Ding Dong My Doorbell Is Dead
Picture this doorbell scenario:
You are cooking in the kitchen with 4 screaming kids running around the house. You hear a faint knocking sound, but ignore it, thinking “it’s just the kids playing with some toy”. After dinner and after the kids are put to bed, your spouse comes home from work and sees that horrible “sorry we missed you” note on the front door from the post office. Darn it! You forgot you needed to sign for that package to send to a very important client first thing tomorrow morning to get it to him on time! The thought of that knocking sound you thought was the kids comes to mind, and you think to yourself “why the heck wouldn’t the delivery person ring our doorbell?” And then you realize that you and your spouse have been putting off fixing that broken doorbell for weeks now. Take a deep breath. It’s called living, and everyone experiences chaotic times during some point. People get busy, or simply don’t know how to do something, so we put it off for later, etc. WE GET IT!
After you got the client’s package situated, you think about that doorbell again. You google things like “how to fix my doorbell”, “repair doorbell yourself”, and realize you and your spouse aren’t handy. You also realize you don’t want to mess with electrical wires and such because it could be dangerous, especially because you have no idea what you are doing. So now it’s time for an electrician.
There are a few reasons why your doorbell may have stopped ringing. A licensed electrician like someone from KB Electric LLC will be able to troubleshoot and fix the problem for you. Let’s explore some of the possibilities as to why it stopped working in the first place, just to give you some insight.
Reasons Why Your Doorbell Isn’t Working
Broken Button
One of the reasons your doorbell stopped ringing could be the doorbell button itself. If there is no buzzing noise or hum at all when you press the button, then the button may be the reason your doorbell isn’t working. One of our licensed electricians at KB Electric LLC will also test this to make sure it is indeed the button by troubleshooting the wiring. The button on the doorbell would then need to be replaced if this is the issue.
Faulty Wiring
Faulty wiring is something to consider if the button does appear to be working (if you hear a buzzing sound or a humming sound coming from it). Wiring issues may consist of loose/damaged wiring that connects to the button, loose/damaged wiring from the chime box to the button, or loose/damaged wiring from the transformer. A licensed electrician can troubleshoot the wiring by using a multimeter to see where the problem lies.
Transformer
The transformer for your doorbell is either located on your junction box or your main electrical panel. If the button works and the wiring is good, the transformer may be the reason your doorbell stopped working. To test this, a licensed electrician will use a multimeter to test the voltage. In most cases, if the transformer is the root of the problem, it will need to be replaced.