Ringing in the new year

Ringing in the new end of the year.

So the doorbell has been another of our little projects that just wasn't coming together. We moved in and there was a cheap wireless doorbell setup that needed batteries on both ends. The box and the button.  Something about a wireless doorbell that was going to continuously need batteries was just a problem.  And it certainly did not play into the aesthetics of the house.

We pulled the doorbell box down to find that it was battery powered.  But behind was the original doorbell wires leading to the basement. (Ignore the ugly walls, we are still in the process of pulling down paper in the kitchen)

So for the last 3 months we have done without a doorbell.  It makes people coming to the door difficult now that the winter months are here and we keep the door closed.  (Our next door neighbor has lived in the house 2 years and they don't have a doorbell either, for the same reason)


Well about a month or so ago I was walking through an estate / garage sale at the edge of town and came across this old phone. A conn Electric Intercom.  Turns out this "phone" was only part phone.  It was an in house intercom for a clubhouse somewhere here in Michigan. But the coolest part was some of the old labels were still intact, the oak box was in great shape, it had the bells on top, and it was fairly low profile.

Of course my little creaky gears start turning.  Need = bell,  this has = bell.

 So I get the patient home and start tearing it apart right away to 1. see what kind of treasure I brought home, and 2. see what it would take to accomplish my little doorbell of a dream.

Back of the box.  The striations are cuts to recess the wires from the wall. Very different than your modern manufacturing processes.

So I got my litle joy home and soon realized the knocker for the bells was broken. (right) Since it was broken it did give me a chance to start testing some electrical on it, sure enough it worked great with a little juice from a battery. 

Although the ringer mechanism was broken, a little web research I found a guy in ohio that restored old phones.  I emailed him my delima and what I knew about my little box of magic.  Of course that didn't get far, so I sent a picture.  That did get somewhere, $10 and wait a week and you get parts from similar devices.  The ringer on the left is from the same brand of phone but I had to bend the arm straight to mimic the original. But for a few bucks, we were getting closer to business.

Patient with it's new heart.

So it has taken a few weeks of work but I finally got wires ran 3 to be exact. from our chosen location in the kitchen (where there was a previous phone) to the vicinity of the transformer in the basement. The patient is all hooked up and ready to go.

 

Of course being the crazy nifty guy and gal we are we couldn't stop there.  With an anticipated bonus room in the basement it may get difficult to holler upstairs and someone downstairs to hear.  So with all these nifty buttons something had to be done.

That is where this little guy comes in.

 

 

 

With a button that says "Dog House" how can one resist.

 

Well the walls are ugly as can be since we started pulling down wall paper but the little box fits right at home. The doorbell button on the front door rings the phone. And if you need someone's attention in the basement.  Well..just ring the dog house.

We are trying to figure out how to upload video so we can share the fun, but until then

-cheers