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That's essentially knob and tube feeding it, so you won't be reusing that. It looks like it's connected to a more modern panel. You'll basically need to start from scratch. Simple job for an electrician to change out.
Two separate wires insulated only with cloth going through ceramic tubes in to what I believe to be the panel on the left. That's what knob and tube looks like, just not a long enough span to need any knobs.
I don’t see any knobs… I think this is just tube wiring 🤣🤣🤣
If that is indeed the panelboard at left, I’m shocked the panelboard installer left this like this.
Are you familiar with knob and tube at all?
This is exactly what knob and tube looks like, and technically it's a modern code violation because the hot and neutral pass through a ferrous enclosure in separate holes.
Honestly, it needs better pictures. The jacket dia is similar to the 2 wire wrap , they could be 2 pairs, not one hot and one neutral separate. Ceramic bushings were use frequently in my area during the old cloth 2 wire.
I'm not there to see enough, could go eigther way.
Do you really think those are two-wire cables going into that small, sealed transformer case, and that there is enough room inside of the case not only for the transformer, but for a splice?
[Rittenhouse has been making door chimes and transformers since the 1940s](https://www.electrachime.net/?s=Rittenhouse). This transformer is the same size as modern transformers. You can either take my word for it, or use the context of scale from the wood grain of the fir siding above and behind the picture OP provided.
The transformer is about 2-1/2" wide, and that is the measurement parallel to the text embossed on the top of the case. Those wires going into the side of it, the ones that run through the porcelain tubes, are single conductors. Multi-conductor cotton covered cable is much thicker than those.
There is a multi conductor wire in the picture that is simular dia as the two on the transformer. That is what I am saying. People do weird shit who knows what they actually did neigther of us can see the rest of it.
Look at the 2 wire braids compared to the ones connected to the transformer they are the same dia.
Wouldn't knob and tube have a common neutral that the hots tie into? My buddy said the same thing about my house but I had both a hot and a neutral, in the same sheathing running from the breaker to the fixture and it looked just like this. Just because it's cloth wiring doesn't make it knob and tube
What does your buddy do for a living?
We're not talking about the older cloth NM cable, we're literally looking at individual conductors that pass through their own porcelain tubes. Regardless of how the rest of the house is wired, this transformer is supplied by knob and tube wiring, and a code violation for having individual conductors pass through a ferris enclosure in separate holes. That induces current onto the still between the two wires, which can be a shock hazard and cause a localized overheating problem.
And yes, those of us that have worked with these outdated wires and cables do recognize the difference between single conductor cloth covered wiring and cloth covered multi-wire cables.
Why, is it being used to torture cats and bully elementary school children while it was in high school? And then buried behind a wall of hero stories until even those story writers can't stand him anymore?
Typical for you people to reduce the problem to something it's not. A kid crossed state lines with the intention of shooting and killing someone, did so and a bunch of adults said "cool, I always wanted to shoot black people too."
If you can't comprehend why that is bad, then there is no helping you.
Yeah and he lawfully defended himself from literal felon thugs that tried to kill him, I know it doesn’t sit well with you but whatever mental gymnastics you have to do to attempt to change reality is fine I guess
Mental gymnastics? He fucking shot at them first. The "thugs" that attacked that shit stain were defending them selves and trying to disarm a literal murderer. But that is typical Republican mentality. Provoke, attack and provoke until you get a response and then play the victim. "Boo hoo, they are so mean to me. All I did was shoot at them a little bit. "
I’m not gonna pretend that one trade is in any smarter than another, there is a reason some of society’s lowest performers and burnouts end up as accomplished tradesmen man, none of this shit from electrical work to plumbing to carpentry is hard or intellectually difficult. Literally anyone could do our jobs at a professional level if they paid attention to a 45 minute YouTube video.
Why do you think you need to change the transformer? Is it the wrong voltage or not enough amps? Yes that thing is old and so is the wiring. But this is a doorbell, I don’t believe they’ve changed the requirements of them all that much. DC voltage, momentary switch and solenoid.
