atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Nortel Telephones & Systems Compact ICS bad line port

I am in a remote area of Montana and have been asked to troubleshoot a Norstar Compact ICS V4.0 at a grain elevator. They have 3 extensions and 2 loop start lines. Line 2 has gone dead at the phones but is good going into the system. I wired tip and ring to another single line phone, but can not get dial tone unless I pull the T&R from the system feed cable. I have been installing Panasonic and Avaya systems for over 30 years, but this is the first Nortel product that I have encountered in this area. IF the system is able to handle 4 CO's, I would expect that I could enable the 3rd CO port and program that Line appearance at each of the 3 extension and enable ringing on that line port at each extension.
I downloaded the manual and am smart enough to not waste my time learning a system that I am unlikely to encounter again. There isn't a Nortel tech within several hundred miles of this business and I am not the kind of guy that says that they NEED to buy a new system to get such a small operation working on two lines again.
Looking for help and willing to pay.
thanks,

What happens when you read the resistance on pairs 2,5 and 6 on the block? It seems unlikely that all 3 pairs are shorted. You might look to a mechanical failure (tail, bad bridge clip, water, corrosion, etc.) on pair 2.

Carl

If you have the manual I would move the CO line to CO port 3 and reprogram 1 extension for the line 3 to ring and appear. If it works you could program the remainder of the sets.

Do what "Rather be Fishing" told you.
Keep in mind that On the cable - you have Pairs 1 & 2 are Lines 1 & 2.
Then you have 2 Blank pairs. Then pairs 5 & 6 are lines 3 & 4.

If that works - You can program the phone that showed Line 1 and then 2 to show line 1 and then 3 .
The customer will still think he has 2 lines in the same spot.

To do that - Remove line 2 from the phones and then Add line 3. That will put line 3 right below line 1.

Done that many times to get things going.

You can rename the 3rd co port to "Line 2" if you want, but that's the last of your worries. Hopefully the password is known or default so you can get in. If you're new to nortel, use the programming overlay in the manual to help with the keys to use while programming.

Jim

And finally in case you do not want to do all the above you could just order another line card, power down, replace, power up.

And hope it doesn't default.....

Not to scare the client but chances of defaulting at this time are pretty rare.

Also check the SP version as this will see if it has the IRAD enabled which would allow a vendor to dial in to make changes and do a backup of programming.

The customer has powered the system down, for about 20 seconds, and restarted without "apparently" loosing any programming. I'm always concerned about what hits the fan after I get involved with a new customer and and unfamiliar system. If the card replacement is straight forward, I would probably recommend that. It seems like one port failure often leads to another.. Where is the card located, as I have had trouble getting the front cover off of the ksu.

Yes, the cover can be tricky. A small screwdriver will help. Probably an LS/DS card. Get cover off, power down and swap them out.

Agreed, sometimes they make you curse and or end up breaking the plastic on the cabinet.
The tab you pry is a tad too tall, in other words it's like as if it's an exact fit so the trick is to raise or lower the cover at the same time prying with your little flat head.

I got in the habit of gently replacing the covers without locking the tab back in.

If it is a Compact ICS - You don't need to remove the cover to get the Trunk Cards out.
That tricky cover - covers the Software and the Amphenol cable connectors - not the Trunk Cards.

And the left card is Lines 1-4.

Ha, good point Jim! My mistake.

I pulled the number off of the card (without my readers) it appeared to be NT7B75GB-03 ... Is there a range of compatible cards, as I seem to be coming across cards with the NT7B75xx-xx designation??

Sent you a PM.

Thanks guys,
I have ordered a replacement card, per customer request, and will
1- power down
2- replace card
3- power up
4- test system
5..... - wait to get paid ; )

thanks for the help !

The NT7B75GD, NT7B75GE and first version NT7B75GF are known to have issues but not all of them....for me directly is was NT7B75GE that caused the CICS to reboot every so often.

If it fixes it you could put the old card in the other slot for safe keeping if needed in an emergency and or if it has non restricted software then they can add more lines.
Pry out the tabs a little with a small driver then pull them out further with your fingers and slide it out evenly.

Funny thing today....as for the cover I curse it now, today I did a site survey for relocate and last tenant left a CICS and Callpilot, all I had were my keys and could not get the bloody cover off for nothing to see the software version so it will have to wait when I relocate and have tools.