soft ding with no dong - needs replacing!

[fredphoesh]

Hello guys,
Weve just added a porch to the house, and the front doorbell is now connected by a cable that is about 5 or 6 meters further... and the ding dong is very limp, sometimes a faint ding, sometimes the odd dong... lousy!
I tried buying 4 C-sized batteries but the unit vibrates continuously when I do that.
First off, I have no idea if there is some hidden transformer in my house. I "THINK" the wires shown in this photo are NOT 220v, but there must be a transformer if they are not... methinks.
So to make the ringer loud, I assume I should buy a new one, but dont know how/if I can use these wires to power the new buzzer and if that will help...
As you can tell, I don't know much about it, but would love some advice (not the "call an electrician" type of advice please
Thanks,
Mark.

 

[Octopus]

Hello guys,
Weve just added a porch to the house, and the front doorbell is now connected by a cable that is about 5 or 6 meters further... and the ding dong is very limp, sometimes a faint ding, sometimes the odd dong... lousy!
I tried buying 4 C-sized batteries but the unit vibrates continuously when I do that.
First off, I have no idea if there is some hidden transformer in my house. I "THINK" the wires shown in this photo are NOT 220v, but there must be a transformer if they are not... methinks.
So to make the ringer loud, I assume I should buy a new one, but dont know how/if I can use these wires to power the new buzzer and if that will help...
As you can tell, I don't know much about it, but would love some advice (not the "call an electrician" type of advice please
Thanks,
Mark.
View attachment 19973

Then call the manufacturer.

 

[Darkwood]

Sorry to hear you've lost your dong ....no man deserves that!!!... have you checked the bell push on your door if the contacts have corroded you may be inviting a volts drop so it doesn't strike hard enough.

 

[telectrix]

best advice i can give is to scrap it and fit a wireless doorbell. you don't need to pay anyone to fit that.

 

[ayjay]

the wires are low voltage from a tranny find the tranny and put the wire into a higher output voltage terminal

 

[Richard Burns]

Longer wires means more resistance from those wires which will reduce the voltage seen at the doorbell.
Using a larger diameter cable would alleviate the problems to some extent but possibly not all.

Bell transformers are often located near or in your main consumer unit so you may be able to see one there.
The other alternative is to get a mains supply to near the doorbell and then run the transformer from that local point.
(the voltage drop will be smaller with 230V than with 12V).

It is unlikely that those cables are 230V since the doorbell shows the supply should be 8-16V, but do not take my word for it as it is possible they could be at 230V, so take care.

 

[baldyspark]

Call a plumber out and show him. He might guide you. Seriously though, wireless is cheap and ten min job and soon it will sound like a chinese phone book. Dings and dongs

 

[ayjay]

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

 

[GLENNSPARK]

dont be a dong....get an electrician in....
then you will get more ding....

 

[Darkwood]

Longer wires means more resistance from those wires which will reduce the voltage seen at the doorbell.
Using a larger diameter cable would alleviate the problems to some extent but possibly not all.

Bell transformers are often located near or in your main consumer unit so you may be able to see one there.
The other alternative is to get a mains supply to near the doorbell and then run the transformer from that local point.
(the voltage drop will be smaller with 230V than with 12V).

It is unlikely that those cables are 230V since the doorbell shows the supply should be 8-16V, but do not take my word for it as it is possible they could be at 230V, so take care.

The system is already pre-installed so must have worked happy for yrs, its highly unlikely that a volts drop in the system due to cable length is an issue ...the transformer usually pump out 15-16v anyway, as its an existing set-up its probably as i said ....corrosion on the bell push or mechanical wear on the striker.

 

[Geordie Spark]

My dong lost it's ding last night, but Tidyboiler soon fixed it.

 

[fredphoesh]

The system is already pre-installed so must have worked happy for yrs, its highly unlikely that a volts drop in the system due to cable length is an issue ...the transformer usually pump out 15-16v anyway, as its an existing set-up its probably as i said ....corrosion on the bell push or mechanical wear on the striker.