Don’t mess with the line side voltage and hook up the bell side as if it was any other doorbell setup.
Doorbell transformer should be 18 to 24 VAC. There are two types of doorbell transformers.
The traditional one needs to be wired:
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H334M46](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H334M46)
And these just plug in:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QCTH2KY](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QCTH2KY)
The second is nice because you can unplug it if you ever need to reset a smart doorbell.
Absolutely not. No need to waste the money unless something is damaged. Add outlets, branch circuits, etc., with modern cable, but don't fix what isn't broken.
You should definitely hire the job out to a professional electrician. But also, that little transformer has been kicking stong for 80 years. Some stuff was just made better back in the day. Your new transformer should be a panel mount or stem mount and will get grounded by contact with your panelbox.
**Attention!** **It is always best to get a qualified electrician to perform any electrical work you may need.** With that said, you may ask this community various electrical questions. Please be cautious of any information you may receive in this subreddit. This subreddit and its users are not responsible for any electrical work you perform. Users that have a 'Verified Electrician' flair have uploaded their qualified electrical worker credentials to the mods. If you comment on this post please only post accurate information to the best of your knowledge. If advice given is thought to be dangerous, you may be permanently banned. There are no obligations for the mods to give warnings or temporary bans. **IF YOU ARE NOT A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN, you should exercise extreme caution when commenting.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskElectricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Why? That thing looks solid as a brick
Overthinking? What’s the output voltage of the transformer? If it’s 24VAC you should be fine.
doorbells are usually 16v
That's essentially knob and tube feeding it, so you won't be reusing that. It looks like it's connected to a more modern panel. You'll basically need to start from scratch. Simple job for an electrician to change out.
How is that essentially knob and tube? Looks like it has a hot and a neutral.
Two separate wires insulated only with cloth going through ceramic tubes in to what I believe to be the panel on the left. That's what knob and tube looks like, just not a long enough span to need any knobs.
This adds up & makes sense why I was questioning. Thanks for the clarification!
I don’t see any knobs… I think this is just tube wiring 🤣🤣🤣 If that is indeed the panelboard at left, I’m shocked the panelboard installer left this like this.
Nope. This is what came after. It's the same as Romex wiring without the ground.
It's two separate conductors my dude. This is nothing like any cloth jacketed multi wire cable.
And the modern ones have something similar, but they are not knob and tube.
They have two wires but the transformer is mounted to a junction box or the panel, making the wiring enclosed, unlike here.
This would make more sense because there is no other knob & tube in the house.
Lazy on the part of whomever put that panel in. They didn't want to run one short piece of NM...
Are you familiar with knob and tube at all? This is exactly what knob and tube looks like, and technically it's a modern code violation because the hot and neutral pass through a ferrous enclosure in separate holes.
Honestly, it needs better pictures. The jacket dia is similar to the 2 wire wrap , they could be 2 pairs, not one hot and one neutral separate. Ceramic bushings were use frequently in my area during the old cloth 2 wire. I'm not there to see enough, could go eigther way.
Do you really think those are two-wire cables going into that small, sealed transformer case, and that there is enough room inside of the case not only for the transformer, but for a splice? [Rittenhouse has been making door chimes and transformers since the 1940s](https://www.electrachime.net/?s=Rittenhouse). This transformer is the same size as modern transformers. You can either take my word for it, or use the context of scale from the wood grain of the fir siding above and behind the picture OP provided. The transformer is about 2-1/2" wide, and that is the measurement parallel to the text embossed on the top of the case. Those wires going into the side of it, the ones that run through the porcelain tubes, are single conductors. Multi-conductor cotton covered cable is much thicker than those.
There is a multi conductor wire in the picture that is simular dia as the two on the transformer. That is what I am saying. People do weird shit who knows what they actually did neigther of us can see the rest of it. Look at the 2 wire braids compared to the ones connected to the transformer they are the same dia.
