Is 6 core alarm cable suitable for wiring a front door bell?

The only other cable I have lying around is 2.5 twin and earth (even I guessed that's overkill) or speaker cable (too expensive).

How do most run these cables?. At the moment its surface mounted, I've just had a re-skim that's a little untidy around the door frame - so could easily dig out and tidy up. What about burying some trunking that you can take the top off for future access.

Any thoughts thanks

Reply to
gna03633
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Yes its fine, I would join 3 colours together for each needed wire. Eg. Red,white,yellow together, and Black, blue and green together.

Reply to
Tim

Well, 6 core alarm cable is also more expensive than the real thing.

No need to worry about a low voltage cable such as this - just bury it in the plaster. It's unlikely it will ever need 'upgrading' like perhaps other circuits.

If you do use this cable parallel the wires into threes - this will minimise voltage drop.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Yep.

I wouldn't, I'd take the easy way and and get a remote doorbell without all the wire hassles. Sure they are a bit more expensive but portable which means you can take the bell to another room.

I think these units are generall limited to about 10 metres

Seems a lot of effort for a bell, now if you were running an intercom and door latching unit, and security cam it might be worth it.

I've noticed you can get wirekless room switches now too.

Reply to
whisky-dave

And replace that with the hassle of flat batteries?

And leave it there so it is useless for later?

Installing a decent wired doorbell or doorbells is a once a lifetime task per house, really. Doubt you can claim the same about a wireless one. Of course they are attractive to avoid damage to decoration - etc. But this doesn't appear to be the case with the OP.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Yes lots of hassle getting a new battery every couple of years.

No you can move it about with you.

When my flatmate had friends visiting nat 3am I gave her the 'bell' to put in her room so she could be woken by their arrival rather than me.

Just like a mobile phone, in fact when I was working in a back room sanding with a sander I could still hear it in the same room where I couldn't have from any other room because I had the doors closed to stop the dust and crap getting everywhere else.

Well I've only lived in 3 places in my life so far. I want to change my next bell to a programable one where I can have my own sounds, rather than just a ring.

Well doorbells aren't that expensive and I hated the ding-dong of the one installed when I moved in, so 70s. If I could work out how a different ring could identify the person I'd go for that tomorrow.

Well he was asking, when I first moved in I did a similar thing with my landline phone to every room, I won't be doing that again EVER. Same with running computer cable, I won't waste my time doing that either.

Reply to
whisky-dave

You can be sure the battery will die when you're waiting in for something important. ;-)

If you remember. I'd forget. But then I refuse to carry my mobile round the house either.

Suggests you're in a sort of temporary accommodation? If so you have a point.

Most of these wireless types aren't anything as loud as a good ol' fashioned bell.

Right. But that is independant of it being wireless.

So change the 'bell' unit. The wiring will be the same.

Separate pushes clearly labelled?

The one thing you can be sure of is that no matter how good a wireless link is cable will be better. And that things like DECT phones will have a short life compared to a decent wired one.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Thanks for all the advice.

I'm quite happy to dig out to run a few cables, the plastering needs a bit of tiduing around the frame. I'll also install a cable for a magnetic door sensor for an alarm I may or may not install.

I wouldn't use a wireless bell, like someone said I will re-run the surface cable and it will be good for many years.

I may run a CAT 5 cable to the bell area as well, incase I come across a cool way of logging when the bell was used ;-)

thanks

Reply to
gna03633

Good time to do it. Install the sensor too since you'll be decorating the area.

Likely to see you out. ;-)

You could pick up the 'signal' from the push at a more convenient location.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I stuck in cabling for a door release, too...in case I ever need it.

Reply to
Bob Eager

Good idea Bob, would 6 core alarm cable be good for this or CAT5 - not T+E ;-)

Reply to
gna03633

I just used some multicore cable I had lying around...used 6 core stuff and can always parallel cores if higher current needed.

Oh, and I put in telephone cable for a doorphone, back to the big Krone wiring centre for the phones. Can patch it anywhere from there.

Reply to
Bob Eager

ISTR that alarm cable is SLIGHTLY thicker than cat 5, but is less useful at RF, so its probably OK to use CAT 5 for alarm and bell wiring, if heavy currents are not likely.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

That's true hasn't happened recently, but of course I'm out at work during the day, so twice now the parcelnet post has left parcels under my recycle bin which can be easily seen from the street. But I've a solution, ask my neighbour if she'd look after my remote bell. I doubt she'd be happy for me to hard wire it in ;-) What I'd really like it a totally remote system where I could view my front door from work and be able to use a web browser to open a large box where postie can put stuff in, shut it and I can lock it remotely, while watching the action :-)

I don't have a mobile, but do have a cordless phone I carry from room to room if I need to.

No a two bed flat, been there nearly 20 years. Just ripped out soem of my telephone extentions. A problem I hadn't expected was that having phones in differnt rooms meant one could be left off hook for some reason and I wouldn't get any calls. So I'm not havign a phone in every room anymore. That'll solve that problem :)

True but I can see the light flashing. I have a flashing phone, no ringer in my bedroom, with the theroy that if I don;t want to be woken up by a phone I won't be.

True but how many wired phones can you download your own ringtone to, I'm suprised someone hasn't yet come up with a way to put ringtones on doorbells, yep it'll be a ripp-off as mobiles are but I'm sure ther's a market for such crap.

Not since I've had a 'double-glassed' UPVC door installed I hate the idea of drilling through the door to put wires in. Then I'd have to run the wires all the way up the stairs to get to a mains socket.

Na, that relies on a human to do whast right can't trust them you know ;-) And just how many bell boxes and pushes would you need !

That's true, but just not important enough anymore for the majority of my purposes.

Lifetimes aren't that important in reality noweradays. Functionality has taken over. How many people have the same phone they had 3 years ago let along 10 years.

Reply to
whisky-dave

That's an idea. I have the camera, I have the wiring, I have the network....

OTOH, I just have them send to work. Or my PO box!

Reply to
Bob Eager

Reply to
whisky-dave

Well if it needs doing anyway..

Mine was too but lokoed a bit ancient.

No!, cat 5 is so 90s you need CAT 6 and the low smoke stuff, you might think about running fibre optic too for future proofing ;-)

Reply to
whisky-dave

Me for one. If I'm happy with a basic phone I'm not going to change it just for fashion. Especially as that fashion seems to be to make even house phones smaller and smaller thus reducing their functionality. My head and hands haven't got any smaller to match. ;-)

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:39:19 -0000,it is alleged that "whisky-dave" spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

Looks over at the 332L in the corner, then at the 746 in the hall.

I've had these a while now :-)

Reply to
Chip

With an attitude like that you could destroy chinese industry ;-)

Yes that's one of the things I don't like about new phones, and the fact that they don;t seem to last very long. I found some 'old' dial type phones in a local shop, well old style in bright colours adapted for current systems but £99 each !

Reply to
whisky-dave

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