For whom the bell tolls

[ianhound]

Ask not
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

Actually they are constantly ringing for nobody at all times of the day and night.

I have had so many problems with a Byron Wireless doorbell that I shall not bore you with it.

My question is - Could I just get shot of the wireless bit inside the box and use a transformer to the same value power of the batteries to make it a hard wired bell?

So endeth Radio 4's poetry corner

ps I accidentally put this question in the general diy forum, my apologies

 

[Taylortwocities]

Untitled

• Taylortwocities
• 17 Nov 2009
• 25

Stop messing about about buy a new bell

 

[ianhound]

Untitled

• Taylortwocities
• 17 Nov 2009
• 25

Stop messing about about buy a new bell

I would if it were just an ordinary cheepie but it is one of those false Victorian box alarms that have a swinging bell and look and sound lovely. Wife is keen on Victoriana so everything in the hall is traditional... so bearing that in mind do you reckon that the transformer to the battery inputs would work?

 

[TicklyT]

The problem is the wireless link between the bell push and the bell, not whether it is mains or battery powered.
There are usually several wireless channels available, set by selector switches in the bell push and the bell. Have you tried all of them?

Otherwise, it's install a cable from bell push to bell.

Or, for a real victorian flavour, install a mechanical system operated by a pull wires and bellcranks.

 

[ianhound]

Thanks for the input

I have tried all the different frequencies but different car key fobs etc set them off, as does rain getting in the switch. Didnt go into details as its such a yawn..

I know i have to run wires from push to box but just wanted an opinion whether the transformer can be joined up to battery terminals...

 

[davelx]

Thanks for the input

I have tried all the different frequencies but different car key fobs etc set them off, as does rain getting in the switch. Didnt go into details as its such a yawn..

I know i have to run wires from push to box but just wanted an opinion whether the transformer can be joined up to battery terminals...

Almost certainly not - there is electronics in there that decodes the radio signal and activates the actuator (solenoid, motor, or whatever). You will need a DC supply, not just an AC transformer, and you will have to work out what is needed to operate the actuator correctly using a simple bell-push - there may well be a micro-computer (PIC) in the bell generating the correct drive for the actuator, as these are cheap as chips ( ) these days.

Now, this is not impossible - in fact I'm sure I could do it (as I'm an electronic engineer) but I don't know if you could!

 

[Lectrician]

Is the chime electronic/speaker or does it actually have some kind of moving part so to speak?

If the latter, adapting it would not be too hard assuming you can decide what supply is required (voltage mainly). It would likely have to be DC.

 

[WabbitPoo]

Or, for a real victorian flavour, install a mechanical system operated by a pull wires and bellcranks.

Or, get your butler to sort it out.

 

[TicklyT]

Or, for a real victorian flavour, install a mechanical system operated by a pull wires and bellcranks.

Or, get your butler to sort it out.

How do you summon the butler from the servants' hall if the bell isn't working?

 

[davelx]

Is the chime electronic/speaker or does it actually have some kind of moving part so to speak?

If the latter, adapting it would not be too hard assuming you can decide what supply is required (voltage mainly). It would likely have to be DC.

From the description I'd guess it's something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SX60i-Byron-W...632723&cguid=68377a181210a0e203118da1fe363574

You'd need to be sure that the PSU you choose has sufficient current available to operate the mechanics and sufficient voltage to drive that current round the circuit (taking into account the resistance of the bell push wiring).

Some judicious measurements inside the box with a multimeter would enable you to determine what was needed (you'd need to break the wire to the actuator to get a current reading).

 

[ianhound]

I'd guess it's something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SX60i-Byron-W...632723&cguid=68377a181210a0e203118da1fe363574

Spot On!


You'd need to be sure that the PSU you choose has sufficient current available to operate the mechanics and sufficient voltage to drive that current round the circuit (taking into account the resistance of the bell push wiring).

Some judicious measurements inside the box with a multimeter would enable you to determine what was needed (you'd need to break the wire to the actuator to get a current reading).

..thats easy then

Thanks for all the replies. Thought that poetry would be your bag!

 

[Taylortwocities]

Thought that poetry would be your bag!

Indeed! Most of all I like the last line of this one:

Sam Gardiner

Electric Poem


To come home after nights without power
to batteries rolling about exhausted,
computer candlelit and TV staring,
is to know that what makes a home
is electricity, being able to whisper ‘I’m back’
to the suppressed excitement of cables
everywhere buried alive, ready to burst into
light and music, and oven smells, and print.

Tonight you can give the power station turbine
an extra turn in appreciation of the copper-headed,
moonlighting electrician you were lucky to find,
who can shock Perspex logs into life,
walk between ceiling joists while peeling a cable,
unfold himself limb by limb from the cupboard
(only the wiry win through) and switch from alpha
to beta the rhythms that jolt the heart.

An electrician is trained to hide things
under and over, behind and inside whatever,
and says that when he’s gone you’ll need
an electrometer to know where he’s been.
And of course the Creator was an electrician
with elementary particles in his care,
not a carpenter. And certainly not a plumber.

 

[ianhound]

Wonderful!!

And God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light, but the Electricity Board said He would have to wait until Thursday to be connected.
Spike Milligan

Many a true word spoken through false teeth!

Mind you the poetry lesson isn't over yet... going to try an post a photo of the workings of the bell.. seems like it should just hook up to a transformer, but I guess you poet laureates will put me write (SIC)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It is an Ancient Sparky,
He worketh one of three.
The other days he stayeth in bed,
Too drunk to stand or see.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

TTC - there is that joke which would never be allowed here about Him being a town planner on account of putting a sewage outfall so close to a pleasure garden....