phone jack, installation help

[kbunnystarr]

  good morning.  i want to have a phone jack, for campgrounds that dont have wireless, and when im in places i need one for dialup for my computer.  has anyone installed one?  start to finish? i went to rvwholesalers and looked, online, at the parts that come up.i know what the outside par t looks like with the jack an d the weather protect cover, adn also what the jack for the inside looks like, but i dotn know how to go about the connection part, and how best to do...can anyone help with advice?  i figure i have to put a hole in the side of the bus, lie they did for the cable jack?  thing is, i would liek to have th eoption to have in 2 places, so i guess i have to put 2 in.....one on each side of the bus.   anyway,  can anyone advise how to go about this?

[DavidInWilmNC]

I'm not putting any holes in the sides of my bus for cables, wires, hoses, etc.  All my connections are in the bays.  I have openings with a cover (like what is often used on the sides of S&S's for the power cords) in the 'floors' of the bays.  Basically, everything enters and exits fromt he bottom of the bus.  I'm doing the same with outside outlets - bring the cord through the bottom of the bay and plug it in inside the bay.  This keeps the sides looking nice, the cables can come from the right or the left sides of the bus, and cuts down on leak possibilities.  Also, you don't have to use weatherproof jacks this way, as they'll be nice and dry plus safe from being bumped into and damaged.  If you have a city bus without bays, most online RV supply websites (and local RV stores) carry phone connections.  Radio Shack used to carry an exterior weatherproof jack.  I've seen 'em on eBay, too.  Good luck.

David

(edited to add that I added some other ideas in your post on the other board, too)

[oldmansax]

The basics are pretty easy. I would suggest you Google "phone diagram" or some similar term for some wiring diagrams.

As for the outside installation, you will have to cut a hole in the skin. You can use a standard plastic work box and a weather proof cover. They make single jacks that will screw to the work box. Screw the cover to the jack and you're done.  Inside, you can do the same thing except the inside jack will be in a standard wall plate like a receptacle. The wiring is all color coded. Just match the colors & you can't go wrong. You can wire box to box. You do not have to have a separate line from the outside jack to each inside jack. Any good electrical supply house should have anything you need as well a Lowe's.

Have fun!

[HighTechRedneck]

One more tip, as with all other wiring, it is a good idea to use rubber or plastic grommets anywhere you pass through metal.  Also, if you are going to use it for data connections, I recommend keeping it at least a few inches away from the runs of AC power.  The interference doesn't make much difference for voice connections but it can slow down a modem connection.

[jjrbus]

2nd vote for in the bay, if possible. The weatherproof covers  are weather resistant, not "weatherproof". It is a good idea to keep things of this nature as accesible as possible ie dont install outlet, then run wire overfloor then build cabinate over it. You may or may not have to repair it some day. Murphys law. If it is hard to access, well you get it.

[mandolinplucker]

After running telephone troubles for 36 years, here is what I would do. You need a length of cat5 or station wire with a telephone jack plug in on each end to run from the phone terminal to the bus. It would plug into a jack in an inside bay. Run it into the bay from any available hole or drill one in the bay floor. Install a jack inside the bay to plug the wire from outside to. Run a wire to a distribution box from the jack and run a separate wire to each jack in the coach and terminate in the distribution box. If you run a wire to each jack, it will make it easier to diagnose any future troubles. You can disconnect each one separatly to test for  shorts or grounds or opens, and change to a spare pair without having to replace wire or rewire a bunch of jacks in a series if you change to the spare. Try to tell if the place that you hook your feed to the telephone dial tone is a grounded protector. A protector stops lightening strikes and power surges and bleeds the damaging power to ground instead of burning up stuff inside the coach.  If the phone co provides dial tone they must install a grounded protector. All of the wires are color coded , just use the same colors all of the way through the coach,cat5 is the blue pair; station wire is the red/green. Good luck

[kbunnystarr]

thanx for the posts...still abit confused.but will go to home depot to see, or lowes......

what is a distribution box?

and if i have the outide jack in a bay or where ever.........then run the wire to the one jack onside.........how do i then run another one inside?  basically i want to have options as to where i am gonna have the computer.....one is in teh living room where the tv now is, .have an entertainment set up of sorts behind /over the wheel well on drivers side front...and a jack there, and that is the sid ei want the outside jack on.......then also want an inside jack on the passanger side about mid way thru the bus........in the dable now tobe desk work area..........not sure how to do this....can anyone offer thoughts on htis/  ...maybe i shoudl hire someone to come do it...........jsut dont want to make a mess of things.......( but really want to do myself)

[HighTechRedneck]

In simplist terms, the distribution box is where the one pair of wires from the telco connect to and has terminals or jacks for multiple jacks inside.  If you go that route, which like mandolinplucker I recommend, the distribution box would mount in the bay of your choosing.  From there run the wires to the desired positions in your coach.  If it were me, I would route them through the bays and bring them up through the floor at each position.  Also, if it were me, I would probably use surface jacks (square plastic box with a jack on the edge, mounts with one or two screws to a wall or floor) since they require minimal wall surgery.  At the table, you could discretely run the wire up the wall or up the table leg and mount the jack to the bottom of the table.

Telephone wiring is really very simple and safe.  With all the things you have already done yourself, this should be one of the easiest things you done.

[kbunnystarr]

    thank you for that vote of confidence!!!!!!!!  i feel much better about it now wit everyones advice!!!  thanx so much!