Video doorbell and your existing chime: what works

Why a video doorbell can upset a chime

An old doorbell was a switch: press the button and 16 volts or so flowed through the chime, which rang. A video doorbell has a camera and a Wi-Fi radio that need power all day, so it draws a small current continuously. That current flows through the same wires, and the chime is part of the circuit. Some chimes ignore it. Others hum, ring weakly, ring all the time or ring by themselves.

Two parts of your setup decide the outcome: the type of chime and the transformer that powers it.

Step 1: Identify your chime

Turn off power at the breaker, then take the cover off the chime box (often near the hallway or living room ceiling or on a wall). Look inside:

• Mechanical chime. You see two metal pistons (plungers) aimed at metal bars or a strike plate. The sound is a physical ding-dong.
• Electronic (digital) chime. You see a circuit board and a speaker, with no moving parts. The cover often does not come off. The sound is a tone or melody.
• No chime at all, or a chime elsewhere. Some homes have a buzzer in the garage or a chime that plays through a home audio system.

Also count the wires on the chime terminals. Most simple chimes have two or three: “front”, “trans” (transformer) and sometimes “rear”. A chime with more than three wires, one that connects to a gate, an intercom or a second chime, is a job for a professional. One maker’s troubleshooting guide says to contact a professional if your chime has more than three wires, and notes constant ringing is often a sign of miswiring in complex chimes.

Step 2: Check the transformer

The chime can only work as well as the transformer behind it. Many video doorbells ask for roughly 16–24 V AC and at least 10 VA, and one maker specifies 16–24 V AC and 10–40 VA for its wired doorbell, adding that a blinking yellow light means it is not getting enough power. Use the video doorbell transformer check with the label on your transformer, and turn power off at the breaker before opening anything.

Step 3: Pick the fix for your symptom

Chime kits, power kits and bypass

Makers sell three kinds of helper, and the name differs by brand:

• Chime connector. A small module placed across the chime terminals so a digital chime rings properly. Check which generation your doorbell needs: one maker’s older connector is not compatible with its newer two-wire doorbells.
• Power kit. Adds capacity or filters the current so the doorbell gets steady power. One maker requires its power kit for some wired models.
• Bypass. Removes the old chime from the circuit so the doorbell runs without it, and you hear presses through a wireless chime, the app or a smart speaker instead. After a bypass, set the in-app chime type to “none”, as the maker’s instructions say, or the doorbell may try to ring a chime that is no longer there.

Whichever you use, follow the diagram for your exact doorbell, turn off the breaker, and hire a licensed electrician if you are not comfortable with the wiring.

Houses with more than one chime

Two chimes, a chime plus a gate or intercom, or a chime in the garage make things harder. Follow the maker’s diagram for where the connector goes, and expect that the other chime may not ring or may ring differently. If the wiring is shared with an intercom, stop and call a professional. The simplest alternative is to bypass the old system and use a plug-in wireless chime in each place where you want to hear it.

When to give up on the wired chime

If the chime hums, the transformer is weak or the wiring is old and tangled, a bypass plus a wireless chime is a legitimate answer. A video doorbell without wiring avoids the problem altogether. See wired vs battery to weigh the trade-offs.