Upgrading doorbeel push

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Hi all, my first post so be gentle on me. I've viewed this forum many times before and now find it my 'go to' as its a huge help so I have joined up.

I want to upgrade my existing plastic cheap looking door bell push to the one in the link below. The existing wiring on my bell push is two core bell wire. The new one I am intending to buy has 4 or 5 contacts on the back as it is illuminated. Can anyone tell me if I can wire this straight in and if so do you have a wiring diagram

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121266171...eName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Thanks in advance for any assistance.
 
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No you will need a permanent feed from your bell transformer to illuminate the led on the button. If you had the non-illuminated one then you could just use the 2 cores you already have for the bell.
 
No you will need a permanent feed from your bell transformer to illuminate the led on the button. If you had the non-illuminated one then you could just use the 2 cores you already have for the bell.
That depends a bit on the nature of the 'bell'. If it is such that it would not 'sound' if the few mA need to light an LED were flowing through it, then one might get away with just the two cores.

Kind Regards, John
 
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That depends a bit on the nature of the 'bell'. If it is such that it would not 'sound' if the few mA need to light an LED were flowing through it, then one might get away with just the two cores.
I recall that. decades ago (pre-LEDs) this was commonly done successfully (with just 'two wires') even with small incandescent lamps (then called bulbs!), at least with 'chimes'. The lamp would simply be put across the switch terminals, and the small constant current it drew through the chime would not make the chime 'do anything'. Shorting the lamp with the switch then activated the chime (and made the light go out transiently).

Kind Regards, John
 
However many of these vandal resistant switches have very low current capacity, as low as 50 mA, and might not be suitable for switching a bell direct.

50mA seems excessive. Presumably a vandal resistant switch is around 10,000V?
 
Wow, I have been away for a few days and just checked my post, I’m impressed with the quality and speediness of the response, thanks to you all, what a great Forum, thanks guys.

"That depends a bit on the nature of the 'bell'. If it is such that it would not 'sound' if the few mA need to light an LED were flowing through it, then one might get away with just the two cores.

Kind Regards, John"

Is there any way of checking this before buying the bell push John?


"There should be separate contacts on the back for the switch contacts and the LED.

If it's like this then you probably use 1 and 2 for the bell

http://www.aerocooler.com/images/vandal-resist-2.jpg

However many of these vandal resistant switches have very low current capacity, as low as 50 mA, and might not be suitable for switching a bell direct."

I think that looks exactly like the contacts on the back of the bell push from what I recall seeing.


"That's a daft design for a bell push. It goes outside - those little recesses will collect dirt, may be used as a nidus."

I have a nice little brush and i'm OCD, ha ha.


"50mA seems excessive. Presumably a vandal resistant switch is around 10,000V?"

Lol, like your humour. I'd be interested in one of these if they were available, wire it to my car as well to keep people away form that too.
 
"That depends a bit on the nature of the 'bell'. If it is such that it would not 'sound' if the few mA need to light an LED were flowing through it, then one might get away with just the two cores. John"
Is there any way of checking this before buying the bell push John?
That would rather depend on what facilities you had. What sort of bell/chime/whatever is it? Does it work from batteries or a transformer?

Kind Regards, John
 
"That depends a bit on the nature of the 'bell'. If it is such that it would not 'sound' if the few mA need to light an LED were flowing through it, then one might get away with just the two cores. John"
Is there any way of checking this before buying the bell push John?
That would rather depend on what facilities you had. What sort of bell/chime/whatever is it? Does it work from batteries or a transformer?

Kind Regards, John

Thanks again John, its a transformer as its identified on the distribution board and there is a small transformer next to the DB with a chime above the entrance door.
 
Thanks again John, its a transformer as its identified on the distribution board and there is a small transformer next to the DB with a chime above the entrance door.
OK, so it's a chime, rather than a bell. Do you know whether it's an electromechanical chime (a real chime, with an electromagnet causing a hammer to hit some 'chime') or some new-fangled electronic equivalent.

Sticking my neck out, if its an electromechanical chime, then it's pretty likely that you would get away with the two-wire approach - by connecting the switch of the 'bell push' to the 'control' wires from the bell, and also connecting the LED terminals across that switch (the LED will only work with the connections one way around, but won't do any harm the wrong way, so trial and error!) - but I obviously certainly can't promise.

If you have access to any resistors (in the range 500 ohms to 1k ohms, or thereabouts), let me know and I'll explain a test you could do before buying the bell push.

If it's an electronic chime, the approach probably wouldn't work.

Kind Regards, John
 
I recall that. decades ago (pre-LEDs) this was commonly done successfully (with just 'two wires')

Oi, mine at home has a small filament lamp across the two contacts.
Friedland pushes still use them well they still were last year.
Mines a ding dong via a transformer though :)
 
I recall that. decades ago (pre-LEDs) this was commonly done successfully (with just 'two wires')
Oi, mine at home has a small filament lamp across the two contacts. Friedland pushes still use them well they still were last year.
That's the 'decades old' system I was referring to - I didn't realise it was still in use!
Mines a ding dong via a transformer though :)
So, it seems, probably is the OP's. If it is electromechanical, then I think it ought to work fine.

Kind Regards, John
 

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