How do I wire a Pryanco 4 tube door chime?

[ecbaldwin]

There are 2 terminals above each chime. I figured they would be simple to reconnect 4 to the power and 4 to the passive...but no. Apparently the order in which they are connected determines whether or not the motor will operate, much less fire the sequenced solenoids. Before I start trying all 4096 possible different wiring combinations, I was hoping someone might have a suggestion?

[homeowners]

Well, I am intrigued. I have seen some multi-tone vintage NuTone chimes. They do have pretty complex internal wiring but the wiring does not concern the tubes whatsoever because they are passive elements of this whole setup - the solenoid just hits it and it vibrates. Are you positive what you see are electrical terminals and not just brass knobs on which you should simply hang the tubes?

The motor is usually driving a rotation distributor that commutates the solenoids based on the location of their respective contacts around the circle and the actual hookup of the entire system is not unlike any other chime, except maybe that they also have a common wire terminal which is missing in more modern door bells - you're now supposed to just wire nut this wire from all your buttons together.

In any event, the sequence of the solenoid firing is very much an internal feature of the device, nothing you'd normally have to touch during the install. I suppose, these days they could even skip the motor altogether and make a microcontroller fire the solenoids. Still, I don't see how the tubes could be electrically connected. I'm tempted to say that unless they are fake (i.e. plastic tubes) and just house speakers inside them, they should rather not be electrically connected to anything at all lest people start touching them...

This system lets you post pictures, maybe you can snap one of two so people can see? The Pryanco (could it be Priyanco? Google gets this version but not yours) does not seem to be a brand keen on posting any info about their products online.

I did some more digging and this awesome site came up on a search. It has nothing about your particular chime but plenty on the vintage ones. Brings back some memories ... Anyhow, see if you can possibly glean some useful info:

[homeowners]

 Ah, I spoke too soon! I could not tear myself away from that site I gave you a link to and after some more reading it turned out that Pryanco is, in fact, a vintage brand (Pryne & Co., Inc.) ! No wonder there are no manuals in PDF format! :) So, I had to do yet more digging and a 1941 catalog page turned up in an eBay listing that actually has the diagram you're looking for. Unfortunately the resolution is not that great but it's a bit better than nothing. See if your eyes are better than mine - bottom of the picture, in the center. I can make something out but not too much. Be sure to click on the word <strong>"Original"</strong> in the window that comes up - it will give you the maximum size available. If the picture is no good, see if the seller of this auction still has a good resolution picture. Maybe you can persuade them to make you a copy. Good luck! 

[Anonymous]

See this website

Ask for a wiring diagram