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5.0 BAD ELECTRIC CONNECTIONS - DO-IT-YOURSELF - DIY TIPS

Most electrical problems are due to bad connections. The bad connection is often where one thing plugs into another thing. This is the weak link in the electrical path. Because electricity must complete a circuit to work, you can often isolate the problem by trouble shooting.

The other day, our downstairs phone had a lot of loud of static on it. We tried switching phone wires and then used a different phone but the static was still there. I tried the phone upstairs which is on its own phone wire and the connection was good. So now we had done the basic trouble shooting; the problem was in the downstairs phone line (not in the phone, or the connecting cords, or the overall system).

I looked very closely at the jack where the phone plugged in. Since it was close to the wall, down near the floor, I could not see inside jack. A bright light and a small mirror remedied this. I noticed that the small wires were dull looking. A good rule of thumb is that all copper electrical plugs should be shiny. My wife, a jeweler, loaned me one of her small files (although a nail file might have worked). I gently rubbed the connecting wires until the mirror showed them to be shiny. When I plugged in the phone, the static was gone.

This repair saved: a $50-$75 visit from the phone company or other repair man; in addition, we did not have to wait for days while the phone was unusable, and we did not have to make an appointment.

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