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Lee Schierer
04-26-2008, 10:52 AM
Does anyone make a cordless phone that would use the power from the phone line and not require an AC adapter? In our kitchen where the phone is located there is no power outlet. We have a wall mounted corded phone now with a long handset cord, but the cord hangs down, gets tangled and the dog tends to pull on it. We would like to have the ability to move about the kitchen without the cord.

Mitchell Andrus
04-26-2008, 11:26 AM
It'd be an easier job to set up another phone line near an outlet... where the dog can't find it.

Joe Pelonio
04-26-2008, 12:29 PM
If you buy one with more than one handset (we have 4) you can locate the charging unit anywhere and just leave it off it during the time day, return it at night to charge. The other advantage is having them located all over the house you're never far from one.

Jim O'Dell
04-26-2008, 12:51 PM
What I did at the other house was to snake a wire from the phone mount to a blank plate next to an outlet. Mounted a female dc socket from Radio Shack to match the AC adaptor male end. put a male end to match at the phone end, and had an inwall hidden "extension" cord. No fuss no muss. Worked great.
I wanted to move the phone base out of the kitchen here at the current house, but LOML vetoed that idea. The phone is at the entrance from the garage, and she can listen to messages (built in answering machine) as she comes in and puts up things. Jim.

Mike Henderson
04-26-2008, 4:50 PM
The problem with trying to use power from the phone line is that current flow in the line is used by the phone company to detect "off hook". That is, there's a DC voltage on the phone line and normally no current flows. When you take the phone off hook, the phone completes the circuit and current flows from one wire to the other, which tells the phone company you have picked up the phone.

The phone people call the two wires to your house "the local loop" because to them, it looks like a loop which current flows in only when you go off hook.

So if you were taking power from the line to charge the battery in the portable phone, the phone company would think you were "off hook" all that time and you'd never receive any phone calls.

There are a few devices that are powered by the line, but only when they are in use.

But in any case, the phone company is in the business of providing communications and not power. Because of the system they use to provide that power (battery backup, diesel generators) it would be the most expensive power you could find.

Mike

Curt Harms
04-26-2008, 8:20 PM
We have a base station and 4 cordless handsets. The base station can be anywhere there's both a phone outlet and power outlet. The handsets only require AC. Works fine and I saw an entire setup-base station/w answering machine and 4 cordless handsets- in a Circuit City or Best Buy for $68.00. Ours are Panasonic 2 line and seem to work fine, second line is VOIP.

HTH

Curt

Jim Mattheiss
04-26-2008, 8:45 PM
I ran a remote power supply for a caller id phone in the kitchen.
I ran a cat-5 cable from the phone patch panel to the kitchen phone.

4 of the wires (2 pairs) are wired as line 1 and line 2 to the wall phone plate.
4 of the wires are wired as the power for the caller-id function (2 wires each in parallel for more ampacity).

The power supply for the phone is in the basement out of sight.

I don't get any hum (crosstalk) or have any issues with the phone signal.

It works pretty well.

Jim

Jim Becker
04-26-2008, 9:05 PM
Honestly, I haven't seen that kind of setup, Lee. If your house is wired with home runs, you could possibly do something like Jim suggests to eliminate the wall wart at the phone location. But if you have the old "spaghetti" wiring that loops through the house, it will be darn difficult to do it cleanly and there may be a greater risk of interference.

Cliff Rohrabacher
04-27-2008, 10:01 AM
Google "free electricity from the telephone line"
Without the quotes.

There's power in that thar phone line and it's yours for the taking.

Back in the bad old days they used to dry the lines (when they got wet) with 400 Volts DC. It'd neat everything up and dry it out.