Repair a Doorbell: Fix a Dead or Broken Doorbell

Finding the culprit takes some detective work.

Introduction

A doorbell that doesn't band has four possible problems: the button, the chime, the transformer or the wiring that connects them all. Here'southward how to track the culprit and make the gear up.

Tools Required

Materials Required

  • 18 estimate wire
  • Wire connectors

Project stride-by-pace (4)

Step 1

Inspect the Wiring

wire

Inspect the wires for damage. Repair breaks with twist-on connectors. Splice in new wire to add together length and allow for connections.

A complete inspection of doorbell wiring is usually impossible, since most of the wire is subconscious inside walls. But some wire is visible in every home, and that'southward unremarkably the stuff that gets jolted loose or cleaved. An inspection takes only a minute. You may observe a few inches of wire exposed near the transformer or several yards running through an unfinished basement. Doorbell cable consists of three or more sparse wires inside a plastic sheath (Photo i). Await for areas where the sheath is damaged, and as well for pinched or desperately kinked sections. Sometimes the only mode to tell for certain whether wires inside the sheath are damaged is to carefully piece open the sheath with a utility pocketknife. If you notice broken wire, strip the broken ends and rejoin them with wire connectors. Often there's non enough slack in the wire to permit for new connections. In that case, add a brusque section of wire betwixt the broken ends. A spool of 18-guess wire is available at hardware stores and home centers. The color of the wire doesn't matter.

Inkling!

If you have hardwired doorbell buttons at the front and back of your house and i of them works, you can exist sure that the non-working button or the wiring connected to it is bad.

Adding a 2d Doorbell Chime

Stride two

Featherbed the Button

Unscrew the doorbell button to remove it from the wall. Loosen the screws on the back of the button and disconnect the wires. Then touch the two wires together. If the chime rings, the button is bad. If non, the chinkle, transformer, or wiring is bad.

Replace the Doorbell Switch

Connect the wires to the new button, or doorbell switch, just as they were connected to the former one. Screw the button to the wall and you're done.

If you don't observe a cleaved wire, remove the doorbell button by unscrewing it or prying information technology out of its hole with a putty knife. If the bell rings when you bypass the button, replace the push. Buttons are available at domicile centers and hardware stores. If the bell doesn't band, reconnect and reinstall the push.

Step three

Check the Chime

Remove the chime cover and check for voltage while a helper pushes the push.

Chime Armature

If the tester lights up only the armatures don't move, clean them with rubbing alcohol.

When a doorbell works properly, small-scale armature rods within the chime strike metal bars or tubes to create sound. Sometimes the armature sticks or you take a loose wire. To discover out, remove the chinkle embrace. Many covers just lift off. Others are fastened with latches or screws. With the cover off, make certain the wires are firmly connected to the screw terminals.

You'll demand a test lite to check the chinkle itself. Be sure to get a low-voltage tester. Standard voltage testers wait just like the one shown here, but they won't detect low voltage. Impact the mutual last (labeled "com" or "trans") with i of the tester probes.

With the other probe, touch the front or dorsum door terminal while a helper pushes the button. If the tester lights up, yous know the chime is receiving power and there'south something wrong with the chime itself. Sometimes the armatures are too grimy to move. Clean them with rubbing booze and move them with your finger. Then try the button again. If the chime nevertheless doesn't band, replace it. Characterization the wires as you lot remove the old chime and connect them identically to the new chime. Chimes starting time are sold at home centers and hardware stores. If the tester doesn't calorie-free upward when your helper pushes the button, the chime isn't receiving power considering of a cleaved switch, transformer, or wiring.

The Strangest Things Defenseless By Ring Doorbells

Step 4

Test the Transformer

Test the transformer by touching the spiral terminals with a low-voltage examination low-cal. If the tester doesn't lite upwardly, replace the transformer.

The transformer, which converts standard household voltage to low voltage, is the to the lowest degree probable component to crusade doorbell trouble. It can exist located anywhere in your home, but you're most probable to find it on a metallic junction box about your heating/cooling system or mounted on the outside of your main electrical panel. Starting time, make sure the bell wires are securely connected to the transformer terminals. So examination the transformer. If the transformer is mounted on a junction box, you can replace information technology yourself. Be sure to turn off the power to the circuit at the main panel and so make sure it'due south off by using a non-contact voltage detector before disconnecting wires. If the transformer is mounted on the main console, nosotros recommend that you rent a licensed electrician to open the panel and replace information technology.

When All Else Fails, Get Wireless

If none of these tests exposes the problem, yous can bet that a wire is cleaved somewhere inside a wall. You might be able to locate and repair the break without tearing into walls, but the odds are against yous. So the best solution is a wireless arrangement. With a wireless doorbell, the button sends a radio indicate that triggers the chime. On the downside, an electronic chinkle may not create a harmonious band of metal, and both of its components require new batteries periodically.

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Originally Published: March 31, 2022