Hello all you guys, thanks a lot for the comments, some funny, some useful

firstly, WRT getting wireless, yeah, could do, but when we build the porch outside the front, pushing the front doorbell a further distance from the ringing unit, the builders used thinnish flex to extend the wire, ran it under the screed through the brickwork, to a new, pretty, illuminated and expensive brass buzzer outside... so that is unlikely to be the issue, though, not all dongs lack dings, and some are less equal than others... so it's not consistent

second, the "transformer" would have to be IN the wall(?), or on the unit, there is no other box anywhere in the house, but if I could up the voltage there, that would be my preference... perhaps the stated variable 8-16v is set to 8 and all I have to do is ramp that up some...

I guess what I would like to do is either find the transformer and adjust it if possible, or get a new doorbell, perhaps a ring rather than dingdong, one which works with lower voltage and can just fit in.

dang, perhaps an electrician is the only way at this point, I doubt we could keep our brass buzzer with a wireless solution since the porch is all face-brick...

thanks again fellas,
Mark.

 

[fredphoesh]

AAH!!
I just heard what I said and think that may be the problem!!!
THe new doorbell is ILLUMINATED!!!
So it's probably sucking up some of the juice needed for the ringing!!
Important info I had not thought of...

So what to do now then, if I want to keep the illuminated button?

tx
Mark.

 

[tidyboiler]

whry u kica rhy dog? call im fruckoff?

:whatchutalkingabout.........................is it just me or is this written in Swahili?

 

[ian.settle1]

AAH!!
I just heard what I said and think that may be the problem!!!
THe new doorbell is ILLUMINATED!!!
So it's probably sucking up some of the juice needed for the ringing!!
Important info I had not thought of...

So what to do now then, if I want to keep the illuminated button?

tx
Mark.

When you push the button the light should go out,

Sounds like a volt drop problem as when you push the button you energise's a coil in the bell to make the ding sound when the button is released a spring will return the plunger to make the dong sound

 

[Geordie Spark]

:whatchutalkingabout.........................is it just me or is this written in Swahili?

Looks like it's written in Bruumaaaaaay to me pet.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Looks like it's written in Bruumaaaaaay to me pet.

could be the black country....

 

[Geordie Spark]

dont be a dong....get an electrician in....
then you will get more ding....

It don't mean a ting when it aint got that ding.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Chuck Berry Live 1972 ~ My Ding-a-Ling - YouTube

 

[fredphoesh]

When you push the button the light should go out,

Sounds like a volt drop problem as when you push the button you energise's a coil in the bell to make the ding sound when the button is released a spring will return the plunger to make the dong sound

yeah, it does seem that way to me,
so I wonder if there is anything that can be done to fix it? I suppose if I found the transformer I could see if there is a way to output a higher voltage from it?

tx
Mark.

 

[telectrix]

if you want to keep the illuminated bell push, you must use a tranny, not batteries. the light in the bell push will flatten the batteries overnight.

 

[Geordie Spark]

yeah, it does seem that way to me,
so I wonder if there is anything that can be done to fix it? I suppose if I found the transformer I could see if there is a way to output a higher voltage from it?

tx
Mark.

How the Hell can you "lose" a doorbell transformer??

I'm mystified.

There are some bell transformers that can be mounted on the DIN rail inside the consumer unit. Maybe that's the case here?

 

[telectrix]

i would think it would be one of those old bakelite trannys, close to the DB. judging by the age of the chime unit itself. if OP posted a photo of the DB and surround, we might have an idea. still think it's less trouble to fit a wireless bell than type a post.

 

[Geordie Spark]

i would think it would be one of those old bakelite trannys, close to the DB. judging by the age of the chime unit itself. if OP posted a photo of the DB and surround, we might have an idea. still think it's less trouble to fit a wireless bell than type a post.

