OT A wireless doorbell

[ARW]

This is not really DIY, not really work and definitely not politics.

I have just had a few days off work and a bit of a road trip around the country. The final night was a trip to Blackburn to see TMH who had travelled up there to visit his daughter Becca.

As my visit there was a surprise for him I had arranged with Becca that when I arrived I would text her, she would find an excuse to go into the kitchen, I would ring the doorbell and Dave would then have to answer the door because he would be the closest as he would be sat in the lounge.

The idea was that when he answered the door I would say "I like the wireless doorbell you fitted" and wait for the shock on his face when he realised it was me.

All went well until I rang the bell and no-one answered. So I knocked on the door. Dave answered and I said "Is that the wireless doorbell you fitted"? Shock on his face at seeing me and he replied "Yes". I then pointed out that it did not work.

Sorry Dave if you do read this, but you knew I would take the piss out of you for it:-)

[Richard]

Not very no bell of you to take the piss. New line in bell-less door wires for TMH?

[Tim Lamb]

In message <e6SCF.114237$ [e-mail], ARW [e-mail]> writes

While we are here, would anyone care to recommend one?

Somehow it got left off the list of electrician jobs. PVC door and frame so retro fit hard wired not attractive.

[ARW]

If you cannot take the piss out of a mate then he is not a mate.

Probably.

But it's a long time since I saw him looking so well and we had a good night out. Photos of my hotel bathroom and TMH's comments about the silicone job in the bathroom will follow.

[GB]

Talking of taking the piss, I've just had a reminder from the NHS about my "Colorectal F/Up appointment".

[GB]

If *at all* possible, get one with a row of DIP switches in the bell and the same in the bell push. That way, you set them to match each other, and they stay matched.

[Richard]

These euphemisms get weirder.

[Richard]

Hope that's ollow, not uck.

[spuorgelgoog]

Can't you just squish it up the side under the silicone sealant?

All door bells are retrofitted and PVC is easy to drill.

Owain

[Tim+]

I can't personally recommend a brand but do have a look at ones with a "kinetic" bell push. These have no battery in the bell push to go flat but get all the energy they need from the action of pushing the switch. My sister's one seems to work well.

Tim+

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Even better. Get one with wires between the push and bell. Run via a transformer. They tend to work for a very long time. Like about 40 years in my case.

[charles]

That will happily ring a bell, but not easy to take into the garden. Our wireless one - which rings 3 receivers must be at least 30m years ond.

[Tim Lamb]

No convenient power source hence the interest in battery operation. Underfloor heating throughout so upping floor not doable.

I just might be able to break into the upstairs ring and get a feed into the soffit (chalet bungalow).

[Tim Lamb]

I suppose the Edwardian's might have had a bell pull.... connected to the servants quarters:-)

[spuorgelgoog]

I could hear my Friedland Masterbell in the next street :-)

Owain

[charles]

had a work clolleague whose dorbell triggered a cartridge player with the full 12 o'clock version of Big Ben. 12" speaker in the landing ceiling.

But I prefer not to annoy the neighbours; not that many people ring the bell, they knock on the door on the basis that doorbells never work.

[Bob Eager]

This house is Edwardian, but no trace of servants' bells (but lots of retrofitted lead gas pipes). We found wireless bells didn't work well.

I did investigate old style 'bells on a coiled spring' but the necessary length of cord would have meant continual adjustment, and we'd have needed to somehow connect two cords together to get bells in two parts of the house that are acoustically rather separate.

The house is wired with telephone and Ethernet, and there's a six pair cable from the wiring centre to the front door (I did that 'just in case').

Current solution is that the bell push pulls an input on an Arduino soem distance away. That sends a message via USB to a listening process in the Asterisk PBX, which then rings all the phones in the house (nine of them) with a special cadence. There is also an external bell in the garden - a BT 'Bell 80D' which is disabled by default. It can be enabled if working in the garden, by dialling a feature code on any phone, and disabled in a similar way. It is automatically disabled once evening comes, to avoid upsetting the neighbours. Another feature code allows selective 'hushing' for some rooms.

Not a solution for everyone...!

[Bob Eager]

We have that problem, which I have reduced somewhat with a brass plate below the knocker that says 'Please use the bell'.

[Brian Reay]

Our door bell runs off batteries. I vaguely remember putting new ones in I suspect at least 15 years back. It still works fine. I?ve no idea how old it is, pre 1997 which is when we bought the house.

I did change the bell push but purely for cosmetic reasons when we replaced the front door.

I?ve been considering one of those Ring video beasts but I want to maintain the current chime* and push button position which isn?t suitable for video.

• we like the traditional door chime.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Knowing most wireless door bells, you will probably find it ringing a bell down the street.

Brian