Hi. Here's some background info. I am located in the United States, and have had a Nest Hello video doorbell working perfectly for a couple of years. It's powered by a 16V 10va transformer. I also have a mechanical door chime that rings when someone presses the button on the Nest Hello.
The doorbell lost power a couple of months ago. The transformer had blown. The transformer was replaced, the doorbell was good for three days, and then transformer #2 blew as well. I suspected the Nest Hello might be shorting the circuit because of stuff I had read online from others that had a similar issue. So I replaced the transformer a third time, but also removed the Nest Hello and replaced it with a simple pushbutton, and I also removed the white disc shaped capacitor that the Nest Hello comes with that's wired into the chime. Transformer #3 died after a day.
Fast forward. Turns out the doorbell wiring in the attic somehow developed a short. So that section of wiring was replaced and my 4th transformer is working (so far) without blowing. The Nest Hello now works again. BUT. It no longer rings the mechnical chime. I checked the Nest App and the Indoor Chime setting is turned on. When the bell is rung, I can see the plunger in the chime moving but not quite enough to strike the metal plate that makes the ding-dong sound.
My current transformer is a 16V 10va like the original one that worked but it's clearly not putting out a full 16V.
Could the new transformer be bad / weak and a new one might work properly? Or could the splice in the doorbell wiring be adding just enough resistance that the chime no longer gets enough power to produce an audible ring?
Now I know the thing to do is measure the voltage put out by the transformer (with and without load) and also the power at the chime. This leads to my next question. I have this multimeter (https://www.amazon.com/Cen-Tech-Dig...ocphy=1022987&hvtargid=pla-591185389125&psc=1) but am not quite sure which settings I need to use to measure the power put out by the transformer.
Can someone please advise how to use my model multimeter and also whether a different transformer would work properly?
Thanks!
The doorbell lost power a couple of months ago. The transformer had blown. The transformer was replaced, the doorbell was good for three days, and then transformer #2 blew as well. I suspected the Nest Hello might be shorting the circuit because of stuff I had read online from others that had a similar issue. So I replaced the transformer a third time, but also removed the Nest Hello and replaced it with a simple pushbutton, and I also removed the white disc shaped capacitor that the Nest Hello comes with that's wired into the chime. Transformer #3 died after a day.
Fast forward. Turns out the doorbell wiring in the attic somehow developed a short. So that section of wiring was replaced and my 4th transformer is working (so far) without blowing. The Nest Hello now works again. BUT. It no longer rings the mechnical chime. I checked the Nest App and the Indoor Chime setting is turned on. When the bell is rung, I can see the plunger in the chime moving but not quite enough to strike the metal plate that makes the ding-dong sound.
My current transformer is a 16V 10va like the original one that worked but it's clearly not putting out a full 16V.
Could the new transformer be bad / weak and a new one might work properly? Or could the splice in the doorbell wiring be adding just enough resistance that the chime no longer gets enough power to produce an audible ring?
Now I know the thing to do is measure the voltage put out by the transformer (with and without load) and also the power at the chime. This leads to my next question. I have this multimeter (https://www.amazon.com/Cen-Tech-Dig...ocphy=1022987&hvtargid=pla-591185389125&psc=1) but am not quite sure which settings I need to use to measure the power put out by the transformer.
Can someone please advise how to use my model multimeter and also whether a different transformer would work properly?
Thanks!
- TL;DR
- Need help troubleshooting a chime that won't ring after installing a new transformer. Connected to a Nest Hello video doorbell. Also need guidance how to use my model CenTech multi meter to troubleshoot.
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