Bell push mystery

[Another John]

Hi all: any opinions?

I installed two simple wireless bells for a neighbour the other week (this model in fact:

- made by Byron) (battery bellpush, chime plugs into mains).

She needs one at the front door and one at the back door, each playing a different melody so that she knows where the caller is.

The bells worked just as we hoped when I installed them, but this week the back door stopped working: push the button: nothing. The front door worked as before.

I expected that it was a battery malfunction or something similar, but No it wasn't.

I unplugged the one I suspected to be at fault (the two sit side by side in a double socket).

Found nothing wrong, plugged it in again.

Then, BOTH bellpushes operated BOTH bells, with an identical chime.

Following instructions that came with the bell, I re-set the back door, i.e. made it re-learn its pairing and all now seems to be working as before.

HOWEVER: I don't understand what happened, and therefore how it might be avoided in future: any suggestions?

Thanks John

[alan]

I had this a lot with a couple of different cheap wireless door chimes. I suspected external electrical electrical interference effecting the receiver.

I haven't seen this in the past 10+ months+ since I fitted a Honeywell/Friedland Libra product. The adverting says "Frequency of

868MHz FM which is a less crowded frequency, thus reducing interference".

The Libra product also produces two very loud beeps after the chime if the bell push batteries are low (I didn't realise at first that the beeps were coming from the chime)

[stuart noble]

I gave up trying to figure out what was causing an intermittent fault at my son's house. Life too short etc. Put it in another house (mine) and it has performed flawlessly ever since. I blame the wireless baby alarm but I could be quite wrong.

[GB]

These things are too clever for their own good. I installed one (different make, but the same idea) for MIL, and it appeared to work faultlessly. However, it started going off at all sorts of odd times. She lives in a crowded area, and the one I got (unfortunately) has a long range. I suspect that the chime stayed in learn mode for too long, and it learnt all the neighbours' door bell pushes as well as hers.

Today, I fitted a Byron one in our house. It's a shorter range, and the houses are more spread out. So far, it's performed faultlessly.

The previous one we had died after 15 years' use. It had a dial to choose a particular key. You had to set the button and the chime to the same number. Foolproof.

[dennis]

They forget which bell push they are paired to when you power them off.

My byron works with two pushes, you plug it in and then press one push, wait a few seconds and press the second, IIRC there is a switch in the push to select the sound so you can have different chimes for each push.

[Chris J Dixon]

I have just removed a Byron which kept giving spurious signals, despite attempts to get it to change channels.

I now have a Libra+, with plug-in sounder, which looks well made, and is performing fine so far.

Chris

[Clive Page]

My experience is very similar. A year or so back I installed a Byron wireless bell push with two sounders for an elderly relative - it too worked ok for a short time, then either did not sound both sounders, or sounded one of them at random when there was nobody there to press the bell. I gave up and installed a wired system. My own opinion is that these door chimes simply don't work. If I'd had the foresight to keep the receipt I'd have taken them back for a refund.

[Nightjar]

I suspect they work rather too well and pick up from other transmitters. I used to have a place with a wireless garage door opener. I would find the door open at random times. The system had a DIP switch to set the code and the code the previous owner had it set to was 01010101, possibly the factory default. I changed the code and the problem went away. It probably cured a similar problem for one of the neighbours.

Colin Bignell

[Huge]

Indeed they do. Ours (Byron) go off 2 or 3 times a year when there is no-one at the door, despite my changing the code from the factory default. I can also set them off with the central locking fob for my TVR.

[Brian Gaff]

Right, yes, I've had this issue with plug in radio outlets. It seems that a wiggle in the socket once again increases the range back to what it was before. I wondered if this was due to some kind of bad connection at low current which made the psu inside work badly or maybe caused interference that made it deaf. Its happened several time now with one in particular, and only in the socket concerned, but I've tried other appliences in that socket and tried to make it intermittent with no luck, so, one of those unexplained things. Brian

[dennis]

Get someone to check the socket, it could overheat if you put a high current device in if it has weak contacts.

[Another John]

OP here. Sorry to repeat all the original post, but it may have a bearing: is there any possibility that the two bells are mucking up each other? They sit side by side in a double socket plate, and the two bellpushes are only about 12 meters apart (i.e. front and back doors).

Problem is fixed for the mo, but -- having read all the useful replies so far (thanks!) -- I'm even more keen to understand what goes on.

Cheers John

[tony sayer]

Was less crowded .. now even the street lights use it;!....

Albeit on a narrowband system...