DOOR BELL HELP!

[jennyno1]

I have to replace my doorbell. The existing broken doorbell consists of..a bell push on the outside ( which I need to keep as it matches other door furniture) inside the door connected by electrical wire to the outside bell Theres what looks like a bell push/transformer? And then lastly a stand alone battery operated chime box.
I notice that most doorbell kits now just seem to come with a outside bell push and chime box- and not a third unit which I seem to have on the inside of the door. Having said that I need to keep the bell push on the outside, how do I go about connecting it up to the new Chimes - do I need that third unit? Many thx for any help!

 

[Burnerman]

It seems like you have the traditional electrical system just now, and many of these are replaced by wireless types - which have a transmitter on the door push and a receiver - either battery or mains - somewhere inside the house.
All types are still available from the likes of Homebase.
Maybe its the terminals inside the existing bell push that are corroded? Very common!
John

 

[rules&rulers]

As what he ^ said,it could be the bell push button is faulty (they get a lot of use). a few fancy bell pushes here http://doorchimesuk.co.uk/catalog/index.php?cPath=37
A photo of the items you mentioned would be very helpful to find the best match for your installation. If a simple battery wall mounted battery unit this is ok http://doorchimesuk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=33&products_id=218
If a mains electric unit is already fitted then this has a built in transformer http://doorchimesuk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=33&products_id=629
But it depends on your existing installation so some photos would be really helpful,there are a few different ways the equipment could have been installed. This company has a good selection of chimes and you can hear the chime before purchase. http://doorchimesuk.co.uk/

Good luck,

 

[jennyno1]

Thanks for the reply. I've uploaded ( and duplicated! Sorry) photos of the unit inside the door. It did have batteries in it. The other photo is of the bell outside, ( meant to be an old fashioned bell pull, which pushes down on to the bell press)....wouldn't like to replace this unit as would be difficult to find similar I think. This seemed to work o.k, but it was the chime box which wasn't working and since been thrown out!

 

[Burnerman]

I think we need to see what sort of switch is installed outside Jenny. ....if that can be made to work I'm sure we can come up with a simple solution. I guess the chime unit on the inside of the door is now gone for good?
John

 

[jj4091]

Have you got a multi meter that you can use to test resistance across the brown & blue wires in the pic. I would expect you to get an open circuit i.e. no conductivity in the relaxed mode & a short circuit i.e. conducting when you pull the bell pull. That would prove your switch is ok & you would then need & transmitter/receiver type door bell set.

 

[foxhole]

The external bell push is easily replaceable, mock bell pulls are easy to buy. Most likely this was at fault as the terminals inside get heavily compressed and stop working.
Your replacement unit will need to be wired and much easier to replace the lot.

 

[ntb]

The Friedland bell push is a wireless unit that would normally run from 3 AAA batteries. The corresponding wireless chime unit for it ran from 4 C cells. I know because I used to have one. The wires in the bell push are non standard and have been added by someone, presumably to power it from a different DC source. What is the other end of the wire connected to? Unless you know for sure that it's broken I'd remove the wires, put fresh batteries in the chime (first) and bell push (second). If it's working, one press of the switch will make the chime go bong to tell you it can detect the sender. Push again to make it connect and synch. It should then be working.