Knock, knock: how to fix doorbells
Question No. 1
My husband and I live here in Canyon Country and between the two of us, we are slightly handy.
We are on a fixed income and after 20 years of living in a home that is now 35 years old, the doorbell finally quit working.
My husband replaced the button but that didn’t fix the problem. He replaced the door chime and still, that didn’t fix it. So, now we have a new doorbell chime, and new button and a non-working doorbell. I’m guessing that the issue is in the two small wires that operate this, but we need guideance, as we are not in a position to hire an electrician to come out and do this for us.
Is there a way that you can help by telling us what to look for or to change?
Geraldine L.
Answer No. 1
Geraldine, you have a couple of options. There is an aftermarket doorbell device that has a battery operated transmitter that sits outside, as the doorbell. Seeing the photos of your home, I’m not sure that you’d be pleased with the look of this, aesthetically.
The other option is for you to troubleshoot this by locating the step down transformer that goes from 110 volts down to 16 volts. This is a little square power supply that you will likely find in your garage or linen closet, somewhere out of the way. Mine is in a coat closet, for instance. Find this online for reference, and it’s likely this device that has quit on you. Be careful with this, there is high voltage in there so you absolutely need to shut off the breaker that controls this. If you have zero experience, I recommend that you shut down all power to your home and then you won’t have to worry.
There is a small tester that you can purchase, it will confirm that no power is going to this area, prior to you beginning any work. Be sure your power is off and proceed with changing the old for a new, re connecting it just as the previous was disconnected. It is highly likely that this is your issue. Good luck and take your time, proceed with caution.
Question No. 2
I’m a condo manager out in Burbank, but my daughter lives in Santa Clarita and tells me that you answer contracting questions. We had all fire doors replaced to each unit in our building and subsequent to that, the fire department was in for a tour and asked for the labels to the fire doors for their fire rating.
I was not inclined to ask in the moment but would like to know, where do I find this label? Is it on the bottom of the door? I have no idea what they’re talking about with this label thing, please help. These are wooden front doors that take you into the units and the exterior of the door is the common area corridor which is a fire rated corridors.
What do I need to do?
Mike A.
Answer #2
Mike, you’ll find these stickers on the hinge side of the door. These will be about three inches long with rounded corners and either nailed or riveted on, depending on the type of door.
The label states the burn rate of the particular door which is referring to how long it would take for fire to get through the door. It also states the manufacturer of the door, and other pertinent information.
I’m surprised that a fire inspector needed to ask you about this, I’ve never heard of this before. I can tell you that if there is not a label present, then this is not a labeled door and you have cause for concern. I recommend that due to liability with fire, that you check on this information immediately and act on it, contacting your installer,
If the labels are missing. They’ve either removed them which should never be done, or they did not install the proper doors. Good luck with this, please handle this immediately.