I NEED HELP!!! ARRGHHH!
 

I was in a home improvement mood today when I went to Lowes. I purchased, among other things, a new doorbell button. My previous doorbell button had actually fallen out, but you could still push the springs and the thing would ring.

Well, when I unscrewed the old button unit, I carefully took note that there were four wires, red, black, green, and yellow, however, only the black and red wires were hooked to the old unit. One on each side.

So, when I installed the new unit, of course it doesn't work. :banghead:
Now I am wondering what I did wrong. Any ideas?

The problem , no doubt, is related to the fact that you are a woman. Women can't fix things. Touch the wires together in different combinations until the bell rings. Then attach those wires to the new doorbell. I'm sensing a Kodak moment.

Forget which wires you think were hooked up to the old doorbell.

Take each wire from the 4 and touch the bare portion to every other wire.

When the doorbell starts chiming, you've found your 2 wires. Ignore the other two. Hook it up to your new doorbell and test it. A doorbell is an open circuit. When you push the button, you're closing the circuit.

Easiest thing in the world.

1. How many wires come out of the house itself?
2. What do the instructions for the new button say each wire on it corresponds to?

I'm guessing that, if you have four wires on the new button, it probably lights up.

You know what? Screw you. My car also broke down in the middle of 5:00 traffic on a busy street today. My brake caliper bolt broke, and my car "locked up". I have had a crappy, crappy, day. The only thing you have to worry about is who is going to pull up your TED hose (medical types will appreciate that one). I am a brave independent woman who isn't afraid to take on the world!




(realizing I truly need a man around occasionally, I am shutting up now)

Oh, and I should clarify, this is aimed at Skip for his sexist remark.

Joke about pushing Jenny's button in

5... 4.... 3...

Who me? :shrug: Why don't you leave the doorbell alone? I'll just knock.

As a backup plan if you get nothing from the wires buy a battery powered wireless doorbell.

Unless I'm missing something, you got the two wires (red and black) backwards. Reverse them.

And, as a good rule of thumb, ALWAYS make a diagram (or take a digital picture) of the existing wire connections before removing them.

We've all done it, Jenny. At least you weren't working on 120 AC and got them backwards. I have, many times, and it was rather shocking.

Well...none of the wires make the damn thing chime now. So who knows. Another project gone awry. Doesn't surprise me at all.

I also recaulked my bathroom shower unit today. That's another story in itself.

I am going to go shoot myself now.

Hahahahaha. Good one.

If pushing the button did nothing, then reversing them will probably do nothing either. As Phobes said, the button is most likely a ground interrupt, which is non-directional.
Find out what's coming out of the house and what the wires on your new unit correspond to, and report back.

You'll prolly screw that up too.

First off, don't shoot yourself.

Second off, if no combo makes it ring, before you throw everything in the trash, first make sure you didn't touch the wires together when disassembling the old button, and blew the fuse.

And BTW - whatever is between you, your caulk, and your shower is between you, your caulk and your shower.

There are GFIs on doorbell ringers?

Hey Baby, if all that fails, go to walmart, buy a wireless, put the batteries in and mount it !

Do you know how to put the batteries in ?


What about the mounting part ?

We are here to help ! :)

Nope, the power is transformed down to 12v. Ain't no way they would put 120v to the doorbell.

Not a GFI, just a ground interrupt. A break between the power and ground that is closed when the bell is depressed. That break can be closed in either direction.

Did you try Phob's advice? I think he explained it well...

See, this is why household electrical wiring and I don't mix.

My old house in KC didn't have any ground wires; only hot and neutral, I think you call it. I can't remember how many times I shocked myself. The worst was when I put in a new light by the door while it was raining.

Then again, I once mistakenly put a wrench over the terminals of a car battery while I had the wrench in my hand. That was unpleasant.

What kind of language is this? Manspeak?

Just make sure you don't take the splatum to ground. That can ruin the zork.

If you'd like, we could find a volunteer to stand outside your door and chime when someone approaches.

I bet Skip will do it.

I think I understand the shower threads now.

Shhhh, honey. Men are talking.

Isn't that just a switch?

Sure, except a switch is semi-permanent. Flip on, stays on. Flip off, stays off.

But my point was, it's non-directional, so changing leads 1-for-1 isn't gonna change anything.

Appreciated. ROFL

Must ... resist ... making .... rude ... comment ... ROFL

A door chime is a "momentary switch." Gotcha.

I know you are a feminist, and I think that is adorable! But, this is grown-up time now, and there are males around.












:p

Where did Jenny go? I wasn't through making fun of her.

