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I have replaced an old intercom in my top floor flat (which was always rubbish and crackly) with minimalist approach. A basic ding dong chime that’s nice and loud and a light switch to open the door interlock.

I’ve found the two wires from the old intercom which unlock the door for the building and wired that up to the light switch (works perfectly) and can leave it switched on while I stick my head out the window to check guests have got in before turning off. however. I’m struggling with the chime...

I’ve bought a Byron Chime from screwfix which I have wired to the mains and can trigger the chime with a short piece of test wire. Next step, I have then found two suitable wires from the old intercom which have continuity when connected together with my doorbell, but when I connect these to the chime they don’t seem to make it chime! (I can hear a feeble buzzing noise like it’s struggling to trigger the solenoids)

Using a multimeter I read 0.4 ohms when touching them across my short piece of test wire, but the wire loop to the front door reads 22ohms. Is that resistance too much to trigger a chime?

If so how can I amplify the connection in these wires, or lower the signal needed to trigger the chime or is it something else altogether that I need to be doing.

Many thanks in advance. Charlie

Charlie
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  • You need to find two *other* suitable wires. – A. I. Breveleri Feb 26 '21 at 18:42
  • Why? And what am I looking for in terms of ‘suitablility’? – Charlie Feb 26 '21 at 19:45
  • Do you know what the central unit is putting out as far as voltage and amps to ring the chimes? – JACK Feb 26 '21 at 20:14
  • The central unit used to send 12V to ring the intercom phone. As I’ve ditched the phone and gone for the chime (which is powered by mains /12V) and just needs a short circuit to trigger. I have tried using the 12V signal from central unit too to trigger the chime but also had no effect. :(. Again think there is too much resistance in the wire as it’s old and not enough voltage is getting round the loop. – Charlie Feb 26 '21 at 21:07
  • those typically use speakers or buzzers, not ringers. get a buzzer. the signal is probably AC at several hundred Hz, not just plain 12v DC. – dandavis Feb 26 '21 at 23:14
  • Hi Dan, that’s a really good solution, might have to go with that. I had disconnected the signal so it’s essentially two cold cables passing through the door bell button, and up to my chime unit..., just think it’s not enough of a strong short circuit due to resistance to release the chimes. I’m assuming there’s no clever solution there as I prefer the traditional door bell noise to the buzzer noise. ? – Charlie Mar 01 '21 at 22:31
  • Are you sure your intercom system isn't DC and your door chime for an AC circuit? – Gary Tessman Jul 09 '21 at 19:21

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