Weak Door Bell Ringer

[Vince]

I am trying to determine why the door bell ringer is so whimpy.

It is the type that has a plunger banging up against a bar. Terminals
are marked Rear, Trans, Front, but only Rear (to my front door) is
wired. I see two other conductors with their ends twisted together (no
wire nut is being used).

Is it the spring that is now old and weak? House is over 25 yrs old.

Could it be a faulty transformer? which is wired into the circuit with
my oil burner system ( I was told that this is because the Emergency
Switch for oil burner is seldom set to OFF). What is typical voltage
found at which terminals?

I would like to read up on how door bells are wired, normally; any
tutorial URLs would be welcomed by me.

I have replaced the door bell switch, more than once, at which time,
the bell seemed to sound louder.

Thanks in advance.
~Vince~
Long Island, NY
eMail: wa2...@att.net

[he...@hotmail.com]

I this exact same problem, seems the ringer was installed 90 degrees
rotated from where it was supposed to be. The solenoid was not strong
enough to pull the hammer "up" hard enough to hit the metal bar but
going to the side worked fine. Look for a label with an arrow pointing
up.

[Greenlight]

Door bell ringers are mechanical devices that often wear out. So are their
buttons. Also it is not good practice to run both the door bell and the oil
furnace. transformers do also get old, weak, and eventually fail.

Especially plungers in kitchens can get greased/gummed up easily and can
benefit from cleaning (like by rubbing alcohol or another solvent). Yes, the
springs can become worn, the electromagnet weakened, etc.

Usually if it doesn't work at all I suspect the door bell button and simply
short the two wires together to see if things work. In your case it
"appears" that the button is working. Without suitable test equipment (you
will need a voltmeter to test the transformer under load) you have an
additional choice of replacing the doorbell or putting the doorbell on a new
dedicated transformer. They both cost about the same. Match the voltage of
the transformer to the doorbell, the higher the voltage, the louder the bell
(all other things remaining equal).

If the controls to the oil furnace seem to be acting fine, then a guess
would be that the door bell is going. A simple quick fix is simply to switch
the existing wire connected to the back door terminal to the front door
terminal because the back door coil, electromagnet, or mechanical spring
may be worn out (for the back door), but OK for the front door. There should
be one wire going to the "trans" terminal also?

Vince <wa2...@NOSPAMPSE.com> wrote in message
news:38bd682a...@netnews.worldnet.att.net...

[Tim Fischer]

Doorbell's are cheap-- buy a new one and see if that helps. I had the
same problem when I moved in my house, I bought a nice-sounding bell
with a solid oak cover and brass trim for about $25. You can get a
cheap plastic one for about 1/2 of that.

I went from barely being able to hear the bell when the TV was on, to
having it scare me sometimes! :-)

-Tim

In article <38bd682a...@netnews.worldnet.att.net>,

wa2...@none.com wrote:
> I am trying to determine why the door bell ringer is so whimpy.
>
> It is the type that has a plunger banging up against a bar. Terminals
> are marked Rear, Trans, Front, but only Rear (to my front door) is
> wired. I see two other conductors with their ends twisted together (no
> wire nut is being used).
>
> Is it the spring that is now old and weak? House is over 25 yrs old.
>
> Could it be a faulty transformer? which is wired into the circuit with
> my oil burner system ( I was told that this is because the Emergency
> Switch for oil burner is seldom set to OFF). What is typical voltage
> found at which terminals?
>
> I would like to read up on how door bells are wired, normally; any
> tutorial URLs would be welcomed by me.
>
> I have replaced the door bell switch, more than once, at which time,
> the bell seemed to sound louder.
>
> Thanks in advance.
> ~Vince~
> Long Island, NY
> eMail: wa2...@att.net
>
>

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[Vince]

I just installed a TINE replacement ringer and also the door bell
switch. All sounds fine now. Time will tell....
This one is designed for a 10-Volt transformer and it also says that
for a louder ring, to use a 16-Volt transformer.
The unit that I replaced is an Emerson, and it is spec for 16-Volts,
so, I assume, that the transformer present is for 16-Volts. ;-)

(( Even the old whimpy ringer would scare the heck outta my Bashful
cat. ))

On Fri, 03 Mar 2000 19:02:33 GMT, Tim Fischer <tfis...@codamusic.com>
wrote:

[L.Evans]

Vince,
If your bell rings by a plunger moving thru a solenoid the plunger may be
rusty & sticking as it travels thru the body of the solenoid. Remove the
plungers & sand them shiny again. I've put them in an electric drill & held
sandpaper over the plunger to let the drill do the hard work.

Vince <wa2...@NOSPAMPSE.com> wrote in message
news:38bd682a...@netnews.worldnet.att.net...