Doorbell transformer double tap Re: Doorbell transformer double tap IF YOUR INSPECTOR IS NOT USING THERMAL IMAGING, YOU'RE NOT GETTING THE WHOLE PICTURE �Jeff Pope JPI Home Inspection Service Santa Clarita Home Inspection lol....well it is a simple fix, remove both wires and wirenut them together with a pigtail to the breaker....ensure the pigtail is of the same size as the original circuit wire attached to the breaker before.Oh forgot...usually those are 14 AWG......dont splice it with a 12 AWG and then connect it to a 20A breaker.....just a FYI NFPA 70 (NEC) Code Making Panel 5 and 17 Committee Member Disclaimer - All my posts on this forum are of my own personal opinion and represent Electrical Code Academy, Inc. The you are good to go....offer the suggestion.....and walk out smellin like a rose fella....Just be sure that TX is not located inside the panel enclosure itself....not allowed... But I can splice it with 12 and land it on a 15 A breaker.
Details are good my brother........ Disclaimer - All my posts on this forum are of my own personal opinion and represent Electrical Code Academy, Inc. Doorbell transformer acts as simple water-leak detector Shortly after installation, the simple water-leak-detector circuit in this Design Idea saved the day and hundreds of dollars. The average life expectancy of a hot-water heater is about 10 years. It’s not a question of whether it will leak; it is simply a matter of when it will leak. The builders of new homes in the Midsouth region of the United States have been installing hot-water heaters in attics. This approach saves valuable space; however, if you only infrequently visit the attic, you may not discover that your hot-water heater is leaking until it is too late. By that time, it may cost you hundreds of dollars to repair the water damage to ceilings and walls. The circuit in Figure 1 detects hot-water-heater leakage, and you can also use it for detecting leaks in dishwashers, garbage disposals, ice makers, swimming pools, hot tubs, and waterbeds.
Figure 2 shows the completed circuit. Most doorbell transformers produce 16 to 20V ac. To drive the buzzer, you must convert the ac voltage to dc: Multiply the ac voltage by 1.414 to yield the dc-rms voltage. Connect the wires to the secondary side of the transformer to a bridge rectifier and then into a filtering electrolytic capacitor. Your power supply should now be providing about 26V dc. The 5.1-kΩ resistor, R1, limits the current to the buzzer. When the system detects water or when you press the push-to-test switch, you have about 6V dc to operate the circuit and sound the piezoelectric speaker. Mount the speaker so that you’ll hear it when it sounds. Transistors Q1 and Q2 can be any general-purpose NPN and PNP types, respectively. The water probes use copper wires about 1 in. apart from each other. You then pierce two holes, about 1 in. apart, into a sponge from a soldering station. Insert bare copper wire into these holes (Figure 3). Take some of the remaining wire but leave the insulation on it and wrap it around the sponge so that the bare copper wire does not come out (Figure 4).
You can now place this sponge in the metal overflow tray underneath the hot-water heater. When the hot water leaks, the sponge absorbs it. The resistance between the two bare copper wires then drops to about 1 MΩ or less, which forward-biases the two transistors and enables the piezoelectric speaker. The cost for this circuit shouldn’t exceed $25. If you have more than one hot-water heater in the same area, you can make another water probe and tie the two probes together in parallel. Also see:Ring your bell; light your lightUse a proximity sensor to create a cat doorbell Understanding the basics of setup and hold time Control an LM317T with a PWM signal Remembering Jim Williams, 5 years later Addressing core loss in coupled inductors AM detector more sensitive than simple diode Vintage electrical measuring instruments from the 1950s Simple reverse-polarity-protection circuit has no voltage drop Air pressure sensors in smartphones: Transforming navigation and fitness tracking
Autonomous cars on various terrains Sensor conditioning amidst a sea of focus on MEMS and sensorsDOORBELL problems are usually easy to fix. And because they operate on very low voltage (usually fewer than 18 volts), their components are safe to handle even when connected. Diagnosing troubles is also easier, and having the power on allows you to check repair results instantly. Do not handle live doorbell components if you wear a pacemaker; even a small amount of electricity can disrupt its function. To determine the cause of a doobell problem, start by checking the pushbutton; it gets the most wear and also is subject to outdoor conditions. The problem is almost certainly the button if the doorbell works sporadically, or if another button elsewhere in the system operates the bell satisfactorily. To test a doorbell pushbutton, unscrew it from the wall, disconnect both wires connected to it and rub their bared ends together. If the bell rings, the button is faulty.
