there is a ground wire bonded to the backboard of this block and I believe 66 blocks are not the correct solution for the proper type of replacement equipment. I need to detach the entire phone trunk and punch it down on either new blocks or something similar as well as rerun the new CAT6 and properly route and reconnect everything properly on a new fireproof backboard. 2 reasons I'm concerned for proper grounding. This is Florida and lightening is my primary concern the other is ensure the circuits are grounded properly. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.Joe

Thank you,
Joe

 

[candulj]

Hey Dexman, I did at the Sundance forum as well. Sparkie just ran the Cat6 without ever telling me. No certification required. My guess is he does not know a thing about LV wiring. Then Sparkie calls asking me to cleanup this mess. I immediately informed him that this was Verizons equipment and I can't touch it. Tells me he called Verizon to ask them to move the BEP. Verizon techs came out and laughed and flat out refused to move it. They even wrote in black magic marker at the top of the BEP "This is the 7th level of Dante's Phone Hell"! I black magic marker. It's labeled clearly on the 1st picture. I'm pretty sure the BEP equipment predates Verizon or even GTE who was their predecessor. Plan to use Cat5e 66M1-50 blocks as suggested. Thanks. joe

Thank you,
Joe

 

[Dexman]

Ed V. mentioned that the cabinet was probably installed by GTE. I suppose Verizon could clean it up, but it would be a billable event...and judging by the pictures....it would be quite a task. "$"

The two main reason I would go with CAT 3 cabling is that the conductors tend not to be twisted as much as with CAT 5E & 6 (at least with Systimax/Commscope brand) and the CAT 3 conductors are 24 gauge as opposed to 23 for CAT 6, so prepping and punching down on 66 blocks tends to be a bit easier with "3".

But, as car commercials say, "Your milage may vary".

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[hopper123]

Kinda off topic but this is really not that big a mess. I am sure all of us oldtimers (40+ years in the business for me) have seen LOTS worse.

 

[Dexman]

Probably so. I admit to having seen worse. The problem here is that the cables were "home run" right into Verizon's cabinet. There does not appear to be any rhyme or reason to how it was done.

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[lopes1211]

Some idiot connected station cables directly to a dmarc. Agreeing with hopper...less that an hour to reterminate the station/riser cables to a block then cross connect from the block to the old screw terminal dmarc like the tenant should have done from day 1. It was done wrong by someone who did not understand structured wiring. That said....it's not a big deal, pretty easy, quick, and cheap to fix it. Not sure where this is at but paying any interconnect $200 should be more than enough to clean this up nicely with little downtime.

Isolation is a good idea but technically not the customer's responsibility. If the LEC's dmarc handoff (screw terminals in this case) has no means of testing isolation due to it's age / grandfathering, it just means the LEC needs to unscrew the terminal to isolate. A customer cross connect to a block with a bridge clip bridging to a station cable is still all going to be considered "inside wiring" by the LEC. The LEC will still likely unscrew the wire to isolate/test at their true dmarc which is the screw terminal.

-CL

 

[Dexman]

The OP mentions that the location is in former GTE...now Verizon...territory. Apparently Verizon won't touch it, so, an Interconnect would be the next step.

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[Mountainbear]

Would it be possible to contact Verison and tell them the Demarc does not conform to proper standards and need to be repaired due to fire regulations, safety, etc. or they will need to disconnect all equipment and loose the revenue.
You would be happy to complete the repair for them, and bill the customer directly.

 

[candulj]

Thanks for your input Mountainbear, I certainly would have worded to Verizon what you had suggested inorder to impose on them their responsibility in this matter however, this was sparkies gig and not mine. Shame is this could have been completely avoided had I been brought in at the beginning to do the work. I guess sparkie was anxious to make an extra buck and now it's biting him in the behind and looking for me to cleanup his mess.

Thank you,
Joe

 

[Dexman]

Looks like a few Scotchloks were used as well. Why didn't the electrician go all the way?


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[jrgood0852]

Because he is a high voltage guy and should leave the LV to us!

Always look out for the next tech. because one day it will be you!

 

[klcrosby]

Did anybody notice in the pic above that Sparkie used the wht/org pair for his POTS lines? I cant help but wonder what the jack wiring looks like...

 

[wires]

Most of the orange pairs I see are cross connect wiring.

 

[Bell2]

This box appears to be a phone company box. If it is you can't move it or do much with it. I would call the phone company and put in a locate and tag ticket for the entire box. This ticket requires them to identify phone numbers in the box. Depending on which company it is will determine if a ticket is required for each number found in the box. This maybe a act of Congress to get this done. A quick alternative is to use a buttset(test phone) to test for dial tone or data (ie DSL,uverse). Then place 2 or 3 punch down blocks next to the panel. Punch all the new wiring down on the new block(only if it is not connected). If the wire is connected pull one apartment wire at a time off the old block. Then run a jumper wire from the old box to the new block for connectivity. This is only required for the working number / data lines. Be carful with the way the alarm systems are wired because dial tone is sent to the alarm boxes then back to the panel for distribution to the jacks. For a brief walk through please respond to my post.