sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring 6-wire phone lines w/ 66 block

Make sure they are the BIG red ones LOL

come on hal, gaffers tape will do the job

Actually I run into this problem every so often. That wire is a favorite of the Beanie Boys and they have been known to install phone systems. I fight fire with fire and beanie a length of solid CAT3 onto the end of the stranded. Might not look all that great but it's not my fault.

-Hal

What I want to know is: Why does a place like Loew's order, stock, and sell this crap to unsuspecting customers? Haven't they heard of modern wiring standards? Don't they have a knowledgeable person somewhere in their organization who can advise them that this stuff is 30 years out of date? Sheesh.

Arthur, I know how you feel. Working at the hardware store, I always try to help the customers with that kind of stuff since it's my field of expertise.
Unfortunately all we really sell is quad wire, biscuit jacks, faceplates, and cords. I have been able to get a few side jobs from the store though.
Lowe's and HD do sell 'structured wiring' stuff but good luck finding anyone there who knows how it should be installed. Then again, take just about any department in one of those stores...but that's another rant.

I am guessing they stock it because the average Joe will look at what has been installed in the house for the past 30 years and say "ok so all I have to do is match the colors up", that and cat 3 looks like crap stapled along your molding. Remember guys not everyone is a telecom pro, they just want their phones to work. Most people do not know the difference between cat 3 and the house cat and they really do not care. Viking the wiring you have is fine, follow Sam's advice, use the red and green for line 1, yellow black for line 2 if needed and you will still have a spare pair(Line 1 red/green Christmas tree, line 2 yellow/black bumble bee). You may find it easier to use jacks with screw terminals opposed to the ones you have to punch down. Something like this

If it is stranded wire you cannot use the 66 block, unless you do what Hal mentioned. here is an example of a barrier strip that Sam mentioned.

Good luck

They stock it for the same reason they can sell most stuff below what everybody else does. It's de-spec'ed or it's something the manufacturer want's to get rid of.

-Hal

Check Radio Sxxxxxx for the barrier strips should be a little cheaper!

The members who have said "go ahead and use it" need to find out if Viking intends to use more than 100 cumulative feet of it for more than one line. If so, crosstalk will happen. Better to stop the problem before it starts.

I have a new room and wired three phone jacks in the room with 6-wire phone wire (realized I should have probably used cat5 AFTER I had the drywall hung and mudded).

since the walls are up with the cable in them the best approach is to use it and then deal with the problems when and if they occur