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Tool Talk Discussion Forum

OT--running a phone line to the shop...

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Brian in NY

12-17-2004 06:53:07




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My pole barn/shop sits about 30 feet from the house, and I don't think I can live without a phone out there anymore. Just gets to be a real pain having to run in the house if I need the phone. The cordless works but I almost always forget to bring it out with me. And then forget to take it back indide when done.

What is the simplest, most trouble free way to run a phone line out there? Can't just bury plain old interior phone line can I? Oh yeah I wanna do it on the cheap if possible. Thanks fellas.

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JHesler

12-20-2004 07:08:29




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
There's nothing special about phone line except it's dirt cheap, low frequency wire that gets a simple job done. If you want to bury a line you can use romex or just about anyting you can find that will hold up underground.



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farmweld

12-19-2004 14:17:38




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
just run regular phone line through 1/2 inch sch. 40 PVC. just make sure you clean and glue well. bury 24-36 inches under ground. happy talking farmweld



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Gene Davis (GA)

12-18-2004 20:40:55




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
For my shop phone set up, I used the universal service wire that runs from my shop which is about a 150' distance.
I ran the wires inside the office cubby hole in the walls just like the house with regular indoor phone wire to connect to the jacks, 1 on shop work floor, 1 in office, and one in wife's clean work room part. Have a cordless phone set in shop floor, so if I need to move around it works well, it was demoted from the house when wife bought a new headset/hands free model in her sewing room. I am fortunate that the electrical poles feed to my house from the backside instead of the usual front way. I ran my phone wire right along overhead with the electrical wires. The last 30' from the power pole to the house, I put in 3/4" conduit and buried it in the ditch beside the underground service when I installed underground service to eliminate the service entrance cable drooping across the driveway to carport. Ma Bell was rather cooperative with this when I called in a few favors from some of her workers! Then the telephone company just connected it into the box as if it was an extension. So now house phone rings both places and the wife usually answers the phone and if she needs me she just presses the call button on the Radio Shack FM phone line intercom to call me, I can then look at the caller I.D. box see who is calling. Also if I am expecting a call, I answer it first. we also have intercom service . Works wonderful and saves lots of steps. Gene Davis

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john niolon

12-18-2004 17:14:17




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
Brian,.

another option is to buy a 'wireless' telephone adapter... the master plugs into any electrical outlet in the house close to a phone jack and a short patch cable goes to the phone jack...

in the garage the 'receiver' plugs into a electrical outlet with a short patch cable to the phone... it uses the house electrical wiring for the connection... 'course, the barn has to be on the same electrical system as the house...

you can find them on the internet, radioshack, etc

john

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upred

12-18-2004 10:26:43




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 use proper wire -- phone guy in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
The proper way to run the line to your shop is to use a buried phone cable there are basically two types of wire that you can use one is the standard buried wire, this is the type with the gel in it to keep out water, the ouher is called USW univeral service wire and can be used both aerial or buried. If you have a telephone network interface box I would run the line from there to your shop. If you don't have an interface box, have the local telco install one. This will give you a place to test your phoneline if you ever have trouble. Buried service wire is about 20 - 25 cents per foot and can be found a your local hardware store. Talk to the local phone guy you can probably get 30 of 40 ft for nothing out of thier scrap bin. you dont need to use cat5 wire and being a phone guy myself I would not recommend burying cat 5 or any other type of inside wire.The reason being is that the plastic insulation, no matter how hard the manufactures try they cannot make a totally water proof insulation due to the molecular make up of the insulation. water intrusion into phone cable is a major cause of weater related phone problems.

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Charles (in GA)

12-17-2004 19:35:15




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
Cordless phone with one base unit and an extra charger/cradle and two handsets. Fairly common. Many allow up to four handsets. You have to buy handsets for that phone but you probably can get the starter kit with two handsets. Thats what I have.

Charger/cradle stays in the shop w/phone other handset and base/answering unit in the house.

Charles



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John R.-IL

12-17-2004 17:00:36




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
Lowes, Home Depot and Menards all carry Cat.5 wire. Can direct bury and run phone line plus network for computer. About 50 cents a foot. Have used it for years because my wireless network would not reach the garqage. Connect phone to outside phone jack, connect other to network router. Works Great. Connect to outside phone box.



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Mike(inWi)

12-17-2004 10:38:25




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
Listen, there is a much cheaper way to do what you want.

Just get either a cell phone or a trac phone, and keep in in your shop. You can get programs to only pay for the minutes you use, and the phone is free....

Just keep the phone on a charger in your shop and have it turned off except for when you want to make a call or are expecting one.

That is SO much cheaper than installing a new line or phone.

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john in la

12-17-2004 08:43:26




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
Like others have said there are many ways of doing this.
Extra head set
use the elec. wiring adapter
Stopping telephone man and asking for a piece of burial cable.
Running wire over head or in the ground.

Places like Home Depot and Radio Shack have wire rated for out side and will last if run over head. It is not rated for direct burial though.

