Can 66 punch down blocks be reused or are they trash after they have been used once??

Sure they can be reused. They are designed for the purpose of allowing reconfiguration.

Just make sure you clean them up. Remove any bits of insulation or wire that may be stuck down in the bottom of the clips.

At some point of use the clips on a block will be "stretched" and won't reliably grab the wire. At that point the block has reached the end of it's life.

And remember, only one wire per clip.

-Hal

I have found myself re-using 66 blocks more than I would like to admit, I found that a nice touch to clean them up is to use a piece of fine sandpaper to clean the plastic frame of all the writing that happens on them, after that they almost look new.

[This message has been edited by mkoloj (edited 02-23-2005).]

Another good cleaning item is "Goof-off". Just a quick wipe or two, as it melts the plastic off. Good for clearing of all those numbers that changed year ago.

We use a circuit board cleaner that will remove sharpie markings without any harm to the plastic. Works well for removing sharpie from wall plates too. We bought a case of the stuff maybe 6 years ago and it's since probably been banned on 20 countries because it's CFC based. I'm sure though that they have an ozone frendly replacement though I hope it will work as well.

-Hal

Garden variety lacquer thinner ($3 a gallon) will take Sharpie off. Just be sure to test it on a small corner of plastics before you gunk it. It will eat some of them. It doesn't seem to hurt the real Telco 66 blocks.

Yes, acetone is pretty agressive with most plastics. It will often take the markings off because it dissolves the plastic.

The stuff we have left is tricloretheylene (sp?) which is much less agressive and it's nice to know that you can spray it on most paint and plastics without damage yet it will remove the markings.

Too bad all the good stuff is banned now. When we are out of this we'll see how well the replacement works.

-Hal

Thanks for all of the input. I was checking because I hate static on a phone line caused by a bad connection. It is so cool to access all of this information and advice and not get a bill.

Trichlorethylene and trichlorethane are both pretty much banned because of a number of heath and pollution issues. Not the least of which is they break down to phosgene gas when heated. (also liver damage and such)
It does knock stuff like Sharpie pen off tho, just don't try to put it in a styrofoam cup.

Watthead.... No bills for advice?? We aren't lawyers ya know?

A good old pink eraser works great for removing sharpie ink.

However phone companies quit using 66 blocks long ago because they are proned to connection failures. Some use 110 blocks, most use wire-wrap type, which is the best IMO.

Pink eraser- maybe if it isn't too old but most of the stuff we get has been there for years. I suppose too that the material and surface matter a lot.

66 blocks are still more popular than 110 around here. Easy to attach test clips to.

Also popular are Krone blocks. These are usually used for a demark since they incorporate built in contacts that bridge the two sides. They are nice because a test plug will interrupt the bridging and bring both sides out to the test leads so you can isolate a problem to one side or the other. Only problem is that sometimes the contacts get dirty and cause problems.

Only place I have seen wire wrap is in the CO or large frames with CO type protectors.

-Hal

[This message has been edited by hbiss (edited 02-25-2005).]