Problem with doorbell

[SAAG]

Hi- I am having a problem with my doorbell and am totally stumped. The problem is that it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't work. It is an electronic bell from Home Depot with 65 melodies. It has a lighted button. The light goes out every time the button is pushed but the bell only rings some of the times. When it doesn't work, it just doesn't work no matter how many times the button is pressed. The light goes out every time but the bell doesn't ring. After several hours, it can start working again by itself. I tried replacing the button with a non-lighted version. Now the bell only rings while the button is pressed and if it is released, the ring stops in the middle (without finising the whole melody). Anyone has any idea?

Thanks! Arsalan

[Dan C]

That is perhaps the most idiotic (and wrong) reply I've ever seen. Bravo!

[Mark]

actually the other way round..i think the bulb is passing too much current so the door bell thinks the button is continuously pressed. When the bell stops working, try removing power or disconnnecting the button for a few seconds, then see if it works again.

if htis is the problem, you need a button with a SMALLER bulb that passes less current so that the bell can recognize when the button is released.

Mark

[John Harlow]

The bulb in the button supplies power to the circuit. It might be too small (not supplying enough current) for the bell to work. Try getting a button with the brightest lightyou can find.

[arsalan_gilani]

Thanks for the response. The lighted button came with the bell. It has two terminals. The circuit is like a conventional ding-dong bell with one leg of transformer going to the bell and the other going to the button and button returning to the front screw on the bell. It also came with a diode but the label on the button said that diode is pre-installed so I didn't do anything with the diode. The Transformer I am using is 16V and it is the one recommended on the packaging of the bell.

Thanks! Arsalan

[Dr. Hardcrab]

A bulb supplying power???

What will they think of next?

[AutoTracer]

Not quite enough info to give a good diagnosis.

Did the lighted button have only 2 terminals (2 wires). If so the light was surely wired in parallel with the button. When pressed, the voltage across the bulb is shorted out and the lamp goes out momentarily. When not pushed, some current would go through the bulb which could be used to sense or power a circuit but that just dosen't seem like the case for a doorbell. (it is the case for some light timers and dimmer switches which work only with incandescent bulbs). Did the button come with the bell or should it work with any button?

In a normal doorbell, power is supplied to the bell only when the button is pushed. What I don't know is if your fancy electronic doorbel is wired like a normal passive bell or if it is powered directly then powers the button seperately. Wiring the two types would be different and is likly where your problem lies. Read the instruction/installation manual again and call the company hotline for questions. You may simply have a defective doorbell.

If the bulb is required, then you should be able to simulate one by placing a resistor across the button terminals of the unlighted button. for a 4W light and 12V supply, the equivelent resistor would be 36ohms in a 5W package. R=V^2/P

[AutoTracer]

Try wiring the original lighted button in reverse.

A diode Huh? Probably does need to go somewhere. Since the power is on the other side of the button, the bulb does indeed keep the bell alive by allowing current to pass through it. Since it came with the bell, it's a safe bet it is the right size bulb.

If the lamp inside the button is really an LED (brighter and usually a distinct color as opposed to an incandescent bulb) than that itself is a diode and if installed backward may still light since the power is AC but it may fail to rectify the voltage for the bell to work correctly (unlikly cause it works with a regular button). Find out where the diode goes and try it, it shouldn't cause any more problems. Make sure it goes in the right direction, diodes only work one-way. The diode is probably needed when you don't use their button. Its difficult to say if running without proper diode rectification would cause any damage. Would be a lousy design if it did.

[Beeper]

[allan]

I have one of these melody doorbells and as I remember the diode is across the button, I am not using a lighted doorbell.

[AutoTracer]

on giving it more thought, the direction of the diode in the button shouldn't matter since the input voltage is AC the direction of the diode only determines the phase of the half wave signal at the output not its shape or magnitude (as opposed to the same diode in reverse)

You probably just have a defective unit. it shouldn't be intermittant if it were hooked up wrong.