On 1/8/2012 8:52 AM, Doug wrote:
On Sun, 8 Jan 2012 07:48:59 -0500, "John Grabowski"
wrote:


I've got a house that the door chime stopped working (making a chime
noise). I know it's not the outside button and the two wires outside
that connect to the button (that go thru the outside brick wall) when
touching each other showed some spark. One repair guy asked me if
it's a 16v or 24v transformer and I don't know. He seemed to say it's
not a part of the chime box inside. I thought everything was self
contained inside the chime box that mounts on the wall. Is this a
DIY job??? Any good URL to watch on this repair?


*If you got a spark, the transformer is working. I've had some customers
who have had problems with their chimes. In two instances the problem was
as a result of the cover not being seated properly and was interfering with
the mechanism. In others it was just a bad chime. Buy a new chime and try
it out.


Thanks John. When I test the transformer, is it only to see if it has
power? And the simple test is to just touch the two wires together to
see spark (as I did and saw spark)?

Suppose I didn't touch the two wires together but the door bell button
was lit, would this also tell me the transformer is fine? In this
case, the button stayed lit tho no sound and I tested the button on
another home and it worked.

Maybe the chime is stuck but to maybe speed things up, I may just go
ahead and replace the box.

If your lighted button is lit, or you touch the wires together and get a
spark, you've got transformer. No need to pursue that direction. John is
probably 99.9 % correct, that the problem is with the front door,
(ding-dong) solenoid, which is why I suggest connecting the "rear" door
solenoid, as a test.