Frustrations arising from adding a second door bell

PaulS · 2018-10-27T15:43:44+00:00

Hi Everyone, I have a frustrating door bell extension situation. When the house was rewired many years ago a cable (bog standard 2 core bell wire) was passed through the cavity / under floors from the under-the-stai rs transformer adjacent to the breaker panel, to the front door bell push v ia an over the door bell ( dome-bell-brass/14337) providing a simple door bell setup. Mains | | ____|__|_____ | | ______ | Transformer |------------------------| | | | | Bell | | 8VAC |---------Switch---------|______| |_____________| When I built my office I ran a cable from a second bell in the office back to the under-the-stairs panel. From past experience I knew i wouldn't be ab le to hear the existing bell when working. Initially I tested each bell individually - both ring when they're the only one on the circuit. I then wired the bells in series. No sound. I hadn't r eally expected them to as the 8 Volt transformer wouldn't have the oomph to drive 2 bells in series. ______ Mains | | | | | Bell | ____|__|_____ |______| | | | | ______ | Transformer |-----| |-------------| | | | | Bell | | 8VAC |---------Switch---------|______| |_____________| I replaced the 8 Volt transformer with a transformer tapped at 8, 16 and 24 and tried again. Still no go. ______ Mains | | | | | Bell | ____|__|_____ |______| | | | | ______ | Transformer |-----| |-------------| | | | | Bell | | 16-24VAC |---------Switch---------|______| |_____________| The bells are similar and when poked with my multimeter I can see what appe ars to be an adequate voltage across the terminals (testing from where the wires terminate near the...

Oct 27, 2018 61 Replies

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tabbypurr 7 years ago

It might work. Maybe.

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Terry Casey 7 years ago

But the OP is replacing the original transformer anyway, so he can ensute thathe replacement is suitably rated.

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