As you say you bought this second hand I assume that you only have one handset and base?
With the early version of base it was possible to register up to six handsets to create a network of phones. If you registered six handsets and tried to register a seventh you were prompted for a pin code.
I have come across instances where customers phones have lost contact with the base and instead of switching handset off and on again, they have re-registered the same handset to the base. This creates a "phantom" handset registration and uses one of the six available slots. If this is repeated, you can end up with one base and handset but the base thinks it has six handsets registered. In this instance it is possible to delete one or more phantom handsets but this requires access to a handset that is registered to the same base and is working.
If you only have one handset I'm afraid I can't offer any further suggestions.
Opman