How to connect an old tel. bell to door bell.

[nichos]

Hi,
I have an old Telefone very loud Bell & want to connect it in place of the gate small bell (which I cannot hear).

Please see attached foto below, it has 2 2" bells, silvery cylinder el. component 3" long, 2 electromagnets 2" long & 10 screw connectors for wires.

It used to work untill a disconnected it from the phone & now use cordless telefone.

Can anybody advise if & how I can use it as a gate bell? .....thanx ......nick

 

[AdrianUK]

Not easily! This bell is designed to work using the 25Hz 75V AC ringing which is imposed on the telephone line when the phone rings. It won't work off batteries or off a normal bell transformer.

It could be made to work using a relay & an ex GPO ringing supply unit which you could find on eBay, but is it really worth the trouble?

 

[JohnW2]

Can anybody advise if & how I can use it as a gate bell?

Not very easily, because that bell requires a relatively high voltage (about 70V) AC supply to make it work.

Kind Regards, John
Edit: damn - typed too slowly .... again!!!

 

[OwainDIYer]

What sort of gate bell / power supply do you already have?

Gent 396 are fairly piercing little bells
http://www.e-lec.biz/elec_details.php?pc=PD202H

PS if you still have the bakelite case for that bell they sell quite well on ebay for a fair price.

 

[nichos]

Is a small box up in the loft connected to mains (240v), not easy to get at.

I have the cover, please see attached fotos.

What sort of price do they go for? .... thanx ....nick

 

[OwainDIYer]

Your telephone bell is a bell set 26 but with a 'modern' bell set 56 plastic cover.

Bell sets 56 only fetch about a fiver looking at ebay completed listings, and it looks like yours is covered in paint.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280909672541

If it was a 26 with bakelite cover then £40 upwards in good condition.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160880443007

For an doorbell the Gent bell I linked to before is probably one of the better bells you can get that will work on a (probably) 8V transformer.

 

[nichos]

it seem 26 as the label inside it says in the 2nd foto.

does it matter if it is painted?.

 

[securespark]

Be more valuable cleaned up, if you were to sell.

Just like anything really.

 

[TicklyT]

That looks right for a bellset 26 from the 1970s, as does the label. FWR 77/1 = (manufacturer code) + (year / month it was produced)

Earlier ones had a bakerlite cover. That one has an ABS cover with fixing screws. Later ones had a clip-on ABS cover, and a 741 / 746 telephone circuit board to carry the capacitor.

The simpler bell, without the capacitor, is a bell 59.

A bell 56 was a very different beast, with a single gong, and interruptor springset to work on DC.

Actually, a bell 56A would suit the OPs needs very well, working on 2 - 10 Volt DC supplies.

The similar looking Bell 56C had higher resistance coils to work on 10 - 60 Volt supplies.