Indoor chime intermittent

[JCM464]

I have wired first gen doorbell cam since 2018. I recently noticed the indoor chime stopped working intermittently and I was no longer getting notifications on the Nest app. The video, sound, internet connections and all other functions are working fine. The indoor chime would work only after pushing the doorbell button several times and then stop again until I pushed it a few more times. Seems like it only would chime after every fourth time the button was pushed. When it would chime, it still would not send a notification to the Nest app. When I turn off the indoor chime function on the Nest app, the doorbell chimes outside (but not on the indoor chime) and I get a notification on the Nest app. I checked all the wiring on the puck, transformer and mechanical indoor chime and they are intact and correct. It's very strange.

[MplsCustomer · Accepted solution]

@JCM464 

Is your doorbell also going offline whenever the doorbell button is pressed?

If so, it is possible that the small internal battery (which is not documented) in your 1st gen Nest Hello Doorbell has failed. The purpose of the internal battery is to power the doorbell camera during the instant when the doorbell button is pressed and power needs to be diverted to ring your indoor doorbell chime.

The internal battery has now failed in succession over the years on all three of our Nest Hellos. The workaround is to turn off the "Indoor chime" option and rely instead on notifications on your phone(s) via the Nest app and "Visitor announcements" on your Nest Hubs and Nest Minis (https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7672451). That's what we've done.

Here's a locked thread on the subject, with over 1,000 replies:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Nest-Hello-Doorbell-cuts-out-when-butto...

[JCM464]

No, it does not go offline when doorbell is pressed. When chime on option is enabled there is just no sound from indoor chime or notification on app.. When chime setting is off in app, when doorbell is pushed there is no indoor chime but only sound outside and notification on the app.

[MplsCustomer]

@JCM464 

It might be your chime connector, but I don't know why that would also affect notifications in the Nest app.

Since you're well past the warranty period (it was 2 years in years past, but is now only 1 year), you could turn off "Indoor chime", turn on "Visitor announcements", and get a Nest Mini or Nest Hub as we have.