Replaced door bell low-voltage transformer in house w/ front and rear switches ~6 wks ago. Yesterday, door bell stops working. Traced wiring to both switches – continuity O.K. Found front door switch bad. Found no output voltage from transformer. Found chimes fried. Replaced all, tested, all O.K.
Callback the next day: the chimes are buzzing. Disassembled system & found transformer too hot to touch and front door chime plunger vibrating. Disconnected transformer until I (hopefully) get a response from this post – because I don’t know what else to do.
I know that this is not rocket science but I am baffeled. I hate to blame the hardware when it most likely is the software but should transformers be too hot to handle? I would appreciate any feedback or thoughts that you might have.
Thanks in advance,
dlb
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Replies
I'm not a sparky, but wondering if there is a possibility of the input voltage to the transformer could be 240V instead of 120 under certain conditions?
Anyway, the easy answer is to go wireless.
Good luck.
Pete Duffy, Handyman
1. The door bell button is stuck.
2. You stepped on the wires while tracing, and have a direct short in the line.
3. Your wires are so old that most of the insulation is missing and any motion at all causes a short.
Possibilities:
1. Stuck push button so chime is energized all the time
2. Short in wire, like a staple or something, maybe intermittent.
3. Miswire of the circuit when previous work done.
4. Transformer installed backwards..hard to do without noticing immediate smoke.
5. Wrong transformer primary and/or secondary voltage resulting in high current draw, causing button contacts to arc stuck, causing circuit to be constantly energized, burning up the transformer, the chime and button.
There are several different "standard" voltages for doorbells, 16V being the most common. Make sure that the transformer and bell are compatible voltages.
I appreciate all of the responces. The house is 6 yrs old, $500,000+, in excellent shape and has had this problem for ~2 months. I have checked the continuity of the wiring, the switches, chimes & transformer. I think that you may be on to something as I am not quite sure of the 'electrical' relationship between the transformer and the chimes; i.e., is the transformer putting out too much voltage for the chimes or are the chimes requiring more voltage? I will make a trip out to the house this week for further investigation.
Thanks,
dlb
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The undisciplined life is not worth examining.