Ok so my doorbell started seeming like it was stuck. One day instead of ringing when someone pushed it, it made a faint buzz… which did not stop. Actually I’m speculating that someone pushed the bell to cauze the buzzing to start; what happened was I came home one day and when I walked in the door immediately noticed this buzz. After a minute or so I realized it was coming from the “box” up near the ceiling where the doorbell ring usually comes from. So I pushed the doorbell hoping to make it stop. After a couple of pushes, it did stop. Great! Except now the bell didn’t work. No problem, I’d been considering replacing it anyway with one of those new surveillance doorbells.
The buzzing had stopped. The new doorbell was ordered, which is the Ring brand, for reference. It can run either “wired” using your existing doorbell wiring, or on its own long-life battery. We chose the latter option. Got the new bell installed, which required turning off power to the doorbell so the old one could be removed.
Once the power was turned back on, BUZZZZZZZZ. Much louder now than the faint buzz the first time I heard it. Question for Dopers who are home-improvement types, electricians, or any other kind of doorbell expert: How do I make it stop?! I don’t want or need to wire the new doorbell to the indoor “box” because I don’t need to hear an audible ring coming from that box now (it comes to my phone, and we’re also getting proprietary “chimes” that run off outlets for inside a couple rooms later on). I just don’t want this buzzing.
What is causing it, is it the box on the wall near the ceiling or the wires themselves? A friend said maybe it’s simply because the wires that were attached to the old bell (there are two wires) are now touching. I’m not certain that they are touching, can’t see them now because the new bell was installed atop the wires, but it could be the case because when the new bell was installed, the old wires were just sort of twined around and pushed as flush as possible against the house out of the way so the new bracket/bell could be installed over top of them. They would not seem to push back “into” the hole out of which they protrude. Can something easy be done to these two wires to stop the buzzing? Is it just because the wires are touching, as my friend said? I don’t want to detach the new bell to fiddle with the existing (now unused) wires if what’s causing the buzzing is in the box that is inside the house next to the ceiling next to the front door.
Sorry for the novella, just hoping to provide enough detail so someone can help me stop this infernal buzzing! :eek: Thanks for any help.
When you removed the old one, what exactly did you remove? Possibilities include the doorbell switch at the door or the box that contains the solenoid and chimes. When this happened to me it was the solenoid that was getting stuck and removing the box naturally stopped by bussing.
Also, in addition to the box that contained the solenoid and chimes was a transformer that stepped down the line voltage to power the solenoid. If you have one, I imaging it could be buzzing, especially if the output is shorted.
What was removed is the physical button that a visitor pushes, right next to the front door.
Attached to it on the backside were two wires. We unattached those wires (if I recall they were just attached to one screw each, on the button itself). That left the two wires just sticking out from the hole in the doorjamb. Since we did not need them for the new doorbell (which runs off its own battery), we sort of twined the two wires up and made them lay as flush as possible against the side of the house – they only protrude maybe two inches – so that the new bell’s bracket could be installed over top of them. They are now covered by the new bracket and bell so I don’t know if the exposed wire tips are now touching each other. I’d have to remove the new bell/bracket to see.
Please excuse if this is a dumb question, but where would a transformer be and what would it look like?
To my lay person eye it looks like the doorbell consists of the white box on the wall next to the ceiling inside near the front door, from which the “ding dong” sound emits when working properly and now the buzzing sound does, and the doorbell button itself outside on the front door’s jamb.
If the old doorbell switch wires are shorted, that’s the same as continually pressing the doorbell, which would likely be causing the buzzing at the box that contains the chimes. You should at least check that and make sure the wires of the old switch are not touching. I would also recommend disconnecting the power to the old chime unit if you or someone else is comfortable doing that.
Put electrical tape around the bare ends of the door bell button wires. Then they will not touch each other and make electrical contact!
