Door bell chime buzzing

[wayned2nd]

When I tried to hard wire my arlo doorbell I get a buzzing/grinding sound from the chime. Any suggestions on how to correct this other than buying the arlo chime. Would really like to use my doorbell to keep it authentic.

[brh]

@wayned2nd

Try setting the switch to position 3. If it still buzzes, you might need to upgrade your transformer.

Brian

[wayned2nd]

Thanks I went ahead and brought the chime. Much easier than getting electrocuted, lol

[brh]

@wayned2nd

Agreed,

I have a Skybell video doorbell that I really like at my front door. My back door does not have any wires for a doorbell, so I am in a dilemma. The Skybell will work with certain chimes but I would prefer to go with Arlo. Unfortunately, the Arlo is not a video doorbell. Keep us informed as to how it works as I have a ton of questions.

Brian

[RichLevow]

There was supposed to have been a firmware fix to deal with this problem.

[brh]

Not sure they can fix this with firmware. This happens frequently on Skybell and Ring doorbells when the transformers are underpowered.

Brian

[RichLevow]

You wouldn't have gotten electrocuted.  It wouldn't have ended well for your existing chime though.

[Terminal3]

Had this happen when I first hooked mine up.  In my case it was because the wire on one side was stripped back way too far on the wires to the manual doorbell.  The lighting wasn't that great so I didin't notice as the wire color was similar to the insulation color due to oxidation.  After I hooked up the wires I went to the breaker box turned the breaker back on and as I passed the hallway where the chime was I heard this strange humming noise as you describe.  I ran back and turned off the breaker and when I opened it back up that is when I noticed what had happened.

So basically the wires were shorted.  

[RichLevow]

Glad that you found the issue and that the system is working properly.

[barbfrn]

I have the same problem it just keeps my current door bell buzzing, the arlo door bell is making a constant connection electrical somewhere in the doorbell. 

[RichLevow]

You've checked the position of the slide switch inside the doorbell? 

[barbfrn]

I moved the slider in all 3 positions and same buzzing

[barbfrn]

all 3 positions keep it buzzing , a constant electrical connection 

[RichLevow]

Looks like you've hit the "trifecta".  Some users reported that the buzzing was eliminated with one of the firmware updates.  Please check to see what firmware you are running on the base station and doorbell and let us know.

Thanks

Rich

[Bdoty]

Wired solution did not work. Replaced original house chime and transformer with same issue. Bypass troubleshooting and get Arlo chime. Very good audio level. Would have preferred wired solution but I don’t think it works, ever.

[Tomatera]

My Arlo doorbell is hard wired now to my existing low voltage door bell. With the switch in position 1 or 3 my existing door chime buzzes and remains activated.

in position 2 it just doesn’t activate the doorbell at all. My house is 15 years old. The Arlo updated the firmware on installation of the doorbell. So is there no solution short of buying the Arlo chime? 

There is nothing unique or unusual about my existing chime. I can’t seem find a proper solution  here without buying more Arlo products. I believe this is a defect so I guess back it goes. 

[Tomatera]

My Arlo doorbell is hard wired now to my existing low voltage door bell. With the switch in position 1 or 3 my existing door chime buzzes and remains activated.

in position 2 it just doesn’t activate the doorbell at all. My house is 15 years old. The Arlo updated the firmware on installation of the doorbell. So is there no solution short of buying the Arlo chime? 

There is nothing unique or unusual about my existing chime. I can’t seem find a proper solution  here without buying more Arlo products. I believe this is a defect so I guess back it goes. 

---

@RichLevow wrote:

Looks like you've hit the "trifecta".  Some users reported that the buzzing was eliminated with one of the firmware updates.  Please check to see what firmware you are running on the base station and doorbell and let us know.

Thanks

Rich

---

[RichLevow]

You can try getting another unit.  I'm not sure that it will solve the problem.  Various users have reported positive experiences with hardwiring while others have not.  This is a headscratcher.

[coleshawd]

Mine is doing the same exact thing with buzzing. Moved it to all 3 positions and didn’t work. Double checked wires and didn’t change anything. My digital chime is about 8-10 years old so should work. Havev’t checked wires on chime, but will do that next. Called Arlo support yesterday and they weren’t very helpful on a fix as with new products they haven’t seen everything for problems yet. This should have been tested better for sure. At the end of the call they were leaning towards a power or voltage issue on the wiring and current setup. But doesn’t really help provide what needs to change to fix it because new chime could do same thing it sounds like. Can’t reallt change wiring out. I really really would like to use existing chime and not have to buy another product. May be a deal breaker for me.. Hope there is a solution soon on this.

[brh]

@coleshawd

I am not sure which digital chimes work with Arlo and which ones don't. A mechanical doorbell chime that uses a transformer and a doorbell switch should work with no problems. Have you purchased the Arlo Chime and tried to use the doorbell just on battery power?

Brian

[RichLevow]

One would think that acutating a mechanical doorbell would be a simple task, but obviously not.  The digital chime is probably the best route.  That DOES work almost 100% of the time once properly installed.

[brh]

@RichLevow

The reason I mentioned that was that when I installed my Skybell video doorbell, there were all kinds of instructions, especially on transformers. Hooking up to a mechanical chime can be as simple as reconnecting the wires to the new doorbell to quite a frustrating experience if the voltages/amperages are not right.

Brian

[brh]

Here are some excerpts from the Skybell troubleshooting page that might be helpful, I replaced the word "Skybell" with the word "doorbell":

It is not the doorbell making the buzzing sound; what you hear is the transformer installed in your home. 
If your transformer is buzzing it means that your transformer isn't able to produce enough power for the doorbell.

The transformer must be providing 16v or greater in order to power the doorbell.

If you have a mechanical (ding-dong) chime occasionally, some of the older door chimes do not regulate the power/ current to the doorbell properly, which could cause a buzzing or humming noise. If you replace the door chime this issue will be resolved.

Brian

[RichLevow]

Interesting troubleshooting info.  One really has to wonder how hard it would be to have an "electronic" doorbell that has a separate set of internal contacts solely dedicated to activated ANY chime?  Yes, there are other things involved in the activation process, but the activation of an existing chime should ideally be relatively simple. 

[Lokie]

My Bell doesn’t work with my existing Chime also.

How difficult can it be to incorporate a simple switch to activate the chime when the button is pressed?

Looks like Arlo wants you to buy their chime for it to work, pretty pathetic.