Long reply warning. Your situation intrigued me and a lot of questions I’ve been reading about have all somewhat “clicked” for me as possible explanation that may benefit the masses. I’m sorry, but bear with me.
Though there are reports of the VDB Duo working with mechanical chime without the chime controller (my own report earlier in this thread included), I am confident this results in a continuous power being provided to the the house chime in addition to the VDB Duo. Together, this could be enough power draw to not provide enough juice to the VDB Duo to both supply it’s own operation, and charge circuits to battery. Why am I confident in the continuous power to house chime without chime controller? Because the VDB Duo to take power from the hot wire, has to pass the current down the other wire, which closes the circuit through the solenoid actuator (mechanical house chime) or electronic circuit (digital house chime). If you remove the Wyze doorbell and put a mechanical doorbell, it is merely closing a circuit to provide power.
Further evidence: there have been reports of people who have the VDB V2 or VDB Duo without the chime controller installed hearing phantom low volume dings in their house chime when the camera detects motion, (or, in my case, when it turns on/off IR Lights - not consistently, sometimes), or a low hum from their mechanical chime. The low hum is the mechanical chime solenoid/coil getting a low level of constant power and is partially deployed. Constant power as it is part of the “closing the circuit” with the camera. This partial deployment could explain a faint ding people may hear when camera detects motion or uses IR lights. Lights turn on/off, camera records, etc, creates a slight voltage/amp draw change in the camera, which causes a slight “ripple” to the mechanical house chime. The house chime solenoids are not absolute in positioning, they are a bit springy in nature, so a change in the deployment of the plunger position could be springy enough (in either direction) to create slight contact with the actual bell, creating in the faint “ding” reported. Some may not experience this soft ding without the chime controller if the physical distance isn’t as great, or if the the voltage ripple (also impacted by resistance in the solenoid, the doorbell wiring size/length) doesn’t produce enough movement in the solenoid. Some may not hear the hum because of age/type/design of solenoid, or individual hearing sensitivities. However, I’d bet if you got right up next to it, anyone using a solenoid chime without the chime controller will likely hear a faint hum when camera installed. Others with a “digital” house chime (no solenoid or plunger) have reported that without chime controller, their digital chime wouldn’t play the whole doorbell song (also reported with people with under-powered transformers with DB pro, VDB v2). This is likely due to the complexity of digital circuits, and the design of digital doorbells. Sustained power draw by digital doorbells throughout the ring cycle could be greater than total voltage available upon doorbell activation (remember and the power available is diminished downstream of doorbell). Further, some with not enough juice by their transformer have seen their doorbells crash and reset (VDB 2) when the chime is rung. The “ripples” i have mentioned can also create back current and cause digital chime circuits to reset/stop, which can also explain incomplete digital chime sequence. My theory here is the same, not enough power to split between the two devices.
So, where does that leave us? the Chime Controller. Many are asking why it’s needed if the house doorbell CAN work without it. Given what I have explained above, and my moderate understanding of electrical circuits, I believe that the chime controller serves a few purposes. 1) Surge protection device as officially stated by Wyze. 2) It absolutely prevents power from going to the house chime all the time - therefore eliminates the constant “hum” and faint “dings” that are a result of a partially deployed solenoid (which indicates and requires constant power to be partially deployed), and also could prevent weird behavior of digital house chimes due to nature of integrated circuits inside. 3) Diverts power to the house chime ONLY when doorbell button is pressed, doorbell does not reset when pressed (VDB 2 - non battery version has a capacitor/circuit to ensure it keeps running without battery) 4) Ensures enough power is going to doorbell to operate/charge on regular basis by preventing constant power share between house chime and doorbell.
How does this all work? Chime Controller has 3 wires, The Red wire is taking power from transformer, the black wire is passing this to the video doorbell. Video doorbell completes it’s circuit to have regular power via the other wire at doorbell that goes directly to transformer. This is commonly a white wire (depicted as green house wire in Wyze diagram). The WHITE wire in the Chime Controller ties to the “front” terminal on house chime. When the doorbell button is pressed, the doorbell creates a power ripple (not sure if it is an increase or decrease in draw) or some other signal to the Chime Controller Back down the black wire, which activates a circuit in the chime controller to close a contact between the black and white wire on chime controller, which then momentarily closes the circuit through the house chime. This works because the power is constantly flowing through doorbell to the neutral of the transformer. - Wait, it creates a “ripple” or some other signal for the chime controller? - Yes, remember you must activate the type of house chime you’re using, and if you’re using it. That setting likely causes some pre-determined ripple or signal, and also would create a length of time setting that the chime controller would need to provide power from black wire to white wire (digital chimes may have a long jingle sequence and require power longer than a mechanical chime to just activate the plunger quickly).
Now, what about people who have tried every wiring combination and can’t get the chime controller to work (reported on VDB V2). Not sure on this one, but my theory (without testing or speaking with anyone who experienced this) is that potentially the house wiring from transformer is flip flopped - the wire that should be HOT may be Neutral (think flipping black/red - polarity is reversed). In the days of mechanical and digital chimes, polarity wasn’t necessary critical, But when using a chime controller that has smarter circuits and potentially logic gates, polarity does matter.
Now, If I could find time to physically test and photograph/video all of this, I might be able to put to bed lots of questions about chime controller and help people troubleshoot.
TLDR 3 - Chime Controller is best to ensure proper voltage to doorbell, ensuring proper charging, not wear out existing house chime, and protect circuit from power spikes. You may be able to use your house chime without it, but it might not work for you. Wyze would be silly to ever officially support that.
Thanks for all who have read this far. I’m hoping this may spark some healthy buzz on that matter (no pun intended).
