Doorbell Question

[Kate]

My home is 11 years old, and it came with a battery-operated doorbell which has worked great, but now it needs replacing.

I noticed when I took the old push button off by the front door that there is a red and a white wire behind the button. Does this mean the house is wired for a wired doorbell? The back door area has the same colored wires.

I cannot find any place where I would install the box inside. I have checked all closets, etc.

Can anyone tell me if these wires are indeed for a wired doorbell, and where the inside wires would be for the box?

I hope I explained this fairly well.

Thanks.

Kate

[AZ Nomad]

No, those are for the furnace, or possibly phone service. Where'd you get the crazy notion that wires behind a doorbell button might be for a door bell?

[Kate]

Ah c'mon, don't be sarcastic.

Telephone/furnace wires would not be behind a doorbell button. Maybe I did not explain myself very well.

My thinking is that the house was originally wired for a doorbell, but for some reason the homeowners' decided to go with a battery operated doorbell. I just can't find the wires inside my home that would connect to a doorbell box.

I would love to have a wired doorbell.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Quit playing silly games. You are too old for that.

[hrhofmann]

Look for a transformer mounted on the suface of an electrical junction box, maybe on the basement ceiling, that would be athe power supply for the bell. And, you could brush the wires together and see if you hear a doorbell ringing somewhere in the house. Can you se anything that looks like a bell?

[Kate]

This is what is so mind boggling. I don't have a basement, and I can't find the junction box anywhere.

I will brush the wires together to see what happens.

Many thanks!

[The Daring Dufas]

If you can stick your head up into the attic hatch, look around for a string or two of twisted red/white bell wire and see where it goes. If you spot the wires, there will probably be a bell transformer mounted on a junction box up there in the attic. You will see a pair going to both doors and to wherever a bell was mounted. A pair from the transformer will be going to the bell location with the others. It's possible the wires come out behind the newer battery operated bell. Here's a link with helpful illustrations to help you understand.

TDD

[Bob F]

Measuring for voltage may help even if it doesn't ring. I think most doorbells used 24VAC power. It's probably disconnected, but who knows.

[Kate]

Very good info., and thank you so much for the informative site. I have my work cut out for me, and I will definitely check out the attic.

Many thanks TDD.

[Kate]

I have an electrician friend who will be here in two weeks, so I will probably have to wait until he gets here. I am not giving up though, and hope to figure it out myself.

Thank you!

[LouB]

It is possible the original system was wired and died (meaning the transformer/bell failed) and was "fixed" by installing the battery powered bell(s). If that happened then brushing the wire together will get you no info. What's wrong with replacing the battery or another battery system?

[Charlie]

I too have a battery operated doorbell. There is not now and never was a transformer to supply power. The only problem we have had (not counting the batteries wearing out) is that the doorbell button cannot be ythe kind that lights up. Using one of those, the little lamp in the button acts as if the switch was already pressed. I ended up having to get a lighted button and cuting out the little lamp.

The reason we ended up this way was that the builder had not wired the door postion for a doorbell at all (most people in the neighborhood use wireless bell systems) but we already had a bell that gave us about two dozen tunes that it would play and can be changed with the seaons. It has patriotic themes, Christmas carols, Hail the gang's all here, Saints go marching in, etc. It is about twenty years old now and still chiming along.

Charlie

[AZ Nomad]

Just playing with a troll. I don't think anybody is as stupid as the OP is pretending to be.

[AZ Nomad]

If the wires are ok, then it will be an easy job getting the wired system working again. Asside from the wire and the pushbutton, the only other components are the transformer and bell.

Wireless systems suck by comparison -- I've got one to reach a carport on the other side of a locked gate. So far, two transmitters have failed to outlast more than one battery change. 3 years, 3 transmitters.

[EileanDonan]

Thanks to that link I was able to fix my doorbell that has been going "CLUNK dong" for two years now. :)

Eilean

[hallerb]

I had the exact same issue, had no idea where the transformer was or the doorbell wires:(

One day I talked to a neighbor, looked at where his doorbell and transformer was:) went back home and found mine in less than 15 minutes:)

Good thing too the doorbell transformer buried under a cieling was VERY HOT, smelled of smoke:( I powered off the house and discoinnected it after letting it cool for awhile, so I wouldnt get burned:(

A week later I had my new doorbell chime working:)

Make friends with your neighbors you can learn things from them:)

[EileanDonan]

I'm not the OP but I learned something from this thread so I'd like to answer.

I don't think I'm stupid but when I was growing up I never had to worry about wiring my Barbie Play House. Since I've grown up I've learned a lot of skills that they never used to teach girls in school (such as running electric fencing, defrosting frozen well pumps, wall repair, lancing an abscessed hoof on a draft horse, helping a ewe give birth, running a tractor, etc.) but I still haven't learned everything about everything yet.

Can you make a fine chocolate torte? Sew a set of drapes? Fix a complete Thanksgiving dinner? We all have different skills that we bring to the newsgroup and mine aren't quite up to snuff with the all the guy stuff yet but that's why I am here: to learn what I still need to know. Today I managed to fix my own malfunctioning doorbell because of the nice link someone provided.

BTW, I did think your answer was sort of amusing. But then I'm used to newsgroup sarcasm and am not unduly alarmed over it. I just wanted to point out that not everyone is just trollin' along...

Eilean

[trader4]

The best plan of attack was from the poster who suggested finding a neighbor who has the same or similar house. If this house was built as one of a series in a development, then they usually are wired somewhat similarly and it would give you good places to start looking.

Also, how about where a chime would go. What's there? The battery operated one? Wires behind it? If you can measure voltage between any of the wires, you could then turn off breakers until you find the circuit it is on. That could help locate the area where the transformer might be. If you don't know what the transformer looks like, go to a HD or hardware store and look at one. They are typically fastened directly to some type of electric box. An example would be on the side or top of a single bulb basement light fixture. Also, I'd focus the search at least initially at the locus of where the chime would be and the doorbell button or buttons. They usually don't put the transformer a long way away.

[Kate]

I hope that is not the case. The battery operated units don't have the Westminster chimes that I really like. The chimes on the battery units aren't great, but I may have to live with it.

Thanks.

[Kate]

That is good to know. I have not found any battery operated unit with all of those different chimes. I will keep looking, if I can't get the wired one to work.

Thank you!