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Home Repair Electrical Wiring

Can I use Cat-4 wire with a transformer for a doorbell?

last year

We bought an older house that only had an intercom to the front door, using Cat 4 cabling. I'd like to replace this with a smart doorbell. I bought a 16V/30A transformer and connected it to power in my garage, verified it was working with a voltage tester, etc.. However, when I connect double stranded pairs (blue/striped blue and orange/striped orange), there's no voltage on the other side.

I also used a cable tracker to verify that it is the same phone wire (most of the phone ports have been patched up by previous owners) as well.

Can I not use the Cat 4 cable as a substitute?

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Comments (3)

Andrew
Original Author
last year
haha, it is! Or rather, it automatically does it--I have the Klein ET60 (https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/electrical-testers/electronic-acdc-voltage-tester-12-600v)
dennisgli
last year
BTW - your transformer is 30 watts - not 30 amps - at 16 volts that is more like 2 amps.

Typical door bell (and thermostat) wire is 18AWG - Cat4 wire is only 24AWG and while doubling up the wires will decrease the resistance you can also put four conductors in parallel. Both 18AWG and 4x24AWG should be able to carry 2 amps without a problem. For shorter distances and less than 2 amps doubling up the Cat4 wire should be fine.
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bus driver, Thanks, I know you see the issue right away, but that is not simple enough for me. I understand your point about the 18 gauge wire and transformer capacity, but I still am not clear on where to connect the wires. I feel like I need to start there. I've got green and red wires from the door buzzer (that's what you mean by a 2 conductor cable, right?), and green and red from the transformer-bell2 circuit. How do I connect them up to the FRONT-TRANS-REAR terminals on bell #1? Thanks for your patience. I know this is really basic.
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"IF you have only a front door button, it doesn't matter which wire goes where. Either way will work." Except the bell will have a different chime between the front door and the back door. And, since you only have two wires, I'm guessing you only have one door on the bell. The wire out of the wall with voltage on it at all times should go to "trans"...transformer. The other wire out of the wall should be the button. If you don't have power from one of the wires, it sounds like a transformer problem. If you do have power, is it what your new bell requires? Does your new bell come with a transformer? My transformer on my old house was in the garage plugged into the same outlet on the ceiling that my garage door opener was plugged into. I always thought that was a strange place for someone to put it!
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Check out this link for basic wiring info: https://diyhousehelp.com/doorbell-wiring-diagrams If these are in fact for your doorbell, then the black and white wires are likely your line voltage for the transformer, and the black and green are for the low voltage load going to your button and chime. I'm of course making assumptions here as you're not showing your black and white wires,and not knowing anything beyond this picture. The transformer is usually mounted to a j-box, typically in your basement or attic, and the chime would be somewhere people can hear it.
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Andrew
Original Author
last year
Yes, sorry, it's 30 volt amps, so roughly 2 amps.

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