I choose to bury mine so I encased it in PVC. Works great and was not much more as to cost.
30 ft of PVC and fittings should run you less than $20.00

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lucass

12-17-2004 08:29:27




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  

i dug a narrow trench about 6-8 inches and buried some grey 1 inch plastic pipe ran it up the wall to the shop and up the wall of the house to the junction box. the 10 ft sections of that pipe were only 2.50 each.i pulled the underground phonewire thur it i got at the electrical supply house,dont remenber how much it was but wasnt much. if your going to bury the wire i reccomend the pipe so it wont get cut thru when you forget its there and plant something..lucass

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Jonathan Anders

12-17-2004 08:16:49




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
I took the phone out of my shop. I found that it was inconvenient to have to answer the phone when I was under a tractor or combine, then have to listen to some damn telemarketer. The "convenience" of having to walk 30 feet to get the phone will soon be realized when phone calls start interupting your work.



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ebb sspeed

12-17-2004 07:47:51




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
If you don't do the dual handset cordless thing, and choose to run cable instead, then definitely run it from the box outside the house to your shop, as there is lightning protection in that box. If you run it from somewhere else in the house, and lightning hits your shop, then the lightning will take the path through your house to the lightning protector. This is not a good thing in ALL cases. In a normal, "done by the phone company" installation, lightning protection would also be installed at the shop. The best advice given here so far has been to buddy up to one of the phone company guys, and get a length of buried cable from them. While you're asking, have them give you a lightning protector and ground rod for the shop. Of course I live in Kansas, where lightning can be a problem, and I have spent quite a few years installing this stuff for United Telecom/Sprint.

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Bob - MI

12-17-2004 07:30:51




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
Dual handset would be a good way to go. There are also phone adapters that use the household electrical wiring and eliminate additional phone wires. I am assuming that the shop is wired through the house here.



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RustyFarmall

12-17-2004 07:28:51




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
I can tell you how I did it, and I will also tell you that probably it isn't right, and the phone company really doesn't like it, but it has worked for 5 years with no problems. I basically tapped into the phone junction box inside the house and ran an extension to the shop, using common phone cord. I just ran it up the outside wall of the house, and then ran it overhead to the shop. My shop is a little closer than 30 feet, but not much. Surprisingly, this system has withstood some substantial gale force winds with no damage.

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thurlow

12-17-2004 08:22:09




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to RustyFarmall, 12-17-2004 07:28:51  
When my parents were alive, they had exactly what you describe.....except exterior cable and installed by the phone company. In their case, the shop was about 150 ft away. Had a buzzer switch by the "main" phone in the house and a LOUD (so it could be heard over whatever noise was being made) buzzer in the shop. The phone in the shop would ring, but my mother always did the answering in the house and would buzz the shop if it was for someone working there.....

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Coloken

12-17-2004 07:19:43




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
Plain old phone line should last for years. Run it overhead or bury it. Might consider burying it in like 1/2 inch, or bigger, black plastic pipe. Radio Shack carries all kind of phone stuff. Like the plug in box you should use. Two wires. They changed the wire color code on me a few years ago, so I will not tell you that. Just look into one of the boxes you have now.



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Bob

12-17-2004 07:14:58




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
The cordless phone with the extra base station is a good idea.

As far as direct burial wire is concerned, sometimes if you strike up a conversation with the phone repair guys in you area, they'll give you on odd length of wire that is long enough for your project.



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Jerry/MT

12-17-2004 09:52:32




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Bob, 12-17-2004 07:14:58  
I've been thinking of using a cordless handset in my shop which is 150 ft from the house. Anybody have any idea of the range of those things?



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CNKS

12-17-2004 17:41:09




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Jerry/MT, 12-17-2004 09:52:32  
Think they have increased the power, but 150 ft into a metal building did not work a couple of years ago. Bought a 2.4 Ghz? from Radio Shack, a complete failure, so I took it back. I believe they now have 4.8?--worth a try. I ran line with the water line I put in--works fine.



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Bob

12-17-2004 10:19:24




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Jerry/MT, 12-17-2004 09:52:32  
They will reach farther than that, unless there is metal siding on one or both of the buildings.

My shop is a steel building, and I get 50 - 75 foot range with the doors shut with the phone I have, but different phones may be quite a bit better than that.



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Steve (Magnolia, TX)

12-17-2004 07:01:28




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Brian in NY, 12-17-2004 06:53:07  
May be the optimal opportunity to get one of those dual handset cordless jobs. Put the 'remote' handset (with its charging base) out in the barn/shop (that's what I'm considering, for an almost identical situation).

HTH
Steve



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BEN in KS

12-17-2004 19:16:53




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 Re: OT--running a phone line to the shop... in reply to Steve (Magnolia, TX), 12-17-2004 07:01:28  
For what it is worth, I have a 2.4 gig Panasonic phone that works in my metal shop 160 feet from the house.



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