Wired Doorbell options?

Cameras
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15

I just stumbled into this topic and have another thought. If I understand @fonzhende1’s current setup (and please correct me if I’m wrong), then you’re dealing with something like this:

  • Video Doorbell Pro at front door running off battery.
  • Wired “dumb” doorbell button still present at front door (next to Video Doorbell Pro) with wiring to chime intact.
  • Wired “dumb” doorbell button at back door connected to chime.
  • Maybe mechanical chime box with FRONT, TRANS, and REAR terminals?
  • Chime Pro plugged in near home’s built-in chime.

This is what I’d try before buying something else:

  1. Turn off doorbell power at the breaker.
  2. Attach the jump wire to the FRONT and TRANS terminals in the chime box. (I don’t see this listed in the What’s in the box section of Video Doorbell Pro’s product page, so I don’t know if it’s actually included or not, though the wired installation instructions mention it.)
    a. Attach one end of the jump wire to the TRANS terminal and use a wire nut to connect the other end of the jump wire to the wire you removed from the FRONT terminal. (Do this only if Step 2 fails.)
    b. Connect the wire you removed from the FRONT terminal directly to the TRANS terminal to bypass the chime in front and provide power directly to the Video Doorbell Pro. (Do this only if Step 2a fails OR if you don’t have the jump/fuse wire at all.)
  3. Remove the existing “dumb” doorbell button at front door and attach the wires from the wall to the terminals on back of Video Doorbell Pro. You can use the extension wires included with Video Doorbell Pro to help with this if you need more wire length.
  4. Turn on doorbell power at the breaker and test. If it doesn’t work after wiring the chime box per regular Step 2, then try Step 2a and/or Step 2b.

My standard disclaimer: I am not an electrician. I think this would work, though, and allow you continue to use your back doorbell (you’re leaving that wiring intact) along with powering your Video Doorbell Pro at the front door off your low-voltage AC (but not having that trigger the home’s built-in chime). It’s something that I think I’d be inclined to try in your situation, at least as I understand it.

I’d also want to know what the current transformer’s rating is, and even knowing that I’d test it myself with a multimeter. The transformer power might be your limiting factor if you’re trying to power two doorbell buttons off the same transformer and chime combination. I don’t know how much of a voltage drop you’d be expected to see with a press of the back doorbell button, but if you can operate the Video Doorbell Pro in a wired configuration and still have the battery installed, then maybe that’s not much of an issue.

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