How do I wire up a Ring when I have TWO existing doorbell chimes?

Hi Folks,

I bought a ring video doorbell (has no battery in it) and two chimes for it. One chime is for the first floor and the other is for the second floor.

With my existing hard-wired doorbell setup, both chimes ring at the same time when the front door doorbell is pressed.

The booklet that came with the ring doorbell is useless because it only shows how to setup for just one existing doorbell chime, not for two chimes.

I have yet to discover anywhere on this Ring website anything about wiring up to an existing two-chime setup so I am now asking the community for help.

Has anyone ever wired up a ring video doorbell when you have chimes on each floor? If you have then please share with me the instructions on what to do with each of the chimes regarding the rewiring and/or jumping of terminals.

And if you happen to have a wiring diagram to go along with the instructions then that would be super helpful too.

Thank you much!

Lee

Hi @Lee56. It would be helpful if you could provide additional details on what devices you have. Which Video Doorbell model do you have? The model name (Video Doorbell Pro, Video Doorbell Wired, etc.) should be on the original packaging as well as on the back of the Doorbell itself. What is the make and model of the two chime kits you have? This information is typically listed on the chime kit itself.

Hi @Caitlyn_Ring. Thanks for responding. I had no idea you did. I didn’t know I had to turn on notifications for this site, assumed they were already on, they’re on now though.

I have a Ring wired video doorbell. I bought two of those wireless plug-in type of Ring chimes to put one on the first floor and the other on the second floor.

I currently have a standard push button doorbell setup. My transformer is 16vac I believe. I have a wired chime on the first floor and another wired chime on the second floor. Both chimes ring at the same time the front doorbell button is pushed.

This ring video doorbell only has instructions to install for a one (existing) chime household but not like mine with two existing chimes.

In the box for the ring video doorbell is an included jumper wire that’s supposed to jump the terminal “trans” (for a wire coming from the transformer) and the terminal “front” (wire going to the front door doorbell button) but it’s only one jumper for a one-chime household that ring assumes everyone has.

If ring would only realize that most houses have two floors and two chimes so why didn’t they provide an extra jumper wire assuming it’s actually needed to be put on the second chime. I’m only assuming that’s the case because I’m just not sure how to rewire the second chime on the second floor. My dilemma is does it need to be jumped as well or does it just get left alone? I’m leaning towards it just gets left alone but I of course need confirmation to go forward.

There is no wiring diagram provided by ring that shows what to do in my scenario (that I have found anyway if it even exists) nor have any ring support agents been able to provide me instructions on how to get this set up. So that’s why I asked in the community forum here to see if anybody has any experience with this particular setup and/or could tell me how to set it up.

Since there are no instructions on what to do with the second floor chime, this leaves me at a loss for what to do exactly to get the wiring setup right for the video doorbell to work.

Correct me if I’m wrong but with a one existing chime setup, using the chime on the first floor here for example, jumping the terminals on the existing chime provides direct transformer power to the two wires that go to the front door so that it’ll provide the constant 24/7 power for the new ring video doorbell or else it won’t work, right? That’s what I get from looking at the wiring diagram and from already knowing how a standard doorbell is wired.

So, what exactly am I supposed to do with the second chime that’s upstairs?

Since I didn’t think I got any replies on my post here (no notifications sent), I contacted ring support via email. And after some back and forth emails with scripted responses from them, I finally got a response with a link to wiring diagrams but the only diagram on that page for my current existing setup showed no jumpers are on either of the existing chimes. That makes zero sense because then no voltage would be supplied 24/7 to the new ring video doorbell.

This new ring video doorbell does not have a battery in it so there’s no way that it’s going to operate unless voltage is always present at the two wires going into the back of it. The way the first diagram shows (the very first diagram at the top of the list on that web page, see link below) is that both existing chimes are still set up the same way with no jumpers on them (to create the connection to provide the power to the new video doorbell).

Follow the wires from the transformer and you’ll see that it’s an open circuit all the way around just as if it were set up right now. The only difference being is that the current existing push button at the front door would be replaced with my new ring video doorbell but everything else would be left alone.

Another thing wrong with that wiring diagram is that it implies that a new ring video doorbell will work with my existing chimes but that isn’t true though. From what I understand, only the ring video doorbell pro will work with old existing chimes. Isn’t that true? It also implies that I don’t need any new ring wireless plug-in type chimes so I can hear audible chimes when somebody presses the ring video doorbell button. I’ve read differently that I do need the ring wireless plug-in type chimes.

I wonder if the person who created those diagrams actually knows what they’re talking about because it seems that they don’t. It looks like they forgot to include the jumpers on the two existing chimes. Or maybe it’s just one jumper required on either of the two existing chimes as long as it creates a path for the voltage from the transformer to flow through to get to the other wire going to the front door? One wire from the transformer is already at the front door. Maybe one jumper is enough which would render the other chime non-existent as if it wasn’t even there. I wished I could provide you a screenshot from that web page but you’ll have to go to it yourself to see what I mean. I’ve put a lot of thought into this so I think I’m right about it but I need confirmation that I’m right so I can proceed with the install.

Please let me know if I am correct in my assumption that there has to be a constant voltage from the transformer going into the video doorbell itself in order for it to work 24/7. And of course let me know if everything else I’ve mentioned is correct or not and if not then by all means, correct me.

If you need any more information then just ask but I think I covered all the bases here this time. Sorry if it was long but I tend to elaborate so that there are no stones unturned.

Thank you,

Lee

Hi @Lee56. The Doorbell Wired is not compatible with any Chime Kits. Therefore, if you are hardwiring this in a doorbell circuit that has two chime kits, both chime kits will need to be bypassed. Not bypassing a chime kit can cause damage. Let me know if this clears up any confusion.