Thank you for this. I've got the exact same M&S unit. I did what you stated and have the correct voltage (AC) at the doorbell but I have not connected it yet. In the Ring manual for the Doorbell Gen 2, they state "If wiring directly to a doorbell transformer, connect a 25 ohm, 50W wirewound resistor in series with one of the doorbell wires to protect your Ring Doorbell." Do you think this is necessary for the M&S transformer?
@ohanmarkarian I think it would be an extra step to protect your doorbell but not necessary. If your doorbell does short out, though, then it could damage the transformer without this resister.
I will try it and see what happens. All 3 run back to the master so it should work out ok. Thank you for your video and you quick reply. Do you have a regular email address???
Very useful as I have the same M&S mc602 unit. My question is, I’m considering adding a Google Nest 2nd gen wired doorbell and their installation mentions a nest chime connector. Any changes to the install step?
@@aureliosr7009 I believe the chime is wireless and works off Bluetooth. That's what the echo version does. Do you know? Mine just hooks into a regular outlet near the door.
Have an older but similar system and this video was exactly what I was looking for to bypass the power to a new smart doorbell. Really appreciate the detailed explanation!
Thanks for the video. I have the exact same unit you used in the demonstration so this was really helpful. My question is around the doorbell out front. What do I do with the other two wires that were attached to the speaker that I removed? And also, does that mean I don’t need the Pro Power battery that came with the Ring doorbell because normally it is attached to the inside doorbell unit, which in this case I don’t have because of the intercom head unit that is used instead. Any help is appreciated. Thanks much!
@@BrendaKoskey you can tuck the other two wires back. Just arap them around the main wire... maybe place some electrical tape or wire nuts over the end. The pro power battery is not needed when you have an AC power supply. I use an Amazon echo as my ringer now for when the doorbell is pushed.
Unfortunately my intercom system connects from head unit to all room intercom devices with a RJ45 Ethernet cable. Hoped to find instructions on how to achieve the same result.
Ethernet carries power but I am unsure how much and if it's DC or AC (assuming DC). If you have a multimeter you could check... should be 5 to 6 wires in there.
@Unifiedavsolutions-tjb I don't see why not. Will depend on how much voltage drop you get and how much "overhead" you have left. Dont pigtail from one camera to the next. Let them have their own source.
Excellent video. My home has an old M&S N350 system. I’m trying to wire a Wyze wired doorbell to replace the existing M&S doorbell. However, there’s no schematic inside the main box. There is a sticker that says “Chime plug” pointing to a small plug on the board itself with 4 wires. There’s also a larger plug similar to the one you show that’s fixed to the wall that has the 6 ports but only 4 wires (2 yellow wires, one black and one green; the green appears to be a ground wire). I presume I need to use the larger plug like the one in your video but unsure which wires to use given that two are yellow. Any suggestions?
@koziolrj if you have a multimeter, you can probe several wires until you find the combination that gives you at least 16 volts AC. It's an inexpensive tool and has many uses.
I bought an altimeter (got it based on your red in the video). I will give that a try & check back if I have more questions. I figured the wire color didn’t matter too much but wasn’t sure if I was missing something.
@koziolrj yea. Once you hit the right combo and it stays consistent, you will know you have current. If the reading shows negative, then that just means your red probe is on the ground and your black probe is on the positive. I don't think polarity matters with these doorbells, but just in case, it's good to know.
I think it would be possible to place a relay between the AC voltage source and the smart doorbell so that when the button is pressed, the signal that is produced closes a set of contacts that grounds out the comm pin and the ringer pin on the chime circuit board momentarily. You have to find what amount of voltage pulse was sent from the camera first in order to match it up with the correct size relay switch... which I believe is out of most people's abilities. I did t even care to do it myself as I have a smart ringer that detects the button push. Alternately, you could get a doorbell ringerfromm the store and gut it and place the insides in the interior panel box and feed the120 volts throughh it to the smart doorbell... this way it will ring a bell I side without the need for a digital/smart ringer.
Yea, you could connect all the wires that go to each room the way it is set up in this video. May take some creativity with the connection, and I suppose it would drop some amps with the extra resistance. If you need higher volts you could use the AC transformer that's buried in the wall but you'd need larger wires ran to the rooms capable of handling the higher voltage. It really depends on what you need.
Thanks for the very detailed video. I have been trying to find a suitable video for over 4 years now and this is the first one that describes that process in a simple manner. Quick question: I have the M&S system wherein the sticker in the transformer shows the following: 24VAC, 40VA, PINS 1-3 CT PIN2 GROUND PIN 5 When I connect the two wires to PINS 1 and 3, it gives 48 VAC. Alternatively, if I connect PINS 1 and 2, I get 24 VAC. Should I connect PINS 1 and 2 in my case for the Ring Doorbell to work?