Yes, I thought so too and the CU is probably one of those old Wylex jobs with rewire able fuses - you know, the sort that sometimes needs the main switch replacing after the Scouse sparky has poked about with it - but as the OP doesn't seem able to find it, I thought maybe it had been upgraded with new CU and transformer on the DIN rail

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Yes, I thought so too and the CU is probably one of those old Wylex jobs with rewire able fuses - you know, the sort that sometimes needs the main switch replacing after the Scouse sparky has poked about with it - but as the OP doesn't seem able to find it, I thought maybe it had been upgraded with new CU and transformer on the DIN rail

and whilst your there....you might just find an ancient cutout with fused neutral.....like i did the other day over Bradford....

 

[fredphoesh]

i would think it would be one of those old bakelite trannys, close to the DB. judging by the age of the chime unit itself. if OP posted a photo of the DB and surround, we might have an idea. still think it's less trouble to fit a wireless bell than type a post.

hi guys
thanks for the responses, the door bell is on a new wall, which is why it is 5m or so further from the old front door.
there is a photo of the only other thing I know is related to the door bell in my first post... could the transformer be UNDER this unit?

I do not want a wireless system because I would lose having an illuminated doorbell. We have face brick and I am not going to start drilling holes, chasing new wires etc... just want the doorbell to work properly. I dont mind buying another one, but want to keep the existing illuminated bell.

thanks again for your support, perhaps I should get an electrician to come in (

tx
Mark.

 

[Rampantchilli]

Check all your connections especially where the builder has extended the wiring, as they do have an uncanny knack of doing a crap job where electrics are concerned, coz anyone can do it.
post a pic of your fuse board up, and we may be able to shed some light on your illuminated bell push

 

[fredphoesh]

Check all your connections especially where the builder has extended the wiring, as they do have an uncanny knack of doing a crap job where electrics are concerned, coz anyone can do it.
post a pic of your fuse board up, and we may be able to shed some light on your illuminated bell push

hi there
all the connections the builder made are now either under concrete or inside a brick wall.
the fuse board is relatively new and definitely has no doorbell specific trip switches... I think its a transformer i need to find?

tx
Mark

 

[Geordie Spark]

hi there
all the connections the builder made are now either under concrete or inside a brick wall.
the fuse board is relatively new and definitely has no doorbell specific trip switches... I think its a transformer i need to find?

tx
Mark

Good lad!!!

It's always a pleasure to meet a quick learner.

(Dear God .. those two bottles of red wine went down a treat!!)

 

[7029 dave]

ding dong

 

[ian.settle1]

hi there
all the connections the builder made are now either under concrete or inside a brick wall.
the fuse board is relatively new and definitely has no doorbell specific trip switches... I think its a transformer i need to find?

tx
Mark

Oh deary me not much chance off checking them then, Sodding builders

 

[7029 dave]

take bell push off an make connection with wires could be corroded

 

[Geordie Spark]

ding dong

The witch is dead.

RIP Maggie .............. NOT!!

 

[Richard Burns]

There are various possibilities for the failure for your doorbell, the spring could have become tired or broken and need replacing, you have high resistance connections in your supply cable / switch transformer supply cable. Your cables are too thin to carry the required current, your transformer is now too far from your bell to supply the required voltage, the volt drop from the bell push is reducing the voltage in the same way.

A standard bell transformer is not adjustable, they tend to be 12V supplies. The capability to supply current is different for different transformers.

If the transformer is not man enough then it will be slightly difficult for you to get a more powerful replacement as they are not standard items.

A bell transformer could look like any of the attached pictures.
Old bell transformers were generally placed either near the bell unit or near the consumer unit. Occasionally they would be in the roof space above the door or in the attic.New bell transformers can be fitted into the consumer unit, you could also have a transformer looking like a laptop power supply, but much less likely.

The builder should not have covered the connections for the door bell as they should always be accessible (unless they were permanently fixed, so it may be worth looking again.