Hello,
My house has two mechanical chimes. I've just purchased an AD410 because its product description says it "is compatible with existing traditional mechanical and electronic digital chimes". However, when I install it and its chime module, it will faintly ring the first mechanical chime while the second one just buzzes/hums for a long time.
Is the AD410 and its module for mechanical chimes compatible with two mechanical chimes?
(If not, I'll return it promptly and get a competitor that is compatible.)
Thank you,
Ari
AD410 with two mechanical chimes
Re: AD410 with two mechanical chimes
Welcome to the Forum.
Sorry to hear about the issues you are having. There are people that have stated they have connected the doorbell to more then 1 chime without the need of a relay or some other magic. However then there are people that even with 1 doorbell connected have had issue with both of the issues your having while trying to use 2..
In truth, there is a lot of things going on where I think some are making claims that are just not 100% true, I see so many people that are removing the doorbell chime indoors because of the issues related to the chimes. Not all of them being Amcrest as they don't hold the market share in these doorbell cameras.
So there is a lot of issues when it comes to trying to connect 2 doorbell chimes to 1 camera and it really isn't some thing easy to explain in a forum post. However one of the biggest issues is Distance, cables, Transformer size along with so many other things..
In truth there is no doorbell camera out there that has been designed to work with 2 indoor chimes. Anyone that claims that isn't being 100% honest or has installed a system within an add on that could make that happen. However at this time out of the box I don't know any one company that has built the doorbell camera to work with 2 indoor chimes unless they are using Wireless only add ons..
Can it be done? Yes! However there will be another part that will need to be purchased. Then depending on the location of the second doorbell chime in truth a second power supply might also need to be used to make the doorbell camera and both indoor chimes happy about it..
So if it was me and I was trying to install a AD410 and 2 indoor chimes I would buy 2 things. I would buy a second power supply and a Relay.. I don't know where you are located. However there are some people that are using 8v doorbell chimes and claim to work with the doorbell cameras because the power supply is kind of some magic box that will provide more then 8v when it's needed.. I don't know how much of that is true so if you are in one of them areas that using some odd Voltage indoor chime then best to get a power supply just for the camera and leave the 8v one or 10v one for the indoor chimes as designed. Using that with a relay will make life simple.
Sorry to hear about the issues you are having. There are people that have stated they have connected the doorbell to more then 1 chime without the need of a relay or some other magic. However then there are people that even with 1 doorbell connected have had issue with both of the issues your having while trying to use 2..
In truth, there is a lot of things going on where I think some are making claims that are just not 100% true, I see so many people that are removing the doorbell chime indoors because of the issues related to the chimes. Not all of them being Amcrest as they don't hold the market share in these doorbell cameras.
So there is a lot of issues when it comes to trying to connect 2 doorbell chimes to 1 camera and it really isn't some thing easy to explain in a forum post. However one of the biggest issues is Distance, cables, Transformer size along with so many other things..
In truth there is no doorbell camera out there that has been designed to work with 2 indoor chimes. Anyone that claims that isn't being 100% honest or has installed a system within an add on that could make that happen. However at this time out of the box I don't know any one company that has built the doorbell camera to work with 2 indoor chimes unless they are using Wireless only add ons..
Can it be done? Yes! However there will be another part that will need to be purchased. Then depending on the location of the second doorbell chime in truth a second power supply might also need to be used to make the doorbell camera and both indoor chimes happy about it..
So if it was me and I was trying to install a AD410 and 2 indoor chimes I would buy 2 things. I would buy a second power supply and a Relay.. I don't know where you are located. However there are some people that are using 8v doorbell chimes and claim to work with the doorbell cameras because the power supply is kind of some magic box that will provide more then 8v when it's needed.. I don't know how much of that is true so if you are in one of them areas that using some odd Voltage indoor chime then best to get a power supply just for the camera and leave the 8v one or 10v one for the indoor chimes as designed. Using that with a relay will make life simple.
Be Safe.
Re: AD410 with two mechanical chimes
OK, it looks like my house had a couple issues that I had to address to get the AD410 working properly with two chimes.
1) My transformer was only 16V 10va. I replaced this with a 16V 30va transformer.
2) The electrician had wired the two doorbell chimes in series instead of in parallel. (I think they may have done this to get away with using two chimes on an underpowered transformer.) I traced and identified all the wires and re-connected them as transformer--button--chime in series, and then the second chime in parallel with the first chime.
So the correct way of wiring it appears to be like this:
One must install the chime kit before powering on the doorbell. Then select the mechanical chime option in the Amcrest smarthome app. Then one may test the doorbell button to ascertain whether the mechanical chimes work.
After making those changes my AD410 doorbell appears to work properly, ringing both indoor mechanical chimes.
1) My transformer was only 16V 10va. I replaced this with a 16V 30va transformer.
2) The electrician had wired the two doorbell chimes in series instead of in parallel. (I think they may have done this to get away with using two chimes on an underpowered transformer.) I traced and identified all the wires and re-connected them as transformer--button--chime in series, and then the second chime in parallel with the first chime.
So the correct way of wiring it appears to be like this:
- 2-chimes-one-doorbell.gif (81.64 KiB) Viewed 1303 times
After making those changes my AD410 doorbell appears to work properly, ringing both indoor mechanical chimes.
Re: AD410 with two mechanical chimes
Glad to hear you got it working. My guess is there might be some people out there with low current model doorbells that might be able to get this to work. I did put something together with 2 digital chimes in my Ad410 with out a relay. I am using a 45va supply on 18awg wire. Wire is only 10 feet so was going to make some changes with thinner wires and a 30va transformer. Test a little before posting my findings. Picked up 50 feet of 20awg yesterday just didn't get to changing it yet.
So I guess I don't have to worry about it anymore. Think fo others reading this need to keep in mind wire size and distance along as the op stated a transformer with enough power to reach both chimes. I think 2 10va chimes would be better then ones that require higher 20va or 30va. Not all chimes are equal
So I guess I don't have to worry about it anymore. Think fo others reading this need to keep in mind wire size and distance along as the op stated a transformer with enough power to reach both chimes. I think 2 10va chimes would be better then ones that require higher 20va or 30va. Not all chimes are equal
Be Safe.