topic Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi... in Cameras and Doorbells

2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chiming

brennanrusnell — Tue, 09 May 2023 16:36:34 GMT

Hi,

I recently installed 2, 2nd Gen Wired Nest Doorbells. When doing this, I upgraded my transformer to a 16VAC/30VA model (Heath Zenith 16VAC/30VA Transformer). My home had existing wired doorbells. Each floor (upper and lower level) has its own mechanical chime box and each existing doorbell was installed using the "front" connector. After upgrading the transformer and installing the Nest Doorbells, I am left with this setup:

Doorbell Setup

The front doorbell works perfectly, including the triggering of the mechanical chime. Unfortunately, the rear doorbell RARELY makes a chime noise. I have been able to trigger the rear chime box by changing the Google Home app settings (iOS) to think that I have an electronic chime (again, I don't). When this happens, I was able to get a full chime about 1/10 times. When I switch the app back to NOT having an electronic chime, I can see the chime "pin" (the metal piece that creates the chime noise) moving, but it isn't moving enough to create a strong noise.

With this in mind, do I need to upgrade to a 40VA transformer? Could it be the wiring? If the front works fine, should I expect the rear to work as well (without any further changes)?

Thanks in advance!

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chimin

MplsCustomer — Tue, 09 May 2023 18:05:10 GMT

@brennanrusnell

Do you have the "chime pucks" connected to each chime, as shown in the first diagram here?

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/12153643

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chimin

brennanrusnell — Tue, 09 May 2023 18:09:45 GMT

Hi, yes I do. Sorry I didn’t include those in my drawing.

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chimin

MplsCustomer — Tue, 09 May 2023 18:14:02 GMT

@brennanrusnell

I don't know whether a 40VA transformer would help or not. I suppose you could try. There are numerous posts in this forum from customers upgrading to a 16V 30VA transformer to get ONE 2nd Gen Google Nest Doorbell working.

Another possibility is that several customers in this forum have reported problems with their "chime puck" being defective.

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chimin

brennanrusnell — Tue, 09 May 2023 18:15:04 GMT

Here are some photos of my setup (prior to installing the Nest Doorbells and upgraded Transformer):

Chime Box: https://imgur.com/a/sCDk0aX
Transformer: https://imgur.com/a/CRuqqvp

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chimin

MplsCustomer — Tue, 09 May 2023 18:16:12 GMT

@brennanrusnell

I assume you have the "chime puck" tucked away out of site.

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chimin

brennanrusnell — Tue, 09 May 2023 18:19:01 GMT

Great idea. I could swap chime pucks to see if that helps. If it does, then I can reach out for a replacement.

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

EdmondB — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 00:48:01 GMT

Hello brennanrusnell,

Checking in — did you try to swap the two chime pucks for your Nest doorbell? If so, how did it go? Let me know if you need more help.

I appreciate the help, @MplsCustomer.

Thanks,
EdmondB

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

EmersonB — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 15:02:14 GMT

Hey everyone,

@brennanrusnell, I'm dropping by to ensure that everything is covered here. How's it going with your Nest Doorbell? We would appreciate it if you could share the information we're asking above. In case you have an update, you know where to find us.

Thanks for answering, EdmondB and MplsCustomer.

Regards,
Emerson

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

EmersonB — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 15:51:16 GMT

Hi brennanrusnell,

Just one final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, we would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let us know.

Best,
Emerson

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

brennanrusnell — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 19:55:31 GMT

Hi,

Things have been slow here, but I am still not getting everything out of my doorbells. To summarize, here's my setup and where I'm at:

I have a 2 floor house and a chime box on each floor. I upgraded my transformer to 16VAC/30VA model.

The top floor doorbell works fine. The bottom doorbell triggers the chime box maybe once every 10 attempts. Everything else works fine - it maintains the video feed and sends notifications to my phone when it detects something. It's just the chime box itself. Fortunately, the bottom doorbell isn't used all that often, but it would still be nice to have both doorbells functioning as advertised.

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

brennanrusnell — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 19:56:06 GMT

Please keep active, as per the reply I just wrote a moment ago.

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

EmersonB — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 22:39:02 GMT

Hello brennanrusnell,

Thanks for getting back to us. You need a transformer that is rated for 16-24 V AC, 10-40 VA to provide enough power to your Nest Doorbell. If you've already installed your Nest Doorbell and you see a blinking yellow light on the front, your Nest Doorbell isn't receiving enough power. To confirm, were you able to swap the chime connectors? Have you gone through other troubleshooting steps? Looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Emerson

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

EmersonB — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 21:30:20 GMT

Hey brennanrusnell,

I wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let me know if you are still having any concerns or questions from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Thanks,

Emerson

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

brennanrusnell — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 00:16:22 GMT

Hi, thank you for offering to help. It will take some time to test things here as I have young children and testing doorbells in the evening (after work) can be difficult when they are trying to sleep. I wasn't able to try anything this past weekend, but I should be able to try a few things this coming weekend (July 8-9). Thanks again 🙂

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

Lance_L — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 21:44:19 GMT

Hi folks,

@brennanrusnell, buzzing in — do you still need our help? Don't hesitate to reach back if you do.

I appreciate your help, MplsCustomer, Edmond, and Emerson.

Best,

Lance

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

brennanrusnell — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 03:32:27 GMT

Thank you for reaching out. My plan is to make another pass on things this weekend (July 22/23).

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

Lance_L — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 03:43:23 GMT

Hey brennanrusnell,

Sounds like a plan! Let me know if you still have any further questions.

Regards,

Lance

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

EmersonB — Sat, 22 Jul 2023 04:44:39 GMT

Hello everyone

@brennanrusnell, we wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of assistance. In case you have an update, you know where to find us.

Thanks for answering, Lance.

Best,

Emerson

Re: 2 Nest Doorbells; 2 Mechanical Chime Boxes (16VAC/30VA); 1 Transformer: Rear Doorbell Not Chi...

brennanrusnell — Sat, 22 Jul 2023 21:22:30 GMT

Hi,

I finally found time for this. I removed the puck from the bottom chime box and it works 100% of the time now. I’ll try using the upstairs puck, on the downstairs chime box, to see what happens.

Again, the upstairs chime box has been working fine. It’s the bottom that’s been problematic.