Doorbell ringing itself :-O


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Old 01-10-07, 03:53 PM
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Question Doorbell ringing itself :-O

We have a doorbell that plays those churchbell chimes that my husband installed a few years ago with all new wires.

It will start chiming every 5-30 minutes without being pressed. These episodes happen infrequently, weeks, even months apart. We disconnect the power to stop the nuisance; if it's reconnected within a few hours it'll start ringing again, but if it's reconnected the next day it functions normally.

My husband thinks it seems to mostly happen on extremely low humidity days; this conflicts with MY memories of these events, so he might be "remembering" it that way because it's necessary to support his pet idea of static "building up" to cause the problem.

It's not just a short, because the bell electronics use one polarity of the AC for power and the other polarity for signaling; a short wouldn't allow the box to have any power to ring with. So... what could be causing this, and how do we fix it?

Thanks to anyone who can help!!
 
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Old 01-10-07, 04:00 PM
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Ding dong ditched?

Try replacing the door bell button/switch? Maybe there is depris in there allowing the button to stay depressed in?
 
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Old 01-10-07, 04:16 PM
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Wouldn't that cause non-stop ringing? Yikes, don't wish THAT on us, lol!! This problem doesn't happen after the button has been pressed, and the button isn't stuck down; it's something sneakier than that.
 
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Old 01-10-07, 04:44 PM
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I'm with Hot in OKC. The buttons are the weakest link. Try holding the button down and the chime will probably only cycle once, not repeatedly unless you push the button repeatedly. The push button contacts may touch through thermal expansion / contraction.
 
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Old 01-10-07, 05:32 PM
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The button needs to be depressed about 3/16" before the bell rings; could thermal expansion be THAT big... especially when the button's not in direct sunlight? If so, how can this be tested, and how can it be fixed? Thanks!! :-)
 
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Old 01-10-07, 08:00 PM
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I spent 17 years working for a major ding dong company. Static discharge is a new one. I would remove the button and clean the contacts, including wire attaching screws, then remount it and see if it re occurs in the near future. My electronic chime can play over twenty tunes, and it has never decided to play them on it's own.
 
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Old 01-12-07, 11:46 PM
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I'm with the rest of 'em .. replace the button, *or* if you'd rather not replace it, simply remove it.

If there's some magical esd downstream of the button, as you suggest, then it'd happen even with the button totally removed. If it never does it again with the button out .. odds are it's the button. Pretty much rules out anything upstream or downstream.
 
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Old 01-13-07, 12:22 AM
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It turns out that we had a wire that had "broken"; my husband fixed it, and now we're going to wait and see if that fixes the problem... keep your fingers crossed that that was the only issue. Thanks for all the advice!! :-)
 
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Old 01-13-07, 12:27 AM
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hmm.. broken where? The only place I can see where a broken wire would make that happen, is if it's near/on the button, and shorting across.. is that the case?
 
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Old 01-13-07, 12:56 AM
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My husband found the broken wire when he pulled the button out of the wall, so it'd have to have been fairly close to it; he said the ends were touching, but if you moved the wires around they'd separate... is that a short?
 
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Old 01-13-07, 12:58 AM
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Yep, I'd guess that's the culprit. Sounds like an easy and very cheap fix.
 
 

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