A few days ago I installed my Amcrest Doorbell. I have a mechanical chime with a 8V/1A transformer.
I noticed that the "magnetic pin" that hits the metallic plates on the left and right, is twitchy. It keeps moving and it's making a noise. I also noticed that in the night the noise gets worst.
My guess is that the transformer is not powerful enough to power the Amcrest doorbell and the effects are worst at night when the infrared sensors need power also.
Do you have any recommendations on which chime to buy, that will provide enough power to the amcrest doorbell?
Are there any other alternatives, like purchasing a separate transformer? And which one?
What is the purpose of the chime part that came in the box with the amcrest doorbell? I never installed it
This thread https://amcrest.com/forum/ip-cameras-f1 ... 5-s10.html and in particular Revo2Maxx's final post should help you I think. It's a question which keeps coming up in the forum and you'll find lots of other threads on similar lines.
My AMCREST Cameras:-
2 x IP3M-941B firmware V2.620.00AC00.3.R, Build Date: 2019-12-18
1 x IP2M-841B firmware V2.420.AC00.18.R, Build Date: 2019-08-03
First and Foremost THE BOX called the CHIME BOX is 100% needed in all installs with or without a Doorbell/Chime installed on a home... It will one Protect your Camera and 2 the rest of things connected to your system...
THE AMCREST CHIME BOX IS NEEDED 100%...
Transformer that is bought with a doorbell for the home in most cases will be to small for the Amcrest Camera to work at night...
16vac 30va is a Minimum requirement... People don't understand that is what is said will work in Min... So if you have a Doorbell in the house that came with a 20va power supply and on the box of the doorbell says it needs 20va that 30va Min isn't going to work buy a 50va.... If your Doorbell says it needs a 10va min then buy a 40va for the doorbell and camera to work....
VA is not the same as VAC... Vac is the Voltage that is on the Secondary side of the Transformer 110vac or 120vac comes into the transformer and goes though loads of turns around a Ferrite core. This is then stepped down to a voltage that is thought of as Low Voltage... (Shouldn't Kill you) and is running around the house to make things work that need that power like Alarm systems, Doorbell systems and such... VA is the same as WATTS and is kind of the same as AMPS of the system VA=Volt Amps... So on the Min it is said that you need a 30va 16vac transformer that would translate into 1.875 or 1.88amps So next mistake someone makes is thinking that they can get a 24vac 20 or 30va and it will be fine and sadly this isn't the case.. on a 24vac transformer the Min would now be 45va and is the same as 1.875 or 1.88amps if you will... Again this is MIN... So if you find a doorbell that says it needs a 20va 24vac power supply you would need a min of 65va for things to work well...
Next issue that I find and people like to disagree with but I can tell you that WIRING matters... Lets think about a Normal doorbell system... Everything is wired up and there is a button that is at the front or back door.. Press the button is causing the system to finish the flow of power to make the door bell ring.. However the time someone pushes the Doorbell is very short and power is not going over the wires for very long... However now you install a Doorbell Camera in that line of wiring that requires 1.88amps to work. That means the distance of the wiring and the size of the wiring has to be enough to handle the CONSTANT VOLTAGE that is pass though the wires...
OK tell you what.. I can't go on a Shopping spree for you... But this is what I will do... I just hooked up a Friend of mine that was having some issue and to prove to him that the issues was related to his Power supply and doorbell I went and bought and or Brought a few things.. 1 I bought a new chime.. the one he had was old a well just old... But he had a 30va power that he just bought and told me he didn't need a new one...
Installed it on his home in the same spot his old cough (Old) one was and his camera came to life and pushing the button at the camera work the chime YAY not... I told him it wouldn't work at night in IR-B/W he said sure it would... The next day he asked me to prove it wasn't bad.. So I took him my 16vac 40va Power supply and connected to his setup and told him give that a go.. If it was going to die that night I would be wrong and he could ask for a RMA or get better Tech Support because I am just a Electronics Geek... lol... The next day he asked me ok I proved my point and where can he get this Transformer... I was no going to sell him that one.. It is not one I can get anymore and has more value then money to me... So I pointed him to a few online.. He used mine while he waited for his...
Now the issue.. That doorbell that I sent link too says it wants a 10va or 15va transformer so how could a 30va MIN be enough without issue well it can't unless your going to run your system day and night in Color...
So I am not going to promote any store and the Big box store was where I got his Chime from so that is why I provided a link but the Transformer you want you can buy a Honeywell branded Plug in one. Or a Hammond Transformer are 2 that I will say I have tested and both work within Specs... Please note the plug in one don't connect to a Cord make it a wall socket connection the Hammond one is a Transformer and both are within same price range where I got mine from.. There are others out there... Also don't buy a 24vac 40va power supply for that chime in the link as it is 16vac and the 40va in 24vac would be under power anyway....
Yes that is good 2.727272 amp so it should be good enough to power without issue... However I did find one that was marked 16.5vac that didn't have any power over 16.5vac so the power drop could be more then others out there I would test it for Voltage and see if it gives you first something like 18vac to start with if only 16.5 then it might be over distance the drop might be more then what could make the camera work so keep that in mind as well...
Well I am glad they offer a list of used items tested working.. However there is so many things that are lacking in the results for what is working or not... Infact I have a friend that I helped for a good day try and track down an issue with one that is on the list.. Couldn't get it to work..
So for me I wish I was Rich and I would go and buy them all that I could find and setup a system for testing out 16vac and 24vac for ones that will use both under what load and the Distance between unit, transformer and camera because sadly there are a lot of things that go between. So in my Testing I would setup, 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100ft and test out different cases.. Then they said they work but did the hook them up and test them Day time or have some timed test where it was in working placement over a period of time? Did it go to Night IR in B/W or was it only ran in day time? Was the test done with 16ga wire, 18ga, 20ga, 22ga or some other? I have a 100watt 24vac transformer that translates into 4.1+amps and I am sure under any of the ones listed that works in 24vac that will power the camera and bell without issue but if you were to take the same setup and put on a 16vac 30va they may not work... Now if that list stated Everything that is Check in the list as OK works with a 16vac 30va Transformer then I would be ok there is a Benchmark... I can tell you that there are some out there that would be on a list of won't work and that is because without a Relay it wouldn't I have installed 2 on a Nu Tone system that I was able to get to work where someone told my Friend it couldn't be done without replacing this Nu Tone system and that isn't true I have it working along with his System only needed a Relay.. I could have used a Cheaper Relay and used it with a Bridge Rectifier but we went with a AC relay...
