boiler/doorbell transformer?

[dkpbxman]

Has anyone ever heard of, or dealt with, a hydronic, oil burning boiler using the same transformer as the doorbell?

The other day, my doorbell died. I checked in the attic and around the electrical panel for it's transformer but I couldn't find it. The chime would only buzz when the button was pushed. Later, after disassembling and re-assembling the circuit, even the buzzing stopped. At about the same time, the boiler stopped working.
The problem with the boiler was traced to it's 24 volt transformer being dead. That transformer was replaced and the boiler fired immediately. The buzzing also came back when the bell was pushed. It seems that while messing with the doorbell circuit I killed the boiler transformer by mistake. Or is this whole thing a big coincidence?

I had heard that doorbell transformers are usually 16V and boilers 24V but are they sometimes the same and one transformer is shared by both systems?

Thanks for any help.


Dan

[HayZee518]

I never heard of such a thing but you run into all kinds of things when people want to save a few bucks. Doorbell transformers are 18 to 24 volts. Boiler controls are 24 volts ONLY! Trace back your low voltage wiring to see if it terminates at the boiler transformer. If it does - go to home depot and get a bell transformer - This is meant for intermittent duty. Boiler controls have amp and milliamp ratings on it. Say for instance 500 Ma or 300 Ma. It might even say so much "va" on it VA is another way of saying watts as watts is the product of volts and amps multiplied together.

[dkpbxman]

Thanks for replying

From everything I've heard or read the transformer is never shared but I have found some very weird stuff since buying this house.

Who knows?


I'll check further.




Dan

[HayZee518]

Good luck and you'll save yourself a lot of aggravation if you'll buy a doorbell xfmr. Under ten bucks they'll do the job. Just trust Murphy's law - If anything can go wrong, it will." And as far as electrical goes - once the smoke comes out the appliance don't work anymore. Got to put that smoke back in!

[orbitrix]

I was just doing some work on my home and found that I too have a common xformer for my HVAC and my doorbell!

[HayZee518]

well, go to a big box store or a hardware store and buy a bell transformer and connect it to your panel and the low voltage wiring of the doorbell circuit.