Ring Doorbell question

bluesa1

Established Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
220
Reaction score
3
Points
98
Location
Exmouth. Devon
I have just purchased a 2nd Generation Ring Doorbell and have decided to hardwire it.

Ring themselves do a plug-In transformer but they are out of stock and they have no idea when they will be getting any in. I have looked on Amazon but they are quoting 2 to 4 months delivery which is too much.

Apparently I need an 8-24 VAC 50mA 40VA Max 50/60 Hz Transformer. I am wondering if anyone can recommend a particular brand of this type please. I'd rather be sure that I am getting a decent one that will last, rather than a cheapie that might burn out after not much use.

I don't necessarily want a plug in one, I'm more than happy to link it into the circuit with an appropriate fuse.

Many thanks.
 
I use this one to hardwire the Ring wired doorbell. As I was tapping into a lighting circuit, I had to home the transformer in this. Transformer cost is the same but the Rail Din seems to have more then doubled in price. As thats simply a plastic housing unit, I think any cheap one will be sufficient. Did the job just fine and the doorbell is reporting good voltage from the transformer in the health section of the app. Only 3 months in though

Hope that helps but happy to clarify anypoint
 
Thank you for this info vu5ter, I'm a little confused, in the product details it says "suitable cable size 16mm2.
Also my consumer unit is a long way from my front door and so I intend fixing the transformer in my loft just above the front door (bungalow) and then tapping into an existing cable with a fused spur. this should be OK shouldn't it?

It is also interesting that Ring quote what is needed in regard to a compatible transformer,
i.e. it must be 8-24VAC 50Ma 40VAmax 50/60Hz but, when you look at the products available none of them seem to give that much detail of the product they are selling. Is it just the 8-24 V that I need to be concerned with or is the rest of it important too?

Thanks again for your help.
 
Last edited:
I'm not a sparkie so please don't take my advice as gospel - just a keen DIY'er and comfortable with my way around an electrical circuit. For power into the transformer (via a fused spur) I used 1.5mm which I had lying around. From transformer to the Ring, I used the existing doorbell wire which was similar to this. You will need a housing unit to mount the transformer into (as you are not running it from the consumer unit and you can't mount the transformer on its own). This will do the job and pretty intuitive once you have it in hand. For the wiring from doorbell to transformer connect one end to 0v and the other to 12v. As I understand it, polarity on the transformer is not important so it doesn't specify live and neutral on the transformer for power in.
 
Further question please.

Is it possible/safe to use 2amp multi-strand speaker wire in place of genuine bell wire?

The reason for asking is that I have plenty of it!

Thank you
 
Sorry! Another question. I am running the bell cable up the outside wall into the loft where I have installed the transformer. The wall has been rendered, if I run an angle grinder blade down the wall to create a slot for the cable and then fill it with exterior Polyfiller and paint it, will the filler have any effect on the cable, does anyone have any thoughts on this?
I don't really want to make a large channel in the wall to take some trunking, just enough width and depth to take the cable would be ideal.

thanks again.
 
I use a 240 to 24v 1.25a 30w LED driver, on a fused spur from the hall lightswitch.

The app shows power supply healthy as excellent, and capable of running in excess of the Ring Pro 2 requirements.
 
Hello again folks, I have installed the transformer for my Ring Doorbell and everything seems to be fine but, how can I tell if the doorbell is actually running off the transformer rather than the in-built battery. I suppose that if I leave it long enough then the battery will run down and will need to be charged again. Surely there must be a way to tell that it is running off the mains (transformer) but nothing different is appearing on my dashboard.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.
 
Have you checked the device health on the ring app? This will tell you battery %
 
Hi gg13533,The battery is showing as 80% full at the moment but as I said in my original post, I'm not sure if the bell is running on the battery which was fully charged when i put it back on the wall after fitting the transformer or, if it is now working with the power from the transformer.

Mary Whitehouse, I'm not sure that it is that easy to remove the battery. When the unit is off the wall you can't actually see it.

I might need to get in touch with Ring on this.
 
Apologies. Misread the manual. See you have to remove whole doorbell to charge! Must be a way to remove though as they sell replacement batteries.
Can you just return and buy the hardwire version for much less? I installed mine the other day with a (non Ring) plug in transformer and it was very easy.
 
Last edited:

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom