Wired Doorbell issue

7 years ago

My friend has a simply wired doorbell. Front door only. The doorbell stopped working after a power outage. Power came back on - no doorbell. I checked all the wiring - doorbell at the front door to chime box to the transformer. Visually, nothing wrong. I checked the transformer. My voltage meter registers it at 12v. The transformer says 16VAC on it. Zero voltage on the chime box and doorbell.

Here's what I've done to troubleshoot:

Remove the doorbell button and touch both wires together. No ring.
Tried a new doorbell button - no ring
Replaced the chime box - no ring
Replaced the transformer - no ring. The new transformer registered at 12 volts too. Both the old and new transformer - the wires into the house - that's 120v and looks good.

At my house, my doorbell works. When I test my transformer, it comes back to 12v too. My volt tester tells me 12v, 24v, etc. It doesn't have a 16v on it.

So what could be going on here? It could be a break in one of the wires, but I don't have the tools to test for that, nor the room to crawl in the attic and find the wires and visually trace them. I wouldn't even know where to begin on that.

Any other troubleshooting steps I can take? Thanks in advance for your reply.

Featured Answer

cat_ky

7 years ago

Have you checked all the circuit breakers, to see if one has tripped. Sometimes, they look like they havent, but, they have actually tripped. Maybe see if you can locate the one it is on, and turn it to off, and then back on, and see if it will work.

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Comments (6)

badabing2
7 years ago
IMHO just buy a new wireless one, they're cheap. You've done all the intelligent stuff. Some doorbells are 24V - have to look at the chime.
Steve Jones thanked badabing2
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Steve Jones
Original Author
7 years ago
@cat_ky - double-checked the breaker already. The transformer is in the garage, so when I replaced the transformer, I had to cut all the power to the garage - so if anything was tripped, it's working now (except the doorbell, of course)
DavidR
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
One possibility is that your meter is reading "phantom voltage" and the transformer actually can't supply significant current. To find out, check the transformer's voltage under load (when the doorbell button is pushed). Or connect a car dome light or tail light bulb across the transformer's secondary (screw terminals) to see if it lights.

If it still reads 12 volts, or the bulb lights, remove the transformer, doorbell, and button from the house. Wire them to one another on your workbench. If they work there, either the house's doorbell wiring is faulty, or a connection to one of the components wasn't properly made.

Wait, you said the transformer is in the garage? Any chance that it's downstream from a GFI?
dennisgli
7 years ago
Are you sure that you found the right transformer?

How many cables/wires at each location?
wdccruise
7 years ago
1. "It could be a break in one of the wires, but I don't have the tools to test for that..."

Sure you do. If you have a multimeter that can test resistance, remove the doorbell, twist the wires together, and check the resistance of the entire circuit. It should be approximately zero ohms (no resistance).*

2. Have you tried connecting the doorbell directly to the transformer to see if it rings?

3. If all else fails, buy a wireless doorbell as another suggested. Twenty bucks on Amazon.

*Assumes that the transformer and doorbell aren't so far apart that you can't temporarily connect a piece of wire between them to which you'll connect one multimeter probe.