ENGLISH FAX MACHINE

[Crjohnstone]

HI EVERYONE

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF AN ENGLISH FAX MACHINE WILL WORK IN FRANCE,TRIED THE FRENCH TELEPHONE CONECTION,BUT NOTHING HAPPENED,HOPE SOMEONE CAN HELP.

THANKS LORRAINE

noblettal@hotmail.com

[Baz]

Most UK equipment will work in France, but things like Fax machines may need a special adapter before connecting to the standard French phone connection. I always advise that these special adapters are sourced in the UK, usually contacting the manufacturer will let use know what is required and there are a number of internet companies that can supply them.  The problem is usually due the wiring system inside the equipment and that is why the normal adapters will not work.

If you are based in France and you require just a fax machine then it may be easier to buy a new one. If you are using a combined machine such as an all in one (ie fax, printer, scanner, copier) then a little research and contacting the manufacturer may well be the cheapest solution.

Hope you can solve your problem.

Baz

 

[Nick Trollope]

An adaptor is only a UK-type MASTER socket, with pins 2&5 connected across the Fr telephone line. French 'phone plugs are available anywhere, UK master sockets (must be master type) are available from B&Q & the like, someone should be able to post you one.

Rather cheaper than a new fax, I'd suggest.

Works for answering machines & all UK telephones as well.

 

[Simon]

While you are at it, if you have ADSl then you will need a UK filter to go with a UK master box, so get whoever to post you one with the box.

Regards

[Orion]

Hi

I have an English sourced HP officejet which I connected to the French telephone sytem using a RJ45 plug that goes into a french telephone plug. It has worked without any problems for a year and half so far.

Bon chance

Bill

[Simon]

Yes I have a HP3030 that is excellent, I suspect you mean RJ11 though,.

regards

Simon

[Ecossais]

Most UK spec phones will make calls if you simply replace the UK line cord with a French one however some of them will not ring on incoming calls.  This is due to the difference in the way the ringing circuit is wired in the UK.

 

It is important that a fax machine or telephone answering machine rings as the machine needs to sense the ringing for “auto answer” to work.

 

If as with Bill’s HP OfficeJet simply replacing the line cord works OK then great, otherwise as Nick says, buy a UK “Master” telephone socket (with screw terminals) and a yard of telephone cable from B&Q or Maplin etc for about £5 and fit it on the wall beside the FT socket.  Connect terminals 2 and 5 in the UK socket to the top 2 on the left side inside the French socket.

 

A very good point from Simon, if you have or intend to get Broadband, you’ll also need to get a UK Broadband (ADSL) filter to plug into your UK phone socket.

[nobby]

THANKYOU FOR YOUR REPLIES,DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE FAX HAS TO BE PUT IN AS A MAIN LINE OR CAN I HAVE IT AS AN EXTENTION  LINE?

WE ARE ON ADSL SO WILL  I NEED TO GET BOTH THE GADGETS SUGGESTED?

THANKS LORRAINE

[Ecossais]

Lorraine,

 

I’m not sure of your intentions when you mention “main line” and “extension line”.  Are you going to have a separate dedicated “line” (number) for your fax machine or are you just going to plug it into one of the sockets on your normal telephone line?

 

It doesn’t really matter - Either way you can connect your UK master socket into any of your France Telecom sockets (if you have more than phone).  It doesn’t have to be the first one in your house wiring.

 

You’ll need a UK master socket, usually referred to as a 2/4A socket, for example,

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=897&TabID=1&source=15&WorldID=&doy=26m3

 

and a UK ADSL filter, for example,

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?doy=26m3&source=15&criteria=adsl%20filter

 

and a short length of telephone cable to connect the UK socket to the FT socket.

 

Wire the UK socket into the France Telecom socket, plug the ADSL filter into the UK socket and then the fax (with the UK connecting lead) into the ADSL filter.

 

It should then all work!

 

[Mjc]

[quote]Lorraine ,

So we tried it in an extension socket, and it did not work. We tried it in a dual socket, after the telephone, and it did not work.

We tried it on its own in the "main" socket and it worked, and then both telephones had either to be connected as extensions of the fax machine or connected to separate extension sockets.

 

[Richardbk]

you need a phone adapter with a 'bell capacitor'. This can either be in the form of a UK master socket - not very elegant , unless you are going to permanently fix it to the wall just for UK phones, or an inline adapter . e.g see below

solution 1) http://www.revealcable.co.uk/acatalog/Telephone_Country_Adapters.html  

 

solution 2)

A slightly cheaper is to get 1) a UK to RJ11 adapter ( with bell capacitor) e.g

http://www.revealcable.co.uk/acatalog/RJ11_cables_and_connectors.html

and then buy  2) a French/RJ11 (computer) telephone plug from the local french supermarket. Plug 2) into the France telecom socket, plug 1) into 2), and then plug the fax in into 1)

BTW I have no connections with the above site

regs

Richard

[Ecossais]

Lorraine,

 

Richard’s “Solution 1” looks like a neat ready-made plug and play adapter.  Remember, you’ll still need an ADSL filter – either a French one plugged into your France Telecom socket (before the adapter is plugged in) or a UK one (plugged into the UK socket in the adapter).