How do I hook up an old rotary phone?

Question

It has 4 wires (red, green, blue, yellow, I think..) with metal half-circles on the end of each--I think the red & green are the active wires--what do I need to make it fit in the telephone jack in the wall?

Answer 1

You can remove the jack from the wall and attach the 4 wires to the existing terminals of the same color. All 4 wires are needed: some make the phone work, other make the ringer work. TURN OFF THE ELECTRICITY FIRST. An incoming call, even with the phone disconnected, will send an electrical charge through the wire to the ringer.

Answer 2

all my rotary phones have 4 wires, found another one but it only has 3, red, yellow, and green. what do i need to do to hook it to a 4 prong wall jack?

Answer 3

hookup the red and green. the phone will work with just those 2 wires hooked up.

Answer 4

red and green to red and green of your wiring... or if your wiring is newer red to solid blue, green to blue/white