Nest doorbell quiet with Surf 2 Note Door Chime

[eveares]

I recently installed a Google Nest doorbell along with a Surf 2 Note Door Chime and a 12V doorbell transformer from TLC, and noticed the Surf 2 Note Door Chime is very quite when rung.

Yes, it is wired correctly and has the module installed inside the door bell that came with the Google Nest. Around 10 meters cable run from the door push to the door chime, consisting of 8 meters of 0.75mm² flex and final 2 meters of actual door bell wire to the bell push.

It doesn't help that my grandparents are elderly and thus hard of hearing.

Is it best to replace the chime, the transformer or both?

Any idea's what's best.

 

[securespark]

Why have you got Nest?

I would buy plug-in chimes with flashing blue lights. You can link more than one to the bell push.

If they don't hear the noise, chances are they will see the flashing light.

 

[eveares]

Why have you got Nest?

So they can view who's at the door on their iPad's and interact with the person at the door. Essentially gain the benefits of a smart internet enabled doorbell.

 

[securespark]

Ah, OK.

How does the Nest interface with the door chime?

 

[Aragorn84]

These smart doorbell units are usually a bit funky. In an effort to make it "easy" to install, they often sit in series with the bell itself, in place of the switch. They then draw the power required to run themselves thru the actual bell, and when they need to ring the bell, they have a transistor inside which closes the switch and rings the bell (in effect shorting out its own power supply, but i guess they have caps to ride out the time the supply isnt available).

However because they often cant pull enough power thru the bell to actually run the unit, they then have a "bypass" device which sits in parallel with the bell and shunts some power around it.

I suspect in your case, when the nest tries to ring the bell, the combined load of the bypass shunt and the bell itself is probably too great for the bell transformer.