Replacing a faulty pushbutton is a quick and simple remedy. But you may be able to repair it instead by cleaning the terminals with fine-grit sandpaper and renewing the connections by clipping off the dirty wire ends and baring new ones about a half-inch long. Twist the strands that make up the wires and reconnect them to the terminals by wrapping each wire clockwise around the base of its terminal screw. Then tighten the screws. If testing the button fails to operate the bell, disconnect and twist both wires together - this will free you from making repeated trips to press the button - and go to the transformer. This device alters the household current that supplies it, transforming it into low-voltage current that passes to the doorbell. The transformer is a rectangular block of metal and fiber about 3 inches long, 2 inches wide and an inch thick. The thin wires leading to the doorbell are attached to it. In many homes, the transformer is fastened to the outside of the service panel, the metal cabinet containing the circuit-breakers or fuses.
Another common location is on a junction box in the basement or attic. If you cannot find the transformer, find the doorbell wiring and follow it. Examine the transformer for obvious damage. Then hold a screwdriver across the terminals to which the doorbell wires are attached, or touch them simultaneously with a homemade jumper wire, and watch for a weak spark. If you do not see a spark, check for a tripped circuit-breaker or blown fuse governing the household circuit that supplies the transformer. Restore power to the circuit if the device has tripped or blown; if the device is working, trip or remove it to shut off power to the circuit. Then check the connections between the circuit wires and transformer. Before examining these connections, try operating a light or appliance connected to the same circuit to make sure that the power is off. Then open the junction box to which the transformer is attached. Also, make sure that all connections are tight by removing and replacing the threaded plastic caps, called wire nuts, that splice the wires together.
If the transformer is attached inside the service panel, perform all the other tests mentioned below. Then have a licensed electrician check the connections, unless you know how to open and work inside the service panel. If you see even the slightest spark, the transformer is working. Clean and renew the wiring connections at the transformer; if the bell does not ring, either the bell or the wiring is at fault. To check the bell, or if pushing the button produces a hum or other strange noise inside the bell unit mounted on the wall, remove the unit's cover and look inside. Clean out any dust or lint with a cotton swab or a vacuum cleaner. Most doorbells are actually chimes, which produce more than one tone and operate only once each time the button is pushed. With chimes, a spring should be visible on each of the pistons that strike the tone bars next to them. If any springs are missing, search the unit for them; if you cannot find them, obtain replacements at a hardware or electronic supply store.
Lubricate the parts with powdered graphite or silicone spray, but do not use oil. Then renew and tighten the wiring connections. If the bell still does not work, look for a weak spark while touching with a screwdriver or jumper wire any pair of terminals that includes the one marked ''Tr'' (wire connected to the ''Tr'' terminal leads back to the transformer.) If you see a spark, the bell unit is defective and needs replacing or professional repair. If you do not see a spark, the wiring is probably faulty. To confirm this, disconnect the bell unit, take it to the transformer and reconnect it with jumper wires directly to the transformer terminals. The bell should ring. Faulty wires can be mended by splicing new sections to them, but tracing the wiring to find damaged areas is tedious. In most cases, replacing all the wiring is the easest solution. Problems also can result when an old-fashioned doorbell or buzzer is replaced by chimes, when chimes and one of the older devices are combined, when additional chimes are added to a system already installed or when a system involves an extraordinary amount of wire.