Question Hey Greg,
I think my doorbell is haunted. I recently purchased a home and two months
after I moved in the doorbell stopped working, or should I say it would work
intermittently. The door bell would hum, the hammer would get stuck and
the coils would get really hot. After a month of the door bell working on and
off I decided to fix it.
I checked the transformer and it was fine. I checked the Button and it was
fine so I decided to buy a new doorbell. I checked the transformer for the
correct voltage (16VAC 10V) I connected my new door bell (16VAC 10V) and I
connected a new more decorative door button. I was deliriously happy when
my new doorbell was working.
About a month later, the doorbell rang early one morning. I went to the door
and no one was there. I went to the door bell and it was humming, the
hammer was stuck and the coils in the door bell were really hot. Just like the
old doorbell. I disconnected the front door wire at the door bell, of course the
humming stopped. I used my multi-tester to check the transformer, it read
16V. I went to the push button and wrapped the wires with electrical tape to
make sure they weren't touching when I screwed the button in. I went back to
the door bell, when I tried to reconnect the loose wire to the front door screw,
the bell would ring. At this point I figured I needed to rewire the doorbell. It
was too late and I was too tired to deal with it that day, so I left the wire
disconnected and I went to bed.
The next day I went back to the door bell, touched the loose wire to the
front door screw and this time nothing happened. I reconnected the wire and
when I pushed the button at the front door the bell would ring. it was
working fine again. How long will it last this time. I'm terribly confused with
my doorbell what could be causing this problem? is there a ghost in my door
bell?
Thanks.
Answer Answering your questions backwards; There may be a ghost in your doorbell but you would need a priest for that, not an electrician.
If you find there is no ghost in your doorbell the answer is most likely a shorted wire.
Those little wires get their insulation stripped pretty easy and it is not too uncommon for them to rub on a nail or staple.
The expansion and contraction of the house could be causing the wire to touch a piece of metal (or each other) in the wall and then release.
The only real fix for that is to run new wires. The good news is that those wires are not too expensive, the bad news is getting them down the walls.
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