Also doorbells are powered by a “transformer”. These may be located above an electrical circuit breaker panel, in a closet high up, in a laundry room high up, etc. Best to have an electrician disconnect your doorbell transformer if you are not going to use it anymore.
And for something like this, it is an easy job for the electrician, so it should be a minimal charge. You may want to have the electrician replace old worn outlets while there too!
When home later I will check to make sure the wires aren’t touching. if they are I’ll separate them (and cover with electrical tape as suggested by Me Billy below) and see if that stops the buzzing. As for shorting, I don’t know how to check if the wires themselves are “shorted”. I also don’t know how to disconnect the power to the old chime unit (I presume you mean the box inside the house up next to the ceiling?). I’m not comfortable messing with electricity in general, so unless it was literally like turning a switch or easily disconnecting wires in the box inside the house (after first turning off power of course). Otherwise, I would need to call an electrician I think.
I can’t think of anywhere in the house there’s something that looks like it might be a transformer, and there’s nothing visible above the circuit breaker panel (which is in the garage). Later when at home I will check the wires to see if they’re touching, and apply electrical tape.
If this stops the buzzing, should I be ok in the short term without needing to address the transformer? I get it might be best to just deal with everything all at once but if it turns out the buzzing stops when the wires aren’t touching or exposed, what’s “best” for my budget at the moment is to hold off on an electrician, as long as it’s safe to do so. :o
I had this exact same problem. I am also extremely not comfortable working with electricity. But, I was able to take the cover off the box that holds the bell (the one inside the house), identify the problem and flip something in the box that stopped the buzzing. It also stopped my doorbell from working altogether but that was fine and is fine in your case too.
I am completely at a loss for what I did to make it stop. But I do remember that when I got up in there it was obvious and took two seconds to do. I think unhooking some wire or something.
I did that about 3 years ago and just last month removed the physical button. So you’re fine without an electrician.
Sorry for the vague post but - the buzz and the answer are in the white box. lol
Yes, just put electrical tape on the bare ends so it stops buzzing and it should be OK for now. But do plan to eventually call an electrician and have it permanently disconnected.
Be sure your smoke detector is working and has a new battery.
Oh! :smack: I thought “shorting” meant something like… I don’t even know, something wrong within the wires themselves? You see why I’m asking so many questions, I know nothing useful in this whole realm. Thank you for your replies!
Yikes! Am I courting a housefire by not having the transformer looked at? I’ll definitely call an electrician as soon as possible but that is a scary thought.
Well if nothing else it’s good to know I’m not alone in suffering the incessant buzz!!! I’ll climb up there when home later and see if there’s anything in the white box that seems it can be switched off or disconnected (after turning off the power first! electricity makes me so nervous…). Fingers crossed that it’ll be a case like yours. Still going to cover the wires on the outside doorjamb and will eventually call an electrician but it sure would be nice if this were such a complete simple fix. Thanks for the input, fellow (former) sufferer!
I actually took the cover off to look while the electricity was still on. One because I didn’t know which circuit it was on and didn’t want to have to reset clocks from all the trying, and two I needed to see/hear the buzz! So I suggest taking the cover off, identifying the issue, THEN turning off the power before doing the disconnecting.
At present, it seems as though the solenoid is being continuously activated by virtue of the old switch wires being shorted (touching). This means that power from the transformer is being applied to the solenoid continuously. Both the transformer and solenoid are intended to be operated intermittently, as opposed to continuously. It’s possible that one or both are overheating, but I can’t say anything definitive. If you simply make it so the switch wires are no longer touching, it will be safe. Removing the transformer can be done later.
I’ll climb up there when home later and see if there’s anything in the white box that seems it can be switched off or disconnected (after turning off the power first! electricity makes me so nervous…). Fingers crossed that it’ll be a case like yours. Still going to cover the wires on the outside doorjamb and will eventually call an electrician but it sure would be nice if this were such a complete simple fix. Thanks for the input, fellow (former) sufferer!