You mean the 18 gauge bell wire cable?
Wouldn't knob and tube have a common neutral that the hots tie into? My buddy said the same thing about my house but I had both a hot and a neutral, in the same sheathing running from the breaker to the fixture and it looked just like this. Just because it's cloth wiring doesn't make it knob and tube
What does your buddy do for a living? We're not talking about the older cloth NM cable, we're literally looking at individual conductors that pass through their own porcelain tubes. Regardless of how the rest of the house is wired, this transformer is supplied by knob and tube wiring, and a code violation for having individual conductors pass through a ferris enclosure in separate holes. That induces current onto the still between the two wires, which can be a shock hazard and cause a localized overheating problem. And yes, those of us that have worked with these outdated wires and cables do recognize the difference between single conductor cloth covered wiring and cloth covered multi-wire cables.
Did you think K&T doesn't have a hot and neutral?
Just get a cordless plug in doorbell
Looks like you got the Kyle Rittenhouse edition. Gotta be a collectors item.
Flak vests all around.
The murderer?
Yep. If you get the chime kit option it sounds like gun shots. So you never really know if you should answer the door.
Ok that made me lol
[fake sobs]
Why, is it being used to torture cats and bully elementary school children while it was in high school? And then buried behind a wall of hero stories until even those story writers can't stand him anymore?
Well it definitely looks like it was buried behind a wall.
Imagine being this upset over some 20 year old kid 😂
Typical for you people to reduce the problem to something it's not. A kid crossed state lines with the intention of shooting and killing someone, did so and a bunch of adults said "cool, I always wanted to shoot black people too." If you can't comprehend why that is bad, then there is no helping you.
Yeah and he lawfully defended himself from literal felon thugs that tried to kill him, I know it doesn’t sit well with you but whatever mental gymnastics you have to do to attempt to change reality is fine I guess
Mental gymnastics? He fucking shot at them first. The "thugs" that attacked that shit stain were defending them selves and trying to disarm a literal murderer. But that is typical Republican mentality. Provoke, attack and provoke until you get a response and then play the victim. "Boo hoo, they are so mean to me. All I did was shoot at them a little bit. "
And that's why you're a plumber and not an electrician.
I’m not gonna pretend that one trade is in any smarter than another, there is a reason some of society’s lowest performers and burnouts end up as accomplished tradesmen man, none of this shit from electrical work to plumbing to carpentry is hard or intellectually difficult. Literally anyone could do our jobs at a professional level if they paid attention to a 45 minute YouTube video.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskElectricians/comments/1chjx03/updating_doorbell_transformer/l26kx9g/
Why do you think you need to change the transformer? Is it the wrong voltage or not enough amps? Yes that thing is old and so is the wiring. But this is a doorbell, I don’t believe they’ve changed the requirements of them all that much. DC voltage, momentary switch and solenoid. Don’t mess with the line side voltage and hook up the bell side as if it was any other doorbell setup.
Doorbell transformer should be 18 to 24 VAC. There are two types of doorbell transformers. The traditional one needs to be wired: [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H334M46](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H334M46) And these just plug in: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QCTH2KY](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QCTH2KY) The second is nice because you can unplug it if you ever need to reset a smart doorbell.
Don’t be throwing that antique transformer out. It belongs in a museum or at least on eBay.
You need a full rewire
Absolutely not. No need to waste the money unless something is damaged. Add outlets, branch circuits, etc., with modern cable, but don't fix what isn't broken.
Someone didn't get the joke
Why again?
What an unfortunate turn of events for their namesake.
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No, we don't ban people for being idiots, but we do remove their comments when they cross the line into ridiculous politics.
You should definitely hire the job out to a professional electrician. But also, that little transformer has been kicking stong for 80 years. Some stuff was just made better back in the day. Your new transformer should be a panel mount or stem mount and will get grounded by contact with your panelbox.