# Fire risk from doorbell transformer?



## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

Is the transformer mounted to an electrical box? It should be since it has 120 volt connection on one side of it.


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## dmxtothemax (Oct 26, 2010)

waydownyonder59 said:


> Hi folks. In the house I've been living in for the last few years, one of the two doorbell units stopped working. The older unit is a circular buzzer type which still works. The newer one is a Friedland 8va chime, which has kind of given up the ghost. I did some digging and buried under 8 inches of loft insulation (yes you read that right!) I found a very hot transformer with an output of 8v 1amp, and found eventually after some head-scratching and tracing of doorbell wires, that the two units were wired in series. I've now raised the transformer clear of the insulation and mounted it on a timber batten (with a few mms air gap underneath courtesy of rubber grommets) and wired the two units in parallel. The doorbell units now both work and the transformer is now warm rather than worryingly hot. Will I get away with this, or is there a fire risk from overloading the transformer? (I figured it was a serious fire risk whilst it was buried under the insulation...)


Do both of the bells/buzzers have spec plates on them ?
These should tell you how much power they use.
Are the push buttons illuminated ?
1 amp seams a little low for two bells.
But how often do both get used together.


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## waydownyonder59 (Jun 3, 2016)

There's only one push button and it's not illuminated. The newer chime has a rating that says 8-16v AC, 8v.... . The older circular buzzer I' would have to take off the wall, I can't see anything on the front of it, but combined with the chime I'm guessing it's a greater load than the transformer can supply. They both go off together when the button is pressed and they do both work. What's the transformer likely to do if it's overloaded, though?


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## dmxtothemax (Oct 26, 2010)

if there is no iluminated button then there should be no power used
until the button is pressed, therefore the tranny should not be getting warm
is it a warm enviroment ?
Long term the tranny will eventually burn out or go open circuit.
I would be looking for at least a two amp tranny
That's 8v @ 16w.


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## waydownyonder59 (Jun 3, 2016)

dmxtothemax said:


> if there is no iluminated button then there should be no power used
> until the button is pressed, therefore the tranny should not be getting warm
> is it a warm enviroment ?
> Long term the tranny will eventually burn out or go open circuit.
> ...


Surely there's perpetual current in the primary coil? It had been trapped under 8 inches of fibreglass insulation until I liberated it. But thanks for the tip - looks like a new tranny is in order.


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## waydownyonder59 (Jun 3, 2016)

In the short term though, will I get away with this, in parallel?

 

bearing in mind that I found it here, wired in series... I had to fold back two 100mm layers of insulation to find it!


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