Hope This Is The Right Section - Doorbell

[ferlew]

I have one of those doorbells where the bell push is powered by a 9v battery, and the sound part is plugged into the mains.
From time to time, it plays the 'wrong' tune.
It is supposed to play Westminster Chimes, but for some obscure reason, it occasionally breaks out with "Oh Susannah".
There is no one at my door, next door don't have a doorbell at all. I have changed the 9V battery. I have tried it in different rooms. There is no damp getting into the bellpush, we have sealed it.
I can't think what to look at next. It wasn't a cheapy one either.
Any ideas please?

[Old_Geezer]

Mine does that also. Wireless is it ? I'm beginning to wonder if it is an indication of a low battery or something. I guess not if you have experimented with that. In any case I ignore it when it's the wrong tune as invariably no one is there. I just put it down to the garbage quality of products these days.

[Sharingan]

Ours plays whatever it feels like despite battery changes etc, we've just learned to love it's little quirks.

[LazyGun]

I was intrigued by the concept of a wireless doorbell - was not aware of them before now :) So took a look on the internet.

One suggestion is that they can be randomly set off by a radio signal broadcasting on the same frequency as the one your doorbell uses, which sort of sounds plausible... The suggesting was to change frequencies, although i have no idea how difficult this might be to do.