on 8/21/2007 1:02 PM Eric said the following:
Sounds like someone's a little confused...

Minor point: the output from the transformer is alternating current, not direct. This is why polarity doesn't matter.

Major point: if you connect a bell as described below, it will ring all the time! This is because it'll be fed directly by
the transformer, without the doorbell button being in the circuit to interrupt the power.


I'm the OP: This is what I was wondering about. Are the two wires to the
converter a complete circuit as they are connected now, or do the two
wires only complete the circuit when the door bell is pressed? What I
can tell you is that the two wires come out of a brown cable that has
three wires. The three wires are white, red, and one that looks grey and
black striped ( it could be another color than grey, but looks grey).
The red is not used and is wrapped around the cable.
If it is not a complete circuit as is, could a ringer be tapped into one
of the wires in series, so that when the doorbell is pressed to complete
the circuit, it has to go through the second ringer to complete the circuit?
To avoid this problem, the new bell/chime must be connected to a point in the circuit that is *after* the button. Best
approach, although possibly difficult to get the wire to the right place, is to parallel the new bell/chime directly across
the old one.

One other possibility, I don't know exactly what they're called but they make wireless things to do this. You install a
little transmitter inside the existing bell/chime, and there's a wireless receiver that plugs into any AC outlet. Much
easier to set up!

EL

"curmudgeon" wrote in message . ..

That's a transformer, likely 24 volt.
Yes, you should be able to add a bell in the basement; take two wires from it and connect those two from the bell to the
same two posts on the transformer where the brown wires are now (keep the brown ones in place)...so you wind up with two
wires on each post. Since it's direct current, doesn't matter which wire goes on which post. Use a small bell/chime ...a
big one could overload the transformer when both upstairs and down ring.


"willshak" wrote in message ...

My office is in the basement. Whenever someone rings the doorbell, I cannot hear it.
The electrical converter box for the ringer is in the basement under my breaker panel. There are only two brown wires
connected to the converter box. Can I hook up a ringer to that converter box somehow so that the doorbell rings in the
basement as well?

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
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--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @