I have a doorbell question. Here is my setup. Years ago I added a wireless electronic doorchime "extender" to our existing wired doorbell so that we could hear the doorbell in our basement. All worked well. Recently, I replaced our doorbell with a brand new Honeywell wired doorbell, including the button. We have no back door doorbell. The only thing I didn't change was the transformer because it is wired directly to our electrical panel, and I'd prefer not to mess with that. The old transformer is a 10V 6VA transformer, while the transformer for the new bell (uninstalled) is a 16V 10VA transformer. The doorbell has been working fine for over a month, even with the old transformer. However, we woke up one morning to the chime in the basement ringing non-stop and the new doorbell quietly buzzing non-stop. The light on the doorbell button is not working, so I replaced the button. The new button is lit, but now the doorbell "dings" once, but no "dong". What can the problem be? The transformer? If so, why did it work well for all this time? I'd appreciate some help. Thank-you.
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Can you post a wiring diagram?– ThreePhaseEelCommented Jan 31, 2016 at 7:04
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1 Answer
Apparently, the new doorbell is made to operate at 16 volts not 10. It seems to not work well under-voltaged.
I would install the new transformer and disconnect the wireless extender for a while until you determine if the new door bell is working properly. Just make sure you shut off the circuit breaker feeding the old transformer before replacing it. Double check to make sure power is shut off before replacing it.
Good luck!
answered Jan 30, 2016 at 17:57
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Thanks for the quick answer. I will go ahead and do that. What's held me back is that since the transformer is connected directly to the breaker (it's not in a separate junction box), is not knowing if the connection to the breaker is still hot even after I switch it off. Not sure if I'm explaining that properly. I know that everything leaving the breaker is powered off when I flip the breaker switch to off, but what about trying to connect the transformer directly into that breaker switch?– RobertCommented Jan 30, 2016 at 18:13
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@Robert if you are opening the electrical box you turn off the main breaker. Then the entire box EXCEPT the main breaker and wire feeding it will be off.– GrantCommented Jan 30, 2016 at 18:54
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@Robert - You may well be wary of working with the mains electrical wiring and rightly so if you are unfamiliar with it. That is one of the reason there are professional electricians. I would really suggest that you should call one out to swap out the old transformer. BTW you really do need to use the transformer supplied with the bell unit.– Michael Karas ♦Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 18:56
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Thanks to all for your advice. I did switch-off the main breaker and replaced the transformer. Still a problem with the bell - the button is lit, I tried the button before snapping the cover on and was getting an intermittent "ding-dong". Now, just "ding". Any ideas as to what might have happened or something I'm doing wrong? The wiring for the bell at the door frame is not very forgiving - not a lot of slack and pushing the button into the casing is also not leaving a lot of room for the wires. Again, thanks to everyone for the help.– RobertCommented Jan 30, 2016 at 19:38
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Is this an electronic doorbell? The old ones have a plunger that hits the two bells. This could be sticking. The back door bell has a different terminal that it is connected to and only does the "ding" instead of "ding-dong". Commented Jan 30, 2016 at 22:50