Troubleshooting Doorbell Problems: Personal Experience
Is your doorbell on the fritz? Don’t despair. It isn’t that hard to get to the root of the problem. In my experience, it is just a simple process of elimination that will take you roughly an hour or less to complete. The first doorbell that I ever had to troubleshoot was in an old house that still sported screw in fuses and cloth covered wires. Frankly, the idea of messing around with an electrical system like that intimidated me at first but I got over it. Here’s how I narrowed down what was wrong with the doorbell:
Check the Fuses
I started troubleshooting the doorbell problem by checking the fuse box for burnt fuses. There were none, so I grabbed my multimeter and turned my attention towards the doorbell button itself. A multimeter, in case you have never used one, helps to determine what voltage, if any, is running through an object. You can generally pick one up through most home improvement stores for $10.
Check the Contacts
Using a screwdriver, I removed the doorbell from the wall. Then I pressed the metal tip of the screwdriver across the doorbell’s two contact points to see if I could make the bell ring. I wasn’t afraid of getting electrocuted because the voltage going into the doorbell was minimal. The doorbell didn’t ring, so I decided to clean the connection points with an emery cloth that I had picked up at the store for $6. I also used a cotton swab to clean around the button just in case built-up dirt was keeping it from touching the metal contacts. Once that I was done, I tried pressing the metal tip of the screwdriver back down onto the contact points. It still didn’t cause the doorbell to ring.
Check the Transformer
I continued by looking for loose and frayed wires. When I failed to see any, I decided to test the doorbell’s transformer. In order to test the transformer, I pressed the screwdriver across the connections and looked for a spark. I saw a very faint spark, so I thought that the transformer was fine. Just to be sure, I also tested all the connections with the multimeter. If it had been the door transformer, a new one would have cost me anywhere from $11 to $23 depending on the retailer.
Check the Bell
The next thing that I did was to disconnect the bell. I wiped the bell and bell connections down with an emery cloth to remove any corrosive build-up. Then I connected the bell-wire connections directly to the transformer to see if the bell would ring. It didn’t, so I assumed that the bell had gone bad. I replaced the bell and that fixed the problem. I cost me roughly $16 to replace the bell. If the bell was not the issue, it would have been the home’s electrical system. In that case, I would have broken down and called an electrician.
Killeen Gonzalez enjoys completing home improvement projects with her family.
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