Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: kcdev!gentry@buita.bu.edu (Art Gentry) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Loud hum on the Phone Message-ID: Date: 9 May 89 14:00:41 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: AT&T Kansas City, MO. Lines: 24 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 164, message 2 of 7 In article , russ@silver.bacs. indiana.edu (Jeff Russ) writes: > My telephone recently started acting up. When I pick up the phone I hear > a loud hum. I can still dial numbers and make connections but the hum > is so loud that I can hardly hear anything. The onhook voltage is 51 volts > and the offhook voltage is 6 volts. I have another phone on the same > line and it does the same thing. Does this look like a phone company > problem and not a problem with my wiring at home? The only things connected > to the line are telephones that I bought from the phone company. There > was a thunder storm with lots of lightening before I noticed the problem. > I'd appreciate any suggestions as to what to check before I call the phone > company. Sounds suspiciously like you have a blown ground protector. This is a fuse like device in the junction box, where the telco cable comes into the building. It's purpose is to prevent excessive potential (like a lightening strike) from entering the equipment. Another possibility is a high ground on the cable, this could be either inside or outside wiring. Telco can rapidly test for a ground and tell you if the problem is theirs or yours. Odds are, since you mentioned the storm, that the protection fuse has done its job and needs to be replaced by the telco. Art