Type 66 Block

Looking for a FAQ on the correct way to punch Cat 5 phone wires to a 66 Block. Don't see how to bring the signal down the block.

Thanks

Reply to
Jim F.
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Reply to
Frank Olson

You'll need a punch-down tool with 66-type blade. Mount 66-block with the type "TOP" facing, well, up. Then you stick your wires into the slots (white goes above the color conductor), excess of the wire facing downwards, and push on the tool (blade knife facing down). The tool is going to do what it's designed for: release the spring energy, set the wire into its place and cut the excess all in one go. Repeat 8 times for every cable.

Good luck!

Reply to
Dmitri(Cabling-Design.com

By "bring the signal down the block" are you wanting to do multiple phone connections? If so I can send you a picture showing exactly how to do it. What I've done is to loop the tip and ring of two lines down the left side of the block and then connect the station cabling (house wiring) down the right side. I then use bridging clips to make the connections. This method enables me to easily isolate any trouble on a particular cable. I have some pictures on my webshots page but I can take a more detailed one if you like.

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From:Jim F. None

Reply to
BruceR

Still not clear on this. Have 2 lines I need to punch. Block is 4 columns with bridged pairs.

Thanks

Reply to
Jim F.

OK, think of the rows on the block as being numbered 1-50 down the side and the columns labled A-D across the top. So, the two wires for Line1 (L1), get punched to 1A & 2A and the two wires for L2 are punched to 3A & 4A. The cable going out to the phone gets punched so that L1 is on 1D & 2D and L2 on 3D & 4D. Now put bridging clips across the center pins of the four rows and you have dial tone on the 2 lines at the phone. You can add more phones by repeating the process down the block. To bring the dial tone down to lower rows, you loop the wire rather than cut it.

1A is looped to 5A, 9A, 13A, 17A, etc. It's hard to put this into words so if you like I'll send some detailed pics. Send your email addr to me at br AT hawaii.com replacing the AT with @.

From:Jim F. None

Reply to
BruceR

"BruceR" wrote in news:59yke.8766$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.socal.rr.com:

Okay, as someone who was ALSO wondering about this, I have followed this thread carefully and I understand what you are saying. My question is this - why would someone use that method (looping your way down the block to distribute to multiple locations) instead of a bridged 110 punchdown module such as this one -

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I used one of these in my Leviton enclosure to distribute 4 incoming lines to 8 phones. This eliminates all that "looping" and seems like a much simpler and cleaner solution. I did this after searching for the same info about type 66 blocks as the O.P. and not coming up with much. I ran a CAT5e line from the TelCo's demark box directly into my Leviton enclosure and punched the four pairs down for four incoming lines. However, after seeing those 66 blocks used on almost every phone system I've seen, I felt like I -SHOULD- have been using one too. Can you shed any light on why my method may be wrong or what the advantage is of the

66 block besides being able to pull the jumpers to isolate a line?

I have been wonding about this for a long time, and now that someone else has brought up the subject again, maybe I can finally put this to rest.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Reply to
Jim H

From:Jim H snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net

Several reasons: 1) Not everybody uses a Leviton enclosure. 2) 8 phones requires a $30 module vs. $6 for a 66 block that handles 12 two line phones or 6 four line phones. 3) You can't use bridging clips on that module so individual phones cannot be disconnected without pulling the wires. 4) Looping the wires can be done as easily and neatly as any other use of the block. 5) Troubleshooting is made easier.

Basically, there is nothing wrong with the way you did it. It works, it's well organized and you have a relatively small installation. Your solution is well suited to a residential application. For larger homes, a more commercial approach makes better sense from administrative and cost perspectives. Personally, I don't like "structured" enclosures as they charge an arm & a leg for attaching proprietary brackets to otherwise generic parts. Even if I had to use an enclosure for asthetic reasons, I would use an empty wall cabinet with a plywood backboard and mount generic video, 110 and 66 components.

Reply to
BruceR

The problem with these "bridged" type blocks is how they are implemented. If you refer to the above drawing you will notice that the station wire going to the jack is punched to the bridged block. This is only useful in the most simplistic installations. In the drawing there is a fax. If the fax line is line 2 then either a special line cord, single line jacks or swapping pairs at the punchdown would be required to connect the fax to the proper line. The same problem would present itself for office or kid's phones that came in on lines other than line

1 and needed to be connected to single line phones or other devices.

The whole idea of punchdown terminations is to terminate all the station wiring in a logical and permanent fashion while allowing easy Moves, Adds and Changes. The proper way to utilize a "bridged" block would be to terminate all the station wires on standard 110 type blocks and then crossconnect to a bridged block.

For me the easiest way to handle phone lines is illustrated in these links:

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Four lines enter from the NID in the four port surface mount box at the top center and are broken out to single line jacks. From there line 1 goes to a DSL filter and on to the DSL modem and the blue pair on all the regular station jacks. Line 2 is the fax line and goes to a Stick
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and on to the center pair at the fax and modem jacks. Line 3 is a rollover from line 1 and goes to the orange pair on all the regular station jacks.

At the station jacks the blue and orange pairs are terminated the the left top jack and the green and brown pairs are terminated at the top right jack.

I find this method to be fast, easy and simple to understand. Any configuration of line X on pair X can be implemented easily and without disturbing the permanent wiring. If the customer decides to upgrade to a phone system that can be done without disturbing the permanent wiring. If you need to convert the phone wires to network wires (VoIP) then all you need to do is rewire the wall plates. If you look closely you will notice that the wires at stations 14-17 are not punched down so those jacks are not "hot" but ready to go. Easy and flexible.

The only advantage of 66 blocks over this method is the ability isolate individual station jacks by removing the bridging clips. This is fine for "phone guy" types but I don't want to have to go onsite to solve that sort of simple problem.

The troubleshooting method I usually employ is:

  1. Unplug the jacks at the surface mount box above the 110 block and check for dial tone. Sometimes you have to wait a minute or two for dial tone to return if there is a defective phone. No dial tone = check at NID and usually call the phone company.
  2. If dial tone returns with the 110 block disconnected then I have the customer unplug all the phones and other devices from their wall jacks. Reconnect the plugs to the surface mount box above the 110 block and check for dial tone while reconnecting each phone one at a time. Usually when one of the phones is reconnected dial tone will drop and that phone is defective, usually the victim of lightning.
  3. If all of the above fails I will go and troubleshoot. This is almost never required. Even if I have to replace the loop wires on the 110 block it takes at most 10 minutes.

My feeling is that 66 blocks are an "old" technology that cannot meet current specifications for twisted pair installations. Not really a problem for POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) but if you have installed cat5 or better cable why not terminate it in the best possible way?

Caveats:

Not installed (yet) in the picture is a surge suppressor that will be mounted to the right of the surface mount box.

DO NOT use stranded wire on punchdowns. Stranded wire may work for a while then cause problems.

When crimping plugs onto solid wire BE SURE the plugs are designed for either solid wire or both solid and stranded wire. Close examination of the plug contacts will show either or both a "spike" for stranded wire or a "saddle" for solid wire.

Reply to
Lewis Gardner

"BruceR" wrote in news:LCRke.9259$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.socal.rr.com:

You don't have to. My Enclosure is actually not a true Leviton, but a cheap facsimile of a Leviton Enclosure. It is compatible with the Leviton components and mounting hardware. There are also many alternatives to the Leviton enclosure. In fact, you could use any type of enclosure you can dream of, or even just a wiring closet with plywood, and STILL use a bridged 110 punch-down module for phone distribution. I was just trying to give an easy example.

Again, I did not spend $30 on that module - more like $15. I just offered that link as an example. Even $15 may seem like a lot, but I personally would never have chosen my wiring system based on a $9 savings.

Okay. Never really had the need, but the wires are easy enough to pull - or I could just unplug the phone, but I get your point.

That much I figured. Luckily, my system is not prone to trouble and I'm confident I could get to the root of a problem fairly easily should something arise. I could imagine how large installations that route to many points of use can benefit much more from that advantage.

I understand that. Personally, I like the clean look of the enclosure, and I actually did not spend an arm and a leg for my enclosure and components. I still would not call them cheap. I'm sure I could have easily saved $100 or so, but to me $100 is fairly inconsequential in the whole scheme of things that includes IR distribution, A/V distribution, Telephone, networking, and Surveillance.

Thank you very much for offering your knowledge, thoughts and opinions on the subject. I feel I have a better understanding now of how and why these 66 blocks are used. Much appreciated.

Reply to
Jim H

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