My father was an industrial electrician and taught me to always scrape conductors first then twist them together tightly before adding the wire nut. BTW, it's a good idea to check tightness on all the screws and nuts when you're in a box.
I am surprised that you didn't use the shut off switch for the furnace instead of mounting the transformer inside of the AC blower housing. That could confuse the next HVAC guy that services the HVAC unit. Hope you tagged it well. Thanks for the video.
This video rocks! Glad I found your channel because I started to watch the video on sub panels. You really explain this doorbell process way better than others. Some are very good but your video is the best! Thank you very much! 😎👍👍🙏🙏
17:30 what you should do: pretwist the solid conductors with some broad nose pliers like lineman pliers. take the stranded conductor, twist them together and then with your fingers, twist the stranded wires along with the other solid conductors, and then put the wire nut on. Imo, you should always pretwist wires when using wire nuts anyway so this is just an easy way to get solid connections every time without fail.
We ended up exchanging this model for the slimmer version ru-vid.comUgkx0jZ_lGlDVJhDnmagEU8gn47cmfPNlLQU because it was too wide for the only door trim area that made sense to mount it on. However, we should have just noted the dimensions prior to purchasing. Otherwise, we love the doorbell. It works perfectly, and the video is very clear, even at night.
What about the doorbells' chime? Those 3 you installed probably ring the owner's phone, but what about ringing the audible chime for the rest of the household?
Great instructions and video! You do a really great job walking through everything. I've been doing some minor electrical work at home and I'm preparing to install a Google Nest Doorbell and plan to tap into the light switch on the inside next to the door. I don't want to open up the wall more than just to feed the wire through. Can you put a transformer in a 2-gang light switch box? Or could I run the bell wire up to my exterior porch lights and tap in there? Thanks again!
Lovely video !! Question : I have a pair of 3 way switches (2 brass, 1 silver & 1 green) controlling 8 LED lights for my carport. One switch from the sub-panel hot in the carport, to the lights and also connected to the other 3 way switch at the front door to my mobile home. This switch at the front door is in a box holding the 3 way switch and a 110 v 20 amp duplex outlet. The electrician hooked it up where either switch controls the lights, but, the outlet is only hot when switch at the sub-panel (carport) is in the on position ? If I turn the switch off at the sub-panel, the switch at the front door can still turn the LED's on but there is no power to the outlet there , no matter that switch on or off. Again, when the switch in the carport is off, there will never be power to the outlet at the front door switch ?? I guess the problem is between the front door switch and the duplex outlet in that box ? CAN YOU HELP ?? Thanks for your generous consideration, Sincerely ................. Steph
Three-way switching hookups require that one switch receives the power for the light circuit to go to only one switch attaching to the dark screw. The two silver screws have two wires called travelers that come from switch number one over to switch number two. They attach to the two silver screws on both one and number two switches. Switch number two the wire going to the lights is attached to the dark screw on switch number. If your outlet is hooked up on switch number two it can not receive constant power through the switching from switch number one where the power for the light circuit comes from. the remedy is getting constant power with a neutral from a different source. It can be confusing the trick is locating the constant power that's not being switched. I hope this helps you. I am not much of a teacher. I'm just a do-it-get-it-done guy. who must play by the rules. I had this person just learning electricity as a student in an apprentice class. Had no working experience removing a 4-way switch at one door that was bad and needed to be replaced. I tested and tagged the bad switch for replacement. There were 2 large bays and 6 doors in this commercial building. The owner didn't want to pay me to replace it. He said I'll let my niece who is learning to be an Electrician to replace it. Then he said to me. What could go wrong its just a switch? LOL, Well, she removed the switch put the new switch in, and mixed up the two sets of travelers. Then went and removed two other switches and did the same thing. They had a mess and I didn't have time to play clean-up Yes it was just a switch. Until Oh No Oh No what the heck happened LOL. Be safe be carefull
Three way switches can get pretty complicated really fast if wiring gets mixed up. If you disconnect all six wires (carefully noting where each one goes), then turn power back on, only one should be hot. There then remains a load wire that goes to the light and four travelers. Always easy to mess a 3 way or 4 way circuit up if you’re not careful. Good luck!
As someone who fixes this kind of stuff. A lot of camera doorbells get replaced because they lose power when the homeowner turns off the furnace switch in the spring and fall. Because the homeowner doesn't know that their door bell is powered by the HVAC circuit.
Unfortunately my low voltage wiring from the mechanical room that runs upstairs to the front doorbell is not working. Is there a tester I could use to verify if it's a low voltage wiring fault? I do have an backup AC to DC converter I could use, but would prefer to do the dedicated low voltage setup.
Code violation- 422.12 Central Heating Equipment. Central heating equipment other than fixed electric space-heating equip- ment shall be supplied by an individual branch circuit. Exception No. 1: Auxiliary equipment, such as a pump, valve, humidifier, or electrostatic air cleaner directly asso- ciated with the heating equipment, shall be permitted to be connected to the same branch circuit. Exception No. 2: Permanently connected air-conditioning equipment shall be permitted to be connected to the same branch circuit.
So you're saying that since we added a transformer that supplies the doorbells inside of the HVAC equipment it technically is in violation? Thanks for pointing this out. Maybe I'll make a follow up video explaining this.
@@BenjaminSahlstrom Correct. The exceptions do not list equipment other than related to HVAC. If the equipment were shut down for an extended repair the security cam would be useless.
17:36 wirenut for solid & stranded conductors never a good choice ... 30 years ago when i learned in school always pretwist soldid copper wire and then wire nut . In the last 20 years not 1 electrician is using them anymore .. WAGO 221 lever style is the way to go if you want to connect solid conductors with fine stranded conductors .
I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving the transformer exposed next to a switch like that When people enter and reach for the switch they might touch the connections It’s low voltage but still can shock you
Please please please do not get the Nest Doorbell. Mine no longer works when the button is pressed, it resets, rendering it useless. It's a very common problem, and Google refuses to remedy. GET A RING DOORBELL.
Do not get anything like this! The police can gain access to this without your permission! Even all the recordings from it. And then use it against you. And it's legal for them to do it!!
Nice video. As DB said pretwist is better than hoping the wire nut will twist the wires together securely. The on going pretwist vs wire nut twist argument but you can always use wago 221 to securely join stranded and solid wires together.
So to confirm, if you’re not installing a physical chime, you can skip adding the white chime connecters that come in the box? It was my suspicion but all the info I found said you “can’t” so I wasn’t sure. I have 2 (front and side door) nest doorbell cams getting wired to one transformer (which I need to install into a pre-existing junction box) and it’ll save me so much time and wiring mess if I can just skip the chime connectors! We don’t mind no physical chime box anyways as we prefer silenced alert options (dogs barking, kids sleeping, etc) and we use the Google nest minis to alert us so I don’t feel like it’s worth it to install a chime if I can skip that. Super helpful video btw! Our house was built in 1948, the doorbells were wired to a BUS chime (like, actually designed for a public transit bus, 70s time frame from the research I did - not much info available on them at all) that are battery operated, but have the option to be hooked up to an 8v transformer. Took me embarrassingly too long to realize there was no transformer 🤦🏼♂️ everyone I asked looked at me like I was dumb bc “there has to be a transformer somewhere” but nope, traced the wires all the way through the attic right to the doorbell buttons and they were connected straight to the bus chime and only worked when the batteries were in it. Absolutely wild design 🤣 but I’ll take it over the last house we installed them on. Built in ‘52, horrid wiring. Shocked it hasn’t burned down. Over 20 (no, not exaggerating) unlabeled LOOSE wires were behind the chime box and it was a nightmare trying to figure out which ones had power, which ones ran to each door (front & back) and capping them all off safely lol
HELP!!! I have 5 AFCI out of 9 that are instantly tripping after a power surge. The 4 that are still "good" (active) are divided between the two circuits. How can I test to see if I have defective/blown AFCIs?
Yes, a code violation. alteration of UL-listed equipment is not permitted. This is why all equipment is tested before receiving its certification and UL- listing. As to ensure it is safe as to its original engineering and use. something bad happens. it all comes back on you. Sorry just because it worked does not mean it's right.
@@BenjaminSahlstrom The doorbell and cameras are not an accessory for the HVAC equipment and should not be tapping into its dedicated circuit. Humidifiers are an accessory for furnaces and are listed for that use. and can use that dedicated circuit. External equipment non-HVAC can not tap into that dedicated circuit. I would use a convenient power source such as a Duplex receptacle or light circuit that is not a Signage circuit or an emergency light circuit for EM lights and exit signs.. A+ grade. > finding the path to run your low voltage wire
@@claytonfite3197 Makes sense I suppose. I wasn't aware that the rule also applied to low voltage so for some reason I thought it really didn't matter. Isn't the NEC primarily focused on main line voltage? Thanks for taking the time to explain this.
I have doorbell wiring that I have abandoned for many reasons but never could find the transformer powering them anywhere, now I am thinking it might be in my A/C. I can finally de-energize those capped 24v wires in my wall.