Thanks this worked for powering the Ring Pro doorbell but I was hoping it will ring the speakers/chime inside each room like it used to for M&S intercom.
I initially set out to do the same. My wife really liked the old chime. I think the deciding factor was that the old chime ran off DC voltage and the ring doorbell needed AC and it just wasn't compatible.
This video was exactly what i needed! Did as you suggested and now my doorbell works as designed. You saved me a major headache with trying to trouble shoot this on my own.
Great video and appreciate all the hard work you put into making this video. You mentioned the original chime will not work once the video doorbell is wired up. How do I get the chime to work then? I have a relative who needs their Nutone replaced with a Ring Doorbell that will get wired up. The house is very big, so the chime needs to be functional as well. Thank you again!
@vicdhillon7723 I use several echo dots, and they are programmed to chime with the ring doorbell. The original chime works off DC voltage and relies on the wires to touch briefly to cause the chime. You could just use two of the wires in that wire harness to run the ring doorbell (and connect it to the AC power as shown) and then just use the factory dc doorbell button affixed to the housing cover of the new doorbell. This would, of course, require somebody to press both doorbells. I think the first option I mentioned is best.
I wished I had seen this video before I bought a solar panel for my ring door bell. this is the exact system i have in my house thank you for step by step information. it was not mentioned if it chimes when we press the door bell
Thank you. The original chime will no longer work since the chime circuit board runs off DC voltage, and the smart doorbells are all AC. We use an Amazon Echo to now do our chime and it works nice.
Just a thought for a wired chime. As I re-did some of the rooms in my house I removed the intercom in the upstairs hallway. Before i patched the hole I pulled the wire to the top of the wall and put a small hole to pull the intercom wire through. I did that so I could figure out how to put a future chime there. Your video now helped me figure out how to get power to the ring cam. Now what I will do is behind the unit, put one power wire to that intercom wire running upstairs to power the chime. A corresponding color of the intercom wire will be placed on the chime and that color down behind the unit will go on the transformer to complete the circuit. It should work and now have a powered chime
@JimSchu cool idea. Make sure if there is 120 volts of power in the wall thst there is access somehow. This is so it can be code compliant. If it's all low voltage wire then it's ok but if it's like mine, the low voltage transformer is getting 120 volts from a direct feed from a nearby outlet.
Hi, I was looking into this and it seems like you might need a resistor or something in line with the transformer to keep the transformer from shorting when the ring video doorbell is pressed. Not 100% sure but i believe when the button is pressed it momentarily shorts across its leads to activate an existing doorbell chime. In this case there is none. Rings website suggests using a resistor or power kit in bypass mode when directly connecting to transformer power. Thoughts? Also there is an example on rings blog of using a normally open relay in series that will close when pressing the ring button to activate the old chime. FYI
On this intercom system, the whole thing runs off DC voltage, and nearly all the smart doorbells run off AC voltage. The 4 wires that run from the head unit to the existing doorbell setup are 2 DC wires for the chime and then 2 speaker wires. The chime cirrcuit board itself in the head unit is actually the only part that is DC. I found that the rest of the headunit runs off low voltage AC. This is how I was able to "steal" power from another part and use it for the smart cameras.
I guess my initial comment was meant to verify that you don't damage your m&s system transformer by powering a ring doorbell directly without a resistor in series. Depending on the model of the ring doorbell it may act as a dead short when the button on the ring doorbell is pressed, regardless if the old chime is used or not. Might just want to verify if all models of the ring doorbell should be directly connected to the transformer at the intercom master head unit. Want to make sure no electrical hazards are created.
@@JesseBialas Only 1st and 2nd gen onbes require a 25Ohm wire wound resistor when connected directly to the transformer. The gen 3 or later versions has app based advance setting that by default do not create a short circuit when button is pressed and there is no chime in the circuit loop (only transformer), that is the setup of this video.
Check the pins that you selected from the head unit harness and make sure they have the correct voltage. I noticed the first set of pins I used had fluctuating voltage so I had to choose another set. Also check that all connections are secure.
@@JackofAllTrades1 Thanks, I'll give that a shot and check back! So it doesn't have to be the two pins that you used? Did you used the provided transformer at all?
Thanks for the info. Trying tomorrow. Didn’t see another video or the outdoor install. I have 4 wires outside to connect to the ring doorbell and only 2 connections available. The outdoor wires had two connected to the button and two connected to the speaker. Old home and it’s all part of the intercom system. Have red, black, yellow, and green wires. Seems the yellow and green are the ones attached to the back panel inside the transformer box. Love to hear your suggestions
Hey Andrew, you only need two wires and can pick which ones you use. Essentially the ones that are currently connected to the indoor chime (at the head unit) will be the easiest to find but you can use any combo of the 4 as long as 2 are hooked to the doorbell and those same exact two are hooked to the AC power on the inside head unit (like the video shows). Hope this helps.
The video was perfect. My wife ordered a ring system and I had no idea how to connect it to our intercom. You made it simple and easy, and I didn't fry anything in the system. Thanks!
There gonna be some voltage drop but maybe not a ton. I don't see why not. If you are near the bottom of the threshold, you may not have enough left to do more than one, but you won't really know until you take some readings.
You only need those power kits if you don't have this setup in the video to power it. If you follow the tutorial here than you can just use the existing wires from the old intercom system and won't use the power kit at all.
Worked for about a week and now remains in an offline state. I’m able to reset it and it will reconnect sometimes momentarily… Not sure why the doorbell will seem to be powered on but not connect. Has to be a power issue, right?
Will it connect to the wifi? I actually have the same issue with mine right now. I switched from a Blink doorbell to a Eeufy last week and I suspect that I grounded out the two wires by accident and overloaded the transformer. If you are handy at all, I will tell you how to check it. I may make a new video on this issue.
@@JackofAllTrades1 it’s very strange…when I reset it it will start providing motion notifications but when you go to select the camera it will state it’s offline and recommend I need to purchase a WiFi extender which isn’t the problem. I have multiple ring floodlights around the house alongside of the ring base station security system etc and they all connect to WiFi no issue. Curious if you have a workaround. Otherwise I guess it’s time to opt for a battery version :(
@blakejohnsoncsr I suspect your transformer in your head unit is likely shot. You can turn your breaker for it off and pull it out and see if the two fuses are blown... they are located in the plastic housings on either side of the transformer. A simple doorbell transformer from Lowes, ($20) would replace it if needed and can run the doorbell. Have you put a multimeter up to the leads to see if you are getting enough power? Usually has to be at least 16 volts AC.
Great video. Are you connecting the intercom systems chime so it rings when new video doorbell is pressed? I am connecting an Arlo power kit to my M&S intercom system and want the intercom chime to ring (as it formerly chimed) when the new video doorbell is pressed.
Unfortunately that's not possible with this method. I wanted to maintain our chime as well because my wife really liked it, but it's not an easy task at all. Connection to any of the old chime wires with this new setup only causes it to ring constantly.
@@JackofAllTrades1Thanks. I will quit down that path then. I also bought an Echo Show 8 for video display. Looks like I can add a skill to make it chime (after wiring the camera)
@@JackofAllTrades1 It maybe possible with a diode and a resistor that is sized right so above certain current draw of the AC circuit the DC chime is activated. Note that rign gen 3 has internal diode that can be activated when configured that you have a digital chime, so external diode is not needed
I tried it and the bell rings continuously. I think you may be able to get away with doing that and having a solenoid in between so thats its just a brief connection but it can't be continuous.
Ok so I found my yellow and orange wire. I have an M&S intercom system. What now? Do those 2 wires power my new ring 2 pro? Ok so if it’s powered how will I hear doorbell if the existing chime is unused now?
You could get a smart chime. For example, my Amazon echo will chime for my doorbell if I set up a routine for it to. You could also wire in an actual doorbell using the power from the intercom transformer and those orange and yellow wires. The reason you can't use your existing chime is because it's a speaker run off DC voltage in your head unit and your Ring 2 pro requires AC voltage to work.
Thanks for your help. I used the red and black wire from the outdoor doorbell speaker and connected those to the 16 volt pins because the weren’t connected to anything in the intercom system instead of the orange and yellow. Is that ok? Do I just connect those to my ring camera now? They are reading 17.5 volts outside now.
@@b717 honestly if you can mount your ring in a way that it sits above the existing button on the outdoor plate. You could power your ring and maintain the current doorbell. You just have to make sure the rd and black wires get AC voltage and hook them to the ring.
Ok cool, it is powered now. So in order to use the old chime and the existing doorbell button, wouldn’t people have to press both buttons? Or is ring activated by motion? I just got this and have no idea how it even works yet.
If you have a multi meter, then you could test the voltage coming out of the harness, test different wires. If you don't then pick a red and black wire and use them. The voltage is really low so if the two wires you pick don't work, then try two other wires. It's best to have a multimeter though... they are useful for a lot of other projects. Thanks for commenting.
@Mauria Pombo you could remove that whole head unit facing and just leave that transformer in there to power the wires. Like remove the facing and drywall over it. You would just need to leave an access cover to the transformer for it to pass code.
@Mauria Pombo awesome man, I'm glad I could help. It makes my day knowing I can help others. Please consider subscribing, it helps the channel reach others.
