RCA model 25425 4 line phn answerer no work if phone in use

First thoughts are is the device near to a wall socket power supply?
Non "Switch mode" power supplies use transformers and these give off a radiated 50/60Hz hum which can be picked up by devices with amplifiers such as answering machines and phones etc. Try moving the answering machine to a new location where there are no power supplies nearby and see if that makes a difference? If it does you have a couple of choices, leave the machine where it is or move the power supply to another wall socket further from the answering machine.
Kevin

check with service centre

Page 15 of the manual shows how to turn individual phone ringers off using the "Ringer tone" setting option. RCA 25425RE1 User Manual Page 15 Hope this helps

There are a couple of problems you may have.

First, the wall jack may not be wired correctly or the wire you ar eusing is a single line wire.

The easiest to check is the wire, look at the plug and see if it has 4 copper leads. If it only has two in the middle two slots then it will only connect line 1. If it has 4 copper leads then it should pass both lines 1 and 2 (or three and four). The middle leads are line 1 and the outer two are line 2.

If the wires all check out then you may have a wall plate that is not wired for multiple lines on the single wire. That will require a technician coming out and rewiring the plate. There are also adaptors available at Radio Shack that will combine two lines to one wire if you have both lines on the wall plate.

I have a blog on 4 line phones if you would like other tips about them. Go to the tag cloud and you will see 4 line phone.

You can find the combiner at Radio Shack Model: T07843 ' Catalog #: 55034722. It may only be online not in the stores.

Now here's a conflict. Does line 4 work on any other phone where it doesn't ring? You say all lines are working properly wiith dial tones, tnen you say you can't pick it up from another phone.

I don't think these phones have "private lines", but the dial tone comes from the 2nd RJ-14 jack on the wall. On every phone, you could swap the plugs so that line 1 comes into line 3 and line 3 comes into line 1 (you'll lose the intercom) and see if you get dial tone on line 2 which will be the phone that works line 4. The point being to determine if you have a wiring issue or a programming problem.

Carl

It is possible. I have ATT 945(?) 4 line phones that communicate via a DSL-like signal between units to do special things like intercom, etc.

What I have in my setup is that I have a seperate line from the point of entry of my phone line to my DSL modem.

I then have TWO stacked DSL filters PER LINE that feed the main phone line running to all the phones.

Be AWARE that when using the speaker phone there is a modulation of the gains both directions. When you talk OR have a noisy background noise, the gain of the speaker is cut down to prevent feedback. And when you go silent, the speaker gain is increased for you to hear the other side of the call. Essentially it takes as much discipline as the old two-way radios... one talker at a time with these speaker phones AND very little background noise.

Your old phone my have been for a digital phone line. The new phone only works on traditional telco analog. There are adaptors that your phone company has to make the line analog.

The newer model RCA phone will do music on hold. There is a jack on the back of each phone, you plug a cd player or MOH device into it and it will play on ALL of the phones(not just that one).

Tom,

I had the "error: inhibited" problem with my RCA 4-line Executive Series phone as well.
When I checked the line from the phone to the wall outlet, I saw that it had come undone.
After I plugged the phone back into the wall, it started working normally again.

I recommend substituting in a different, known-good telephone to see if that works.
If you can't get any phone to work plugged into that extension, then the extension is dead.
If another phone works but your RCA still will not, then the problem is with the RCA phone.

A similar idea is to try moving your RCA phone, substituting it in place of a working phone.
If it works in room X but not in room Y, suspect the phone wiring running to room Y.

This phone employs a common but awkward means of wiring up lines two and four.
Line two is wired to the wall by piggybacking on the patch cable used for line one.
Line four is wired to the wall by piggybacking on the patch cable used for line three.
A phone cord has four wires running through it, but a phone signal requires just two.
The piggybacking technique leverages the cable's free pair to feed a second line.

The upshot is that one can test the wiring for lines one and three with a simple, plain phone.
To test the wiring to lines two or four, some specialized knowledge is needed.
In place of that knowledge, a different two-line phone which also piggybacks might be used.

That's detail you'll need to consider only if your problem is specific to line 2 and/or line 4.

Anyhow, I hope I'm not patronizing by being too simple. But, I had this problem too.
It turned out to have nothing to do with the phone itself; the signal wiring to it was bad.

I realize that this feedback is a bit late and that you've likely already resolved your issue.
Perhaps this feedback will someday help somebody else (since these Q&As are archived).

Regards,

Lincoln