How do I replace original telephone jack with a new one?

Question

I have what appears to be an original telephone jack from the 1980's that I wanted to replace with a white face to freshen it up.

When I opened the back, I found that the wires are directly attached to the face plate, fitting into little clamps.

See original photos here and below

Having checked out a few YouTube videos, it seems that I should be able to detach the wires from the original plate, and match them up to the wires/screws found on the Leviton Standard Telephone Wall Jack. 6P6C. screw terminals, but thought I should ask here before messing things up.

update Thanks everyone for the input and clear directions! With that, I was able to successfully update the jack.

Answer 1

Note that, as is typical for a single line install, you only have 2 wires active, and a 2 or 4 wire jack would work just fine as it's only the white-with-blue (going to green, old-style)/blue (going to red, old-style) pair that are doing anything, on the center two contacts of the jack. 4 contacts of a 6 wire jack are doing nothing.

You may want to disconnect (unplug) your line at the Network Interface (typically a gray box on the outside of the house with a telephone symbol, and a screw marked "customer access" keeping it closed) before rewiring, as there is some danger of shock if anyone happens to call while you are moving the wires. Ring voltages run about 90VAC.

Answer 2

What you have there are punch-down connections, where the wire is forced into a slot that cuts through the insulation and makes the electrical connection.

To replace them with your new screw-terminal type jack:

1. Pry the wire out of the slot.
2. I would suggest that you cut off the part of the wire where you can see the insulation is nicked, because the metal will also be nicked and might be fragile there. This might not be necessary.
3. Use a wire stripper to expose some bare wire.
4. Hook the wire around the screw and tighten it down.

To keep the jack wired the same as before, make sure you pair your blue-with-white-stripes wire with the jack's red wire and the white-with-blue-stripes wire with the jack's green wire.

However, there is something weird here: the blue-with-white-stripes wire seems to be looped through the jack and on to a splice with the green wire. This is strange, because wires should always be paired and the white-with-blue-stripes wire isn't doing the same thing. But perhaps the other splice is joining 3 wires (I can't quite tell). In any case, make sure to preserve any wire joins, as they might be part of the wiring for another jack on this same phone line. You may wish to replace the loop with a new 3-way splice, or you can try cutting the loop and putting both ends of it under the red screw.

The exact way you make the connection doesn't matter too much, as long as everything has continuity that did before.