Nest doorbell (wired) mechanical chime buzz only when cold

[lschwarcz]

I've had a Ring doorbell for a while with a mechanical inside chime. I just switched everything to Nest (Google) and my doorbell (wired) 2nd gen has been working fine until this morning when the temperature dropped to about 25 degrees F.

This morning I heard a buzzing sound from the inside chime (ordinary mechanical doorbell chime) and when I removed the cover I could see one of the plungers was oscillating up/down. 

As it warmed up to a balmy 39 degrees F it stopped. I was not right next to the chime so I don't know the exact temperature where it stopped the buzzing. 

I tried contacting Google help via chat but the agent I got didn't really know the product well and was following their troubleshooting flowchart and could not stray away from the ordered steps. 

I have not installed the Chime Puck. Everything has been working fine until this cold morning. From what I've read, if I needed the Chime Puck it would not be temperature sensitive. I would need it all the time or never. But, I could be wrong! 😁

So, any suggestions or ideas to try? The doorbell is less than a month old so I can still exchange it at the store.

Thanks!
Larry.

[MplsCustomer]

@lschwarcz 

Google Nest insists the "chime puck" is needed for the doorbell, provides continuous power to the camera, and can cause buzzing and other problems with your chime if it is not installed.

We've had "chime connectors" on our two older Nest Hello doorbells for years with no problems.

Note that other customers have reported problems with the "chime pucks" on the new doorbell, and have had to get them replaced.

[lschwarcz]

Just a quick update. I checked have 18 volts so it's within range.

Today is below freezing (22 degrees F) and am having the same issue as before. 

I could easily install the Chime Puck but am worried that this may help at this temperature but if we have an even colder day still have the trouble. 

I'm still thinking this could be a defective unit that has this issue at colder temps. 

Any other ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!

Larry.

[MplsCustomer]

@lschwarcz 

I'm just another Google Nest customer, and we have the older "chime connectors" for our older Nest Hellos, so I don't know whether the ABSENCE of the "chime puck" for the 2nd Gen Google Nest Doorbell causes more problems when the weather is cold. I also don't know whether the newer doorbell should be able to function just fine without the "chime puck" that Google Nest says is part of the installation, but it does seem odd that the doorbell would function without it.

Our Nest Hellos function fine with their "chime connectors" in cold weather (it hit -10 degrees Fahrenheit this morning).

[lschwarcz]

I just installed the Chime Puck (just two wires to install) and the buzzing has stopped. So for now it's working fine and only time will tell if there's some issue with the doorbell in freezing weather (much colder than 22 F).

Thanks!

Larry.

[Brad]

Hi there,

Thank you for your patience, and sorry to hear that you're experiencing this. I know that keeping your Nest devices charged is very important, and I would love to help you out. Thank you to all those who have shared their feedback or troubleshooting steps here. When it comes to keeping your Nest Doorbell (battery) or Nest Cam (battery) up and running, here are some articles and troubleshooting guides for the best charging practices:

• This is a great article on general charging times for your devices.
• This helpful article tells you how to save the battery with your doorbell or camera.
• And this last article, will go over charging expectations when you may live in a cooler/colder environment which will address charging temperatures, etc.

I hope those articles help shed some light on charging and maintaining battery levels of your Nest doorbell or camera. Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Best regards,

Brad

[lschwarcz]

Hi Brad,

Thanks for the input but this is not a battery doorbell. It's hard wired so charging isn't an issue.

Larry.

[lschwarcz]

Latest update: 

When I installed the Chime Puck everything worked fine except for my indoor doorbell. It no longer worked. 

I ended up removing the device in the Google Home app and reinstalled it then everything finally worked! 

Odd behavior. I guess this is a good doorbell, just not a great doorbell 🙁.

Thanks!

Larry.

[janthadeus]

Hey lschwarcz,

Awesome, you did a great job! We hear you — rest assured that we'll take note of it. We'll ensure that we'll learn from your experience as we continually improve our products and services. As we got our resolution here, I'm going to mark this thread as resolved. I'll be locking this thread if we won't hear back from you again in 24 hours. Should that happen, feel free to create a new one if you have more questions or have other concerns in the future. 

Thanks for the help here, MplsCustomer and Brad.

Best,

JT