RANDOM DOORBELL RINGING AT NIGHT
If you live in an established neighborhood with a bunch of
teenage boys, and you like to tease them, and the result of your verbal assault
on their intellect, or lack thereof, is that your doorbell often rings mysteriously
at all hours of the night, then I have got something for you.
THE MOTHER-IN-LAW EXCEPTION
I’m told that it also works when you see your mother-in-law
pulling into the driveway and you flip the switch to turn off the doorbell and
then run downstairs and hide in the basement and pretend that you are not home. To be clear, “I was told” that it
works for that, but I don’t have any personal experience in this area. The reason is that there is a note that my
wife put in my wallet, and she occasionally makes me take out and read to her. This note says that my mother-in-law is a
kind, caring, shy, and generous women, and that I should always treat her with
kindness and respect. So obviously the doorbell switch could never
be used on her.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Most
doorbells are low voltage and you can tell because the wires are tiny and thin like phone low voltage phone wiring. If for some odd reason your doorbell uses
larger wire, or you are not 100% sure what you're doing then you should consult a
professional. Please remember that I am not a professional. If you're also not a professional you should consult one before you attempt this. Also, leaving your doorbell disabled may not be the best idea
if you live in a flood plane, live in tornado alley, you are expecting a late
night drug raid by the local police department, or there is some other urgent reason why someone may want to ring your
doorbell and wake you up at night. If you decide to make this modification, THEN YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN
RISK. I won't be held responsible for any chaos that results including if the widow who lives down the street decides to bake cookies for
you but you never get them because you never heard her ring the doorbell. At our house we have resolved this issue by installing a wireless camera above the front porch with motion detection. Whenever anyone walks on the porch we have a
portable screen that beeps to let us know that someone is at the door, and it shows us who it is. We can then decide if
we want to answer the door. That way I can
have a sleeping baby and still have opportunities to eat the neighbor’s cookies, and as a bonus we
never miss a visit from my mother-in-law.
Here are the steps I took to install the on/off toggle switch:
1. First I drilled a whole in the bottom of the doorbell
cover which was mounted high on the wall in the hallway of the main floor. I made sure that the hole was large enough
for the switch to fit through, but small enough that I could secure it with the
accompanying nut.
2. Next I purchased a simple toggle on/off switch from Radio
Shack for $3.49. Here is a link to the switch on the Radio Shack Web Page: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062494.
Most stores stock this switch if you don't want to wait for
shipping. Any low voltage toggle switch should work.
4. I then installed the switch by taking off the mounting
screw, pushing the switch through the whole that I had drilled, and securing the switch by
replacing the mounting screw on the inside of the doorbell cover. The wood cover on our doorbell was too thick so I had to hollow out the back and make it thinner in order to get the nut on the back of the on/off toggle switch.
5. The best place to wire the on/off switch is in-line with one of the two wires that goes from your doorbell out to your doorbell button. Usually these will be the two wires that go from the doorbell into the wall and eventually out to the doorbell button. These are usually the two wires that go from inside your doorbell back through the wall and eventual to the button on your front porch. Select one of these two wires, cut it, and connect each end to one of the two terminal ends on the on/off toggle switch. I used a soldering iron to secure the connection. When the
switch is in the OFF position the doorbell can't ring because the circuit out to the switch by the front door is broken. When it is set to the ON position then the electrical circuit is complete and the doorbell rings normally.
It's an easy and inexpensive upgrade to the doorbell, but
well worth the few minutes that it takes to install it. If you try this and have any questions please feel free to
contact me.
IN THE EVENT OF ANY TROUBLE
If you try this on your own and you get it wrong, then please remember you were warned. If you cause property damage, miss an important visitor, get in trouble,
miss out on a neighbor bearing delicious gifts, or you forget the note in your wallet that
encourages you to be kind to your mother-in-law, then you are on your own and I would ask that you direct all of your concerns. complaints, and anger towards my Brother-In-Law Jerry who has nothing to do with this. If you don't already know Jerry please contact me and I will send you his contact information. (You're welcome Jerry...)
May your children, grandchildren, and shift-working family
members sleep long and prosper.
Bob Edwards can be contacted by sending an email to bob@commone.com, or he can often be found in
his basement hiding from his mother –in-law who can’t figure out why no one is
answering the door. This post is for entertainment purposes only. You should not start cutting wires on your doorbell (or on anything else for that matter), unless you know what you're doing or have consulted a professional.
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