Doorbell system with 5 chimes

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chevyx92

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VA BCH, VA
Have an existing setup where one doorbell button controls 5 chimes with the 20 AWG wiring go from one chime to the next and so on. The problem is the home owner says she cant hear the chimes all time especially when the tv is on. The chimes are 16V rated and transformer is rated for 16V output. When the button is pushed I get 12 volts at the farthest chime on the 4th floor and its not as loud as the one on the first floor. Changing the wiring is not an option!!! Is there anyway to get thr proper voltage and make these chimes work like they should? Have any of you guys ever had one button with 5 chimes setup before?
 
chevyx92 said:
Have an existing setup where one doorbell button controls 5 chimes with the 20 AWG wiring go from one chime to the next and so on. The problem is the home owner says she cant hear the chimes all time especially when the tv is on. The chimes are 16V rated and transformer is rated for 16V output. When the button is pushed I get 12 volts at the farthest chime on the 4th floor and its not as loud as the one on the first floor. Changing the wiring is not an option!!! Is there anyway to get thr proper voltage and make these chimes work like they should? Have any of you guys ever had one button with 5 chimes setup before?
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I think I would be inclined to install a wireless transmitter at the first chime in the string. Use the transmitter to trigger 4 new wireless battery powered chimes and remove the 4 old chimes.
 
texie said:
I think I would be inclined to install a wireless transmitter at the first chime in the string. Use the transmitter to trigger 4 new wireless battery powered chimes and remove the 4 old chimes.
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I thought of that too, but the customer does't want to have to worry about changing batteries and said NO! :(
 
You know you get a 4v drop at whatever current is drawn over that length of #20 (which gives you one ohm per 100').

Use a higher voltage transformer or a buck-boost 'frmr to make up the 4v. The chimes won't know the difference.

First, though, make sure the chimes are loud enough at 16v. Run an extension cord (~zero voltage drop) to check this.
 
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chevyx92 said:
I thought of that too, but the customer does't want to have to worry about changing batteries and said NO! :(
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Some of the better grade wireless doorbell stuff is pretty good these days and the only batteries they would have to worry about are the chimes themselves (as opposed to a fully wireless system) and the batteries should last years. Maybe also you could remind them that with this setup they can have as many chimes as they want. And the main chime will be non-battery as a sort of fail safe from total lack of a chime. I'm just trying to put a positive spin on it.:)
 
chevyx92 said:
Have an existing setup where one doorbell button controls 5 chimes with the 20 AWG wiring go from one chime to the next and so on. The problem is the home owner says she cant hear the chimes all time especially when the tv is on. The chimes are 16V rated and transformer is rated for 16V output. When the button is pushed I get 12 volts at the farthest chime on the 4th floor and its not as loud as the one on the first floor. Changing the wiring is not an option!!! Is there anyway to get thr proper voltage and make these chimes work like they should? Have any of you guys ever had one button with 5 chimes setup before?
Click to expand...

They do make electronic chimes that pull very little current, just don't forget to install the diode at each push button, the diode provides the electronic chime with DC power after the button has been released so they can cycle through all the notes it may play, these have a volume control and most get pretty loud.

The problem with installing a higher voltage transformer is that the closest solenoid chime will be over voltage unless all your runs are close to the same length, also 5 chimes on one 16 volt 10va transformer will most likely drop voltage across the transformer.
 
Dennis Alwon said:
I have used a 30va 16va trany for 3 chimes. If you use 24v then the lighted switches will get hot and burn out.
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I guess for a really hard case you could get a larger capacity 16v transformer and use two back to back 22v Zener diodes to limit the RMS voltage to something slightly over 16vac and 45v P-P at the chime end but this might require tweaking even if it works on paper. And the Zeners might have to be hefty.
 
Too bad they don't make a DP doorbell switch. You could use a relay that could power two tranies that are independent-- NO-- 3 bells on one and 2 on the other
 
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