Ok. At the risk of more "equipped with vagina=low IQ" comments, if a fuse had been blown, would anything else in the house be affected?

Probably. Do you have breakers or fuses?

Depends on what the fuse is connected to but most likey, yes. I mean, what kind of idiot rigs a doorbell to it's own fuse?

Probablly. Depends on what is hooked into the circuit with that fuse.




And nobody here thinks your vagina has a low IQ. Well, most of us, anyway. :D

Possibly, but not necessarily. Go to the fuse/breaker box and see if any of the switches are facing the opposite way from the rest. Also, look and see if they are labelled.

I can fix doorbells.

I appreciate all the help. I could call my dad. He is an electrician, however, that would mean him rushing over to check on things. I can do without that.

I appreciate all of the comments. Except for Skip and Endelt. You guys suck. :shake: :p

http://mycollectiblesonline.com/sign...0allen%201.jpg

You only need two wires for a doorbell, reguardless if it's lighted or not. I'm not an electrician, HOWEVER I have installed a few doorbells and never saw any of them with four wires (normally two wires of the same color).

Ahh...you know you like it.

Hmmmmmmm......red, black, green, and yellow, huh? Sounds to me like you're installing a doorbell to your phone jack. Try that little button by the front door instead.... :p

Seriously though, all you need is two of the wires. Check to make sure a breaker hasn't tripped, then try the same two wires you started with. You can't install them backwards, so don't worry about which wire goes to which side. As long as you have the two wires to complete the circuit is all that matters.

You would more than likely burn the house down. Stick to de-tassling.

ROFL

Speaking of "love"...I refuse to wash your sheets anymore. Too much work.

:spock:

Can anyone explain to me why my IE windows no longer open up to any website???? It says something like link cannot be found. But my internet works perfectly fine on netscape. Any clues?

download FireFox. All you're problems will be solved

Will that help my IE?

no it will kill your IE. Just like your IE deserves.

ROFL

ROFL the kid has a point.

I like my IE.

JUST GIVE ME SOME HELP FOR GODSSAKES!!! I DON'T NEED ANY NERDS TELLING ME I SHOULD GET FIREASS32987549843275.398!! (NEW VERSION! LAH-DEE-FREAKING-DAH!) INSTEAD!! YES, I'M TALKING TO YOU DAVID. TRYING TO ACT COOL WITH YOUR GIRLS SIG!! Loser.

IT WAS FUNNY :mad:

CRIPPLE FIGHT

thought I'd beat everyone else to it.

FIREASS32987549843275.398 is teh R0x0r.

Sadly, that is not surprising.


He gave you the best advice for fixing your browser that you will find: kill it.

I don't deal well with change. I get all nervous and feel little tumors in my legs.

Time to step out of the comfort zone.

tumors? ew. ROFL

All kidding aside though... Firefox is super easy to download and use. Couldn't be more simple... and you'll have a lot less problems.

I'm a computer moron, and I didn't have a bit of trouble.

Ya know, today I was thinking about the world and everything. There has to be a God. We aren't just bits of matter. I'm convinced that there's a Heaven.

Anyway, just wanted to share that. And also, I've realized that I'm most spiritual during football practice. Today, I thought about how it would be okay to devote my life to God. Be a monk in some hillside in some small country. That was in the middle of practice.

haha, I just thought about how my legs hurt during football practice. You must be a lineman.

Yeah. Good ol lineman.

Anyway, I'll see this Firefox whatever. It better be simple. No goofy gimmicky crap on the bars and everything. If I don't like it, I'm suing. Or I'll just whine to myself.

lineman get all the time to sit around and think :harumph: They made us DB's run :(

If you can't figure it out, I'll be shocked. And there's nothing "gimmicky" about it. There are extentions you can add later, if you choose. (Some really cool ones) But the browser itself it's about as simple as it could be.

No, no, no, no, no. The times have changed. Linemen are all about quickness and techinque now.

If your breaker / fuse isn't blown you may need to have the transformer checked with a volt meter. Make sure it isn't fried.

What Phobia said sounds right, but if his instructions don't work, check the breaker and then the transformer.














or have a man take care of it. (just being one of the boys......)

Tumors? Could you possibly mean tremors? I had a guy tell me he had little baby dogs on his legs. (whelps) I think he meant welts.

If it's not like netscape, I'll be happy at that.

Ha, it's been a year.

Oh ROFL

Well, you just came from a goofy program then.

Just a little tip here. You don't need a voltmeter to tell if a transformer is blown. Just smell it. They smell burnt and it's quite obvious.

Yep, good point.

I was just trying to giver her a little more techno man talk though....