Door bell repair, where is the fuse?

[vonprum]

OK, here's what I've learned since my earlier thread, for all who may want to repair their door bell: In my 345 the door bell wires come out under the sofa. They are a red and black pair of wires inside a brown plastic sleeve. There is also a white wire that I assume is the hot feed but this wire is dead in my coach. In doing a search I learned that the door bell button usually goes bad and mine was no exception, corroded and green, completely eaten through one wire. A standard door bell button from Lowe's is a perfect replacement. I also learned that residential door bells are 16 volts A/C and that 12 volts A/C will operate a standard residential door chime, so I bought one, Airstream using a similar chime but mine was removed by the PO. So, I've got the new switch and new chime but no hot on the white wire. The manual says there is a fuse but I can't find it. It also seems to indicate that the hot wire is a purple wire on the 12volt overhead lighting. All my lights are working but no ding dong. All my fuses up front in the glove box are good and I know of no other fuse panel. So where is the stinkin' fuse? Can anyone help with info in the completion of this project?

[sandlapper]

Don't know if it is the same in yours but the fuse in mine is inside the chime box itself.

[345bill]

Originally Posted by vonprum

In my 345 the door bell wires come out under the sofa. They are a red and black pair of wires inside a brown plastic sleeve. There is also a white wire that I assume is the hot feed but this wire is dead in my coach. . So, I've got the new switch and new chime but no hot on the white wire. Can anyone help with info in the completion of this project?

I don't have any door bell wiring knowledge to share but I can tell you for a fact on my 1990 345, various positions of interior & exterior lighting the factory used a white wire for the ground.
Each light circuit I'm referring to used a black wire for the hot feed, on mine.
I have no idea what the factory used as far as color coding goes, just letting you know how mine came wired.

[idroba]

Damn, posted a reply, and my net went down and lost it, here we go again.

I think your white wire is a ground wire. As someone else said, the fuse may have been an inline one which is gone, if the original chime is gone. I think my 310 had the fuse in the chime, but it is a distant memory now for me.

I think AS wired things this way: 12 volts (your black wire, probably) through the in line fuse, to one terminal of the chime. The red wire ran from the second terminal on the chime to the doobell button itself. The other terminal on the bell button was grounded on that side of the rig. So, when you push the button, you establish a ground through the chime and it went ding dong. The white wire you have was run to the chime simply because every other piece of equipment needs a negative (or ground) at the equipment, so it was SOP but not used in this case. This is my best guess anyway.

BTW, in the 10 years I had my 310 no one EVER rang my doorbell. They did not find it or expect it, so they just beat on the door....LOL... but it is nice to have things as they were built, even if never used.

[Keyair]

[raveson]

I agree with Idroba. My bell still works fine, but as of yet the only one to ring the bell has been me, the bang on the door seems to be the method of choice!

[8rmesse]

Mine had the fuse built in to the ringer unit as well. I replaced it with a $20 unit from Lowes and it had no built-in fuse so I added an inline fuse. I also added an inline switch after being awakened one rainy night by the doorbell ringing repeatedly on it's own. Water had gotten into the door button and it was ringing and ringing and ringing. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't what burnt up the original unit. Left unattended it could have rang for days until it finally had a meltdown so I highly recommend adding a switch to cut all power to the ringer unit when your Airstream is not in use or when you are using it and can't sleep for all the noise which will be compounded by your dogs going nuts (if you have dogs). Incidentally, I find that the only people who ever ring the doorbell are fellow Airstreamers but I have had my doorbell rang many times while staying in Airstream only parks. I like having it and like having all the original equipment work the way Airstream intended. Even if nobody ever rang it I would still want it to work.

[ScrapIrony-2]

Our doorbell is erratic...doesn't work when I show it to people, works when I tell them it doesn't...I have rung it myself, but I wasn't home...