Quote from: SteveInWA on August 30, 2018, 06:18:17 PM
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More ridiculous bullshit. We don't need someone to read random stuff on the internet and then make guesses about it. If you need a friend, then get a dog. This is not a citizens band radio chat channel.
AC line (mains) power surge suppressors use a combination of MOVs and RF noise-suppression circuits. Telephone line / data line surge suppressors do not use MOVs; most commonly use gas discharge tubes and zener diode arrays, which do not degrade over time. The telephone company suppressors installed in network interface boxes used a very heavy-duty carbon lightening suppression device, again, not MOVs. The devices inside network interface boxes are intended for lightening protection.
Most AC surge protector power strips are designed to fail open-circuit, with an indicator LED to notify the user that the product is now EOL.
A power line disturbance could make its way through the AC power adapter (wall wart), if it is not plugged into a working surge protector, but it would be caught by the surge suppressors inside the OBi device, and the relatively wimpy circuitry inside the AC power adapter would break down and fail first. Worst case, if the surge made it all the way past these protections, the entire OBi device would release its magic smoke and die.
There is nothing to "eat up your ring voltage"; that's utterly preposterous. The ring voltage is generated and precisely regulated inside the Subscriber Line Interface (SLIC) module. If a surge on the telephone line got that far, the module would sacrifice itself, and the phone line would be dead. There have been plenty of examples of this over the years.
You're forgetting the fact that he bought a house that had existing wiring with an existing history. Who knows what was installed or when. Further, you don't know the circuitry of either the security system or the water meter. Your speculations about what, if any, type of surge arrestor is installed, and where, is no more valid than mine.
Have you ever taken apart a cheap Chinese power strip with "surge protection" for power, cable and telephone? It's just cheap varistors. Only intended to work once, at most. Maybe the previous homeowner got a brainstorm and stuck one in a phone jack. No one will know without looking.
Here, go educate yourself a bit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VaristorIn a power application, they're intended to short out and pop the breaker, not fail open.
SO, to sum up: We know he has a problem with ring current when the Obi200 is using the house wiring. Why? I haven't heard a single thing from you that has any prospect of answering that question. Meanwhile, drgeoff has offered some excellent diagnostic advice.
If the other two items on line don't answer the question, then what's wrong with the wiring? He can dial the phone and converse with the called party, so it's not a short. What is it, smart guy?