Doorbell 2 installation woes

UK Topics Doorbells
#1

Hi, it’s a bit frustrating that there is absolutely no installation info for advanced users or engineers like me. What signal is sent through the wires in different chime modes??

I have a mechanical chime that is rang with simple doorbell pushbutton switch that shorts the wires with 12,9VAC between them. All the Ring has to do, is to behave in the same way - short the freakin wires and ring the chime! It does not do that in any of the modes, which makes it useless in my setup. I need it to be able to act as simple pushbutton in case wifi goes down or if any other problems with transmission occur. Is this too much to ask? Do I have a faulty device?

I have measured resistance between terminals and it stays around 240K in all three chime modes, when button is pressed. Please advise on what electrical behavior should be on the terminals in all three modes.

#2

Hi @zdravke. It sounds like the chime kit you have may not be compatible with the Doorbell 2. I’d suggest reviewing out this Help Center Article here, which will list all of the compatible digital and mechanical chime kits that work with the Doorbell 2. If the chime kit is not compatible, it will not ring when the Doorbell button is pressed. If the chime kit is compatible and you’re still experiencing these concerns, please give our support team a call at one of the numbers available here. They can take a closer look at your device and offer more advanced support. 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. :slight_smile:

#3

Thanks, but that list of compatible devices does not help at all. I have a device which dates from 1962, no idea what it is, and pretty sure it’s not in the list anyway.

Most of the old doorbells with chimes in Belgium are simple push button switches, that close to power the chime and are normally open. Only thing Ring needs to do, is put out zero resistance at the terminals to ring the chime, but instead it remains at 240K.

I need to know what to expect electrically at the terminals during ring, for different modes (mechanical, digital 1 and digital 2).

Is it too much to ask?

#4

Hello @zdravke ,

You wrote: “Only thing Ring needs to do, is put out zero resistance at the terminals to ring the chime, but instead it remains at 240K.”

Well, that would be true IF your doorbell utilized a mechanical relay, but it doesn’t.

You can not simply treat the Solid-State Relay in your doorbell, like a mechanical relay, and use a meter to check if it completes the circuit.

_“Solid-state devices require a minimum amount of voltage/current across the input before the output device will conduct. Most multi-meters are designed to simply provide a small amount of voltage in order to measure the ensuing current draw. Therefore, when measuring a solid-state device, the meter will typically report an open circuit (or very high impedance) because it cannot put out enough to turn on the relay” _ https://forum.digikey.com/t/can-i-test-solid-state-relays-ssrs-with-a-multi-meter/546

This is why you are getting the ohm meter reading of 240K (the very high impedance).

Since your current house-bell does “Ding-Dong” chime when you “short the wires”, but then does not work with your Video Doorbell 2 (with the “Mechanical” setting mode), this means that @Caitlyn_Ring is correct, and that your old house-bell does not work because it IS NOT compatible with your Video Doorbell 2. If you simply replace your old bell with an inexpensive, newer bell-chime that is on the compatible list: https://support.ring.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003008663-Ring-Video-Doorbell-2-Chime-Kit-Compatibility-List then your Doorbell 2 will be able to “Ding-Dong” a new compatible house-chime-bell, just like your old bell did, in case your Wi-Fi goes down. :slight_smile:

Additionally, I too do own a Ring Video Doorbell 2 and it does make my house wall-mounted bell go “Ding-Dong” just fine. Here is more detailed information explaining the differences between mechanic relays and solid-state replays, and why using your meter in a typical manner doesn’t work:

http://www.crydom.com/en/tech/newsletters/solid%20statements%20-%20bench%20test%20an%20ssr.pdf

I hope you find this information helpful :slight_smile:

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