FREE Hidden Electricity!

This Instructable will show you how to tap into a FREE source of electricity! All you need is a phone line! All phone lines have a constant flow of voltage, around 40-70 volts (up to 100 volts when it rings!), but you can't just plug stuff into it and expect it to work. You can really mess with your phone system by doing that. I discovered how to do it the right way!

Step 1 What You Need...

1. Small project enclosure
2. (1) 240ohm resistor
3. (1) 510ohm resistor
4. (1) LM317L Regulator
5. (1) KBP210 Bridge Rectifier
6. (2) Phone line cables

Comments

[WV_Kokamo_Joe]

What are the resistor specs? Are they 1/4 wat, 1/2 watt? +- .5 %, .o1%?

From the pictures you have posted they are 1/4 watt axial. But who knows?

You really should post this info as people going to buy these parts to build this will not know what values to get.

[stealthop]

at that level 1/2 watt is plenty

[stealthop]

and from what i can tell from the poor picture qual , they are 10% tolerance

[smuhammad5]

If we get 12volts DC by voltage divider.Can we provide that to a power inverter means UPS??????
plzzzzzzz answer me
[e-mail]

[WV_Kokamo_Joe]

Also, what is the voltage and amps acheived?

[Maccer]

Is this legal?

[Taddle]

Depends where you live

[tinstructable]

Depending on how much your phone draws, couldn't you technically power your phone just off of this?

[Taddle]

Older phones did actually use the power from the phone line

[Super_Nerd]

Technically, this isn't completely free, because phone service isn't free. However, there isn't any extra cost, so I would say...

Money saving hidden electricity

[Taddle]

Sometimes, power can still come through even if you're not connected to the service, it depends on how the system in your area works.

[the cat expert]

My question is: Can you hook an iPad to this and have it charge?

[Taddle]

Probably, find out how many amps your phone line is kicking out using a multimeter and multiply that by the volts. If your answer is over 10, yes.

[arc86]

If you do this don't be surprised if the phone company finds out about it. But I want to offer a couple corrections.

First, don't use the KBP210 Bridge Rectifier. That's used to convert AC to DC but the voltage on the phone line is already DC so all it does is waste 1.4V of your power source (when current has to flow through diodes it burns up extra power). You can tell he has his multimeter set on DC voltage in the video, this verifies that's what's coming out of his wall jack. I guess it would save you if you accidentally connected the green and red wires backwards but just don't do that.

Second, if you already have DC, figure out what voltage you need for your device and use the LM317L or another adjustable regulator. He has the resistor network connected incorrectly so refer to the datasheet from Texas Instruments. What you need to do is hook up the resistors so when you get your desired voltage on the Output pin, the Adj pin sees 1.25V. The way he shows it hooked up it looks like the circuit will just output 1.25V (the Adj pin draws so little current it's at effectively the same voltage as the output it's hooked to through a resistor). You need one resistor going from the output to the Adj pin, and one going from the Adj pin to your ground.

Anyways, check your output with your multimeter before you hook it up to your valuable electronics.

[usbg3rd]

i found out that the phone line contains 50-60V dc and a 110Vrms sine superimposed on it so u will need a rectifier ic too .....

i wonder why he isn't using filter capacitor? ???

by the way nice hacking :)

[nodoubtman]

thank you it works wonderfully... but i did a bridge diode with 4 1N4007 Instead :) i have built a beautiful lamp by the way :)

THank YOu again! :)
marC:)

[siddhesh51]

can we connect the two wires coming from the telephone port directly to the load without using Rectifier ,Regulator and resistors for my lappy ?????????????? plzzzzzzzzzzz help !!!!!!!!!!!!! thnx fr the suggestions frndsssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[djose5]

hi, i have one doubt!, it is possible to use this voltage to power up a 9v dsl modem , i search for it and reached here! i use a laptop in my home , the problem is power cut and modem turn of but telephone is always working. anybody give the best filter circuit for my telphone line to power 9v modem, telephone line voltage is around 40-60 on stand by. thankyou. sorry for bad english

danialjose(at)gmail(.)com

[Vyger]

When there is a power outage the local phone company is usually affected also. They have banks of backup batteries that will keep them running for a while. If you, and other people, drain off their backup power they will go dead that much sooner and then there will be no phone service at all for anyone.

[msilva2]

Telephone companies are considered an emergency service and are mandated to have independent power backup systems. All the AT&T phone hubs I have worked at have battery back up systems like you mentioned but also have diesel generators to keep them up and running for an extended period of time. A few hackers using a trickle of power off their system will not take them down.

[NickIQ]

This usually isn't the case. There is usually a difference between commercial and residential power. True about the battery backup, though.

[Br4inFr33z3]

If the power goes out, who'll make phone calls from a landline?

[yawgmoth1]

I lost power all day and night yesterday, my girlfriend remembered seeing this post and it saved our asses. I hooked up a small LED lamp to the phone line so we could see, then using batteries and an array of PC fans kept her cool in 90 degree weather. Thanks!

[zolar1]

Unless you can save more than the cost of the monthly phone bill, it's not worth it.

[ibby]

What is the output voltage from the regulator circuit?

[Kipkay]

Th draw is 37volts @ 10ma.

[cproo12]

hi kipkay im brickboys806 @ youtube!

[DrDontDoDis]

That's not even half a watt of power! A hand dynamo will beat that by 10x easy. It may be free, but it will be MONTHS before it saves you a dollar on your electric bill, and that's with 24/7 use! Can't you draw more amperage than that without overloading the line?

[Silence]

I think If you draw too much you'll get a voltage drop on the line and it will look to the phone company like you took your phone off the hook.

[spittingisfun]

i want 5.5v to 6v out how can i do that

[faheemkhan_jadoon]

hi kipkay im very big fan of u.i want to say that i have 48volts in line therefore how much amphere of bridge rectifier i should use. and can i convert these48 volts to 24 volts dc and then use it to ups to generate 220volts.thanks plesae answer me ([e-mail])

[Yerboogieman]

what would you use to make 12v? different resistors?

[int1221233]

hi, i find it interesting and useful! i 've just tested my phone line voltage with a multimeter. it's 38volt. i would like to make a led lamp exactly as yours. but what is the maximum current that i can draw from the line? i also don't know what's the power consumption of white LED. there are many cheap (0.12USD/pc) 3.5mm white LED provided here. but i don't know what's their voltage and current. how many white led can be light up by the led? i want the maximum! but will the ohm of resistor changed? thanks for advice!

[mcgyver]

super bright white LEDs need about 20mA-30mA. Just compute for the resistor that has to be put in series.

http://noelbautista.com/blog/diy-solar-lantern-part-13/

It would also work if you use 38/3.4 = 11 LEDs in series.

[int1221233]

my email is [e-mail] thanks!

[gfiendish]

Please be aware that in the UK this is regarded as theft of electricity - the offense for which several phone phreaks were successfully prosecuted in the old days. And with UK type exchanges this will get picked up fairly quickly - a drop of voltage registers as a fault and the automated test systems run 24/7.

Also "not a good idea" in the UK is huge great coils in your loft to gather any "spare" electrical energy. Don't know about the flourescent tube under the power lines trick though - but not that useful unless you're living in a tent !

[spittingisfun]

how man volts would go to the device

[ikoneckox3]

My dad said his friend ran LEDs throughout his house like this and didn't get caught for about 2 years xD Once they found out, they dint even press charges cuz of how surprised they were xP

[mriley1]

They can't press charges - they gave it to him. He did not modify anything so he didn't break any laws.

[RelyNupon]

(older phone systems)
this will also work when the power is out because all(most) phone lines have a battery backup at the head-end since the equip runs at around -48V (give or take) so they cant just plug it in to an outlet.

the voltage on the line powers the phone %100 and when a call is placed for that number a massive amount of voltage is sent down the line to power the ringer. (not enough to kill you but you will definitely know when it is ringing)

when you take the phone off the hook it closes the circuit and prepares for the number

when you use the line you are actually getting a dial tone which means that you are taking up one of the central offices lines... they might notice if you have been on the phone for 8 hours

correct me if i fubar'd any of this