Diode

I have an existing digital (electronic) doorbell and just purchased the Ring 2020 version. Can’t find a straight answer to the question of whether or not I need a diode to avoid frying my existing doorbell if I hard wire my doorbell to the existing system. If I destroy the doorbell, which cannot be replaced, my wife will have my scalp.

Hi @Waypoint. A diode is not required for the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Generation. In the Ring app you will select what type of chime kit you have and the Doorbell will do the rest. Here are the install instructions for the Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Generation. I hope this helps! :smiley:

Not sure I’m being clear. The existing doorbell itself is not a Ring doorbell, it is about 25 years old and does not appear on the “type of chime kit” list on the app. It is evidently a very early version of an electronic doorbell which plays various user selectable songs throughout the year, Christmas carols, birthday songs, etc. So do I just hook it up and see what happens? If I do so is there a chance that the old doorbell might be damaged?

Hi @Waypoint. By what you’re describing, it sounds like you have a Digital Chime Kit. So, you can follow the instructions in my previous post and select Digital Chime Kit when prompted. If you have any other questions about this, I would contact out support team. Please give our support team a call at one of the numbers available here. We’re taking additional steps to protect our team and help reduce the spread of COVID-19, so this has resulted in longer than normal wait times. If you are outside of the US, please read our response to COVID-19 here to see how to contact support.