As a homeowner, you enjoy the convenience of being able to talk to those who are in your house. But you don’t want all that conversation to be open for anyone and everyone to hear!
Check out this guide on making an intercom system at home by following a few simple steps. You’ll be surprised by how easy it is! And all it will take is 15 minutes of your time! The only cost involved will be what it takes to buy the materials, which may vary depending on where and what you buy. But, a quick search online will help you find different prices for these materials so that there’s something available no matter your budget.
How To Make Intercom System At Home
Now, let’s show you how to set up an intercom system at home:
A. Installers Required: 2 (1 for each speaker)
B. Intercom System Components Needed: 5
C. Materials Needed:
5 portions of Aluminum Foil;
4 lengths of PVC Pipe (of any length from 5′ to 12′ but 12′ is recommended);
Material to be Directed Out (such as sheets of plastic or cardboard);
Tools Required:
Drill and drill bits;
Wrench;
Plumbing Tape measure;
Pliers for PVC Pipe and other metal fittings.
A. Prepare The Speakers:
You’ll be pleased to hear that the installation is simple once you know where and how to start. If you have done a good job of installing your intercom system before, then you can slot in the speakers while they’re standing vertically. If not, then here are some general hints:
1. To determine where and how these devices should be installed, you’ll need two identical pieces of PVC Pipe long enough (per listening station) to be hung vertically from the ceiling or wall.
2. Before starting, you’ll need to direct the speakers toward their respective areas. This can be done using a compass or a protractor to check where you’ll need to point the speaker.
3. Mark out two spots on your ceiling or wall for drilling the PVC Pipe, and mark their positions with a pencil. Then, use your drill and drill bits to bore holes deep enough for the Pipe to be lodged into but not so deep that they are ineffective in directing your sound (that’s what drainage is for).
4. You’ll need to align the speaker with the Pipe. Bending the Pipe before or after you’ve lodged it into the ceiling or wall will provide a better angle for your sound. NOTE: PVC Pipe can be bent and then glued together. This makes it easier to bend, less likely to break, and more secure when clipped.
5. AFTER you have your speakers secured in their respective places above your listening stations, you can fit in their respective speakers if they aren’t integrated already. If they aren’t, you will also need small electrical components (such as a transformer or battery) that can be placed inside or under each speaker box as these are needed to power the speakers.
6. Once the speakers are in place, you can begin route the cable to them. Run a piece of cable from one to the other and secure it at both ends with cable clips or zip ties, as detailed in earlier sections that discuss your particular setup.
7. You can now connect your intercom system components with your speaker wires. But before doing this, you will need to cut two pieces of PVC pipe so that they’re long enough for you to keep them in place once linked together (important!).
8. Attach one end of the first piece of Pipe to one end of each wire and the second to the other (positive) wire on each speaker box.
9. Then, take the first Pipe and attach one of its ends to the other (negative) wire on each speaker box and the second to the negative terminal on each of your intercom system components. These are usually found at the back of your intercom system’s control panel.
10. To finish, you’ll want to tape down any loose wires so that they don’t get tangled up in furniture or anything else that might be around.
B. FIT IN THE PVC PIPE:
Now that you have your intercom speaker wires sorted, it’s time to start fitting them into your PVC Pipe. If this is confusing, check the earlier sections that introduced you to the concepts of routing and routing accessories.
1. Each length of PVC Pipe will be different depending on where it needs to go and how close each end of your Pipe will be to its destination (the speakers).
2. Before taping in your Pipe, it’s important to ensure that they’re long enough and won’t get tangled up or caught in any furniture (or worse – people!) as they’re being run across your room.
3. To fit the Pipe, first push it into its final position against the wall or ceiling. Use your drill and drill bits to bore a hole into the wall or ceiling for each Pipe. Ensure that each borehole is large enough for the Pipe to fit through but not so large that it will prevent you from seating it in place (tightly).
4. Now, you can use pliers to pry open each end of your Pipe and insert them into their respective bores (for both wall/ceiling installations). Then, close up the ends with your pliers so that one side of each end is faced outwards for when you fit them onto their respective places on the Pipe. Use any staples/buttons to secure them in place.
5. You’ll need to use your pliers again to fit the aluminum foil into each end of the Pipe. To do this, fold-out one side of the foil and press it against the inside of each end of your Pipe. Then, press down on it using the pliers so that it will make a snug fit against the inside wall of your Pipe and help direct your sound.
6. Repeat this step for all 5 lengths of PVC pipe you’ll need for your intercom system.
C. Test The Installation and Adjust It:
Now that you have your Pipe and speaker arrangement in place, you can test it out and make any necessary adjustments.
1. Use your cable to connect the positive terminal of one side of your intercom system’s control panel’s intercom wiring to one end of a speaker wire. Then, use another speaker wire to link the other (negative) terminal similarly (depending on how you want your speakers to be arranged).
2. Next, use your direct wires and a female spade connector for power leads for all 5 lengths of the Pipe – these will be used for linking all 5 lengths together at their respective places on the Pipe.
3. Now, you need to plug the positive terminal of a speaker wire into the positive terminal of one end of your intercom system’s control panel’s intercom wiring and the negative terminal of another speaker wire into the negative terminal. It’s important to remember that you want your speakers linking up with similar (positive) wires, so it doesn’t matter which one goes which way – ensure that they’re following tradition and linking up in alphabetical order.
4. Next, each intercom system’s control panel’s speaker wire must be connected to its respective direct wire (positive/negative) and into the female spade connector.
5. For convenience, it’s best to leave only one length of Pipe out of your installation (if you have only one). This will ensure that your intercom system is still functional when the other lengths are in place – this is because it will be linking the speakers on both ends of your Pipe together, so when you access each end, there should be a connection between them. Having only 4 lengths linked together will allow you to do this as long as no speaker wires are too long (too many connectors from both sides will make this necessary).
6. With all 5 lengths of Pipe fitted, you can finally plug the other ends of your direct wires into the speaker boxes and run your cables through their respective bores.
7. Finally, you can plug the female spade connectors into each speaker box, where it connects with each intercom system’s control panel’s direct wire that runs to it.
8. If you have your speakers arranged more conveniently on a wall or ceiling, you should now test them out by pressing the “Talk” button to ensure they are working.
9. If you have an intercom system with “Talk” and “Listen” buttons, then you can test this by listening to each speaker box as a new connection is made each time the button is pressed – this will enable you to see if each speaker is working or not, depending on whether it makes a different sound.
10. The last thing to do is adjust your pipe lengths if necessary. Cut them in order to make them shorter or longer (depending on your room’s installation). Then, reconfigure your direct wires with the female spades so that all five lengths link up together again – cut one end off the female spade and replace it with another that has another wire attached to it.
You may also wish to do some polishing at this stage to get rid of any dust because it can affect sound quality.
CONNECTING A PINEAPPLE INTERCOM TO AN EXISTING PHONE LINE
If you have an existing phone line that you want to use with your intercom system, this section will show you how to connect it up and make the most of it.
- First, unscrew the cable wire from one end of your jack plug that connects to your intercom system’s control panel’s intercom wiring (see here for how to do this).
- Then, unscrew the whole jack plug from the cable wire and remove it.
- Unscrew one of the wires connected to your cable and strip off some of its insulation – this will be your new lead that will connect to your intercom system’s control panel’s intercom wiring (if you’re doing this in a home, it’ll usually be a red cable wire, but in an office environment/shop they could be either color).
- Cut out a small section of the phone cable attached to your wall (don’t worry about damaging it as there won’t be anyone making calls with it anymore).
- Then, thread the other end of the cable wire through the hole you made in the phone wall and into the connector (usually, there’s a small hole where two wires join).
- Tighten it up with a screwdriver, so it’s secure.
- If you have spare speaker wires that are not used on your intercom system, then you can use them to link your intercom system to your existing phone line. Clip one end off each speaker wire but don’t cut them off completely – this will be used as a “swivel” when connecting the speaker wires to your existing phone line (see how to do this).
- Now, plug that end of the male connector into the cable wire that connects to your control panel’s intercom wiring (usually, this will be a red wire).
- Next, plug that other end of the male connector into the phone cable (it will usually be a white or yellow wire).
- With all 5 lengths of Pipe fitted and your speakers linked together, you can test them out by pressing the “Talk” button to ensure they are working.
- If you have an intercom system with “Talk” and “Listen” buttons, then you can test this by listening to each speaker box as a new connection is made each time the button is pressed – this will enable you to see if each speaker is working or not, depending on whether it makes a different sound.
- The last thing to do is adjust your pipe lengths if necessary. Cut them in order to make them shorter or longer (depending on your room’s installation). Then, reconfigure your direct wires with the female spades so that all five lengths link up together again – cut one end off the female spade and replace it with another that has another wire attached to it.
And that’s it! You can now use your intercom system with your existing phone line – giving you that little bit of extra security and making it easier to use.
Conclusion:
There are many different types of intercom systems available, so by referring to the manufacturer’s installation instructions, you should be able to install your system with ease correctly. It’s important to remember that when connecting the Pipe and speaker wires to the intercom-system control panel, it’s always best to use a female spade connector. This will enable you to reconfigure any connection easily should you ever need to in the future (for example, if, for some reason, you wanted to move your control panel around).
If your speaker wires are too small and won’t fit into a female spade connector, you can use a pair of pliers/cutters/scissors to reduce them. It’s also important to remember that when you’re cutting speaker wires, you should remove the section of the wire closer to your spade connector and cut out any excess speaker wire that’s left – this is because if you leave any extra speaker wire on, it will make it difficult for you to reconfigure your direct wires.
Now that you know how to install an intercom system, I hope you’ll be able to do it without any problem.
