- Joined
- Dec 18, 2019
- Messages
- 6,461
This really isn't serious. It's more grumbling than anything.
You know how it is when something dumb happens and it just cascades? Not that it's the end of the earth by any means, but a cheap button failed in the on position. It was a doorbell button. That caused the doorbell solenoid to stay on continuously. Which in turn heated the solenoid, which melted the low temp plastic that the plunger rode in. The plunger is now frozen in place in the "sucked in" position. The coil insulation is a bit overheated, aka charred. Why, because the fine folks who designed it didn't consider a stuck button. (100% duty factor) No big deal, just replace it. Part n/a from NuTone. I have no idea when I installed the bell, maybe 20 years ago? Hadn't noticed it wasn't working until recently. When I mentioned it to my wife, she said, oh, it hasn't worked for ages. Thought it might be good to fix it.
Out of desperation, I searched on that A place and was astounded to find a replacement unit. You can't buy the cover, but the chime itself was for sale. It would appear that an enterprising person bought up all of the NuTone spare parts when NuTone stopped making them. So for the princely sum of $28 and a bit of my time, the chime/solenoid was replaced. My old cover fits. That's pretty good. Everything works - as long as the cover isn't on all the way - then it touches one of the resonators. If it is backed off 0.05" it works fine. Those cross-head screws on the chime aren't Philips - they are JIS. JIS bits fit tightly, the Philips slips and cams out. Chapman sells JIS bits. (No connection to them in any way, just a very satisfied customer!) Chapman says they are using in Japanese motorcycles and cars. I say they are being used a lot by the Chinese. If your screwdriver doesn't really seem to fit in that screw, it's probably because the screw is JIS. When I work on anything sourced from China, I reach for JIS bits not Philips.
You better believe I also replaced the doorbell button. I'm surprised at how cheaply the old NuTone button was made. The incandescent light was glued in place and not replaceable. (Why did they do that?) The plastic push button itself had faded and cracked. It was pretty sad looking. Installed a non-lit button - one less thing to go wrong. It is some sort of heavy non-magnetic material, allegedly antiqued brass. Made in India. We'll see how long this lasts. If it breaks, I'm tempted to put in an old fashioned crank doorbell on the door itself. No electrons needed. When my house was built, (1853) there wasn't electricity, save for the new fangled telegraph invented less than 20 years earlier. Invention of the telegraph
At least this round tuit is done. Only have a couple of hundred more to go!
You know how it is when something dumb happens and it just cascades? Not that it's the end of the earth by any means, but a cheap button failed in the on position. It was a doorbell button. That caused the doorbell solenoid to stay on continuously. Which in turn heated the solenoid, which melted the low temp plastic that the plunger rode in. The plunger is now frozen in place in the "sucked in" position. The coil insulation is a bit overheated, aka charred. Why, because the fine folks who designed it didn't consider a stuck button. (100% duty factor) No big deal, just replace it. Part n/a from NuTone. I have no idea when I installed the bell, maybe 20 years ago? Hadn't noticed it wasn't working until recently. When I mentioned it to my wife, she said, oh, it hasn't worked for ages. Thought it might be good to fix it.
Out of desperation, I searched on that A place and was astounded to find a replacement unit. You can't buy the cover, but the chime itself was for sale. It would appear that an enterprising person bought up all of the NuTone spare parts when NuTone stopped making them. So for the princely sum of $28 and a bit of my time, the chime/solenoid was replaced. My old cover fits. That's pretty good. Everything works - as long as the cover isn't on all the way - then it touches one of the resonators. If it is backed off 0.05" it works fine. Those cross-head screws on the chime aren't Philips - they are JIS. JIS bits fit tightly, the Philips slips and cams out. Chapman sells JIS bits. (No connection to them in any way, just a very satisfied customer!) Chapman says they are using in Japanese motorcycles and cars. I say they are being used a lot by the Chinese. If your screwdriver doesn't really seem to fit in that screw, it's probably because the screw is JIS. When I work on anything sourced from China, I reach for JIS bits not Philips.
You better believe I also replaced the doorbell button. I'm surprised at how cheaply the old NuTone button was made. The incandescent light was glued in place and not replaceable. (Why did they do that?) The plastic push button itself had faded and cracked. It was pretty sad looking. Installed a non-lit button - one less thing to go wrong. It is some sort of heavy non-magnetic material, allegedly antiqued brass. Made in India. We'll see how long this lasts. If it breaks, I'm tempted to put in an old fashioned crank doorbell on the door itself. No electrons needed. When my house was built, (1853) there wasn't electricity, save for the new fangled telegraph invented less than 20 years earlier. Invention of the telegraph
At least this round tuit is done. Only have a couple of hundred more to go!
