How to Fix a Doorbell That Won't Work
Doorbells are easy enough to fix that there is no reason to go for months or years without one. Basically, when the outside doorbell button is pressed a circuit is completed, allowing electricity to make the chime or buzzing sound. When no sound occurs the circuit is not being completed, and it's time to inspect the mechanism. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Screwdriver
- Sandpaper
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Instructions
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Turn the power off to the doorbell (this will likely turn off other things in your house as well.) This is an electrical job, so be careful not to work with "hot" wires.
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Remove the doorbell button and its housing by removing the two small screws or, if there are none, pry the panel off with your screwdriver. Check all wires attached to the button and housing. Be sure each wire has contact with the screw or attachment it is supposed to be in contact with. Detach them and sand around the contacts. Carefully inspect the wires to see if there is a break in the plastic housing. If there is, get some wire strippers, cut out the bad section and attach the good, connected wires to the contacts.
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Evaluate the sounding device if the steps above did not fix your doorbell. The sounding device is somewhere in your home, most likely in the form of an external box hung up high on the wall, somewhere between your front door and front room. Before you work on this, turn off the circuit breaker for the box.
The outside housing of the chime should pull off, and then you will have a half-dozen or so screws to remove in order to get to the wiring. Again inspect the wires carefully, and strip or splice any wire that seems problematic. Use your sandpaper to clean all contact points.
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Test your transformer if your doorbell is still not working. To do this, use a multimeter (a device that measures electrical current available at your auto parts store) to test the screws under the doorbell button that have the system wires wrapped around them. Your reading should be greater than 6 volts, but less than 24. If you get a reading that doesn't fall between 7 and 24, go and buy a new transformer and install.
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