I have a crackle on my BT phone line. When I plug it into the test socket is doesn't crackle anymore. Is it ok to leave it in the test socket permanently?

Thanks

Do you have any extensions? If you do then they will not work with the faceplate disconnected.

And the cabling to the extension is very likely the cause of the crackle. Absolutely typical symptom of a break in the cable somewhere. If the extensions are not in use what you can do is pull the wires off the back of the faceplate and then put it back in place, just to make things neat.

Otherwise you will need to locate the broken bit of cable and replace it if you do need the extensions working.

Thank you very much for replying so quickly. We do have an extension that needs to be used, so at least I now know what needs to be done. Thanks, you've been very helpful.

You will probably have to replace the entire cable run though you can get small junction boxes to join the cable back together again.

http://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/77a...idc/dp/TE05896

That would be the best way to join the ends of the cable back together again. Though it depends on where the break is and whether there is enough slack to allow a junction box to be used.

You would also need a tool like this to punchdown the wires into the terminals (and would need one if you were replacing the cable to terminate the cable at the sockets)

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/31...ool/dp/TE05832

One thing. If the cable goes under the carpet anywhere or round a door frame rather then through a hole in the frame those are prime candidates for where the break is. Carpets simply hide the damage they don't necessarily prevent it. Just make it harder to fix as well.

For a line test dial: 17070

A message may come back: "caller ID withheld" or "There is no CLI detected for this circuit". Dial the prefix 1470 before 17070 to continue.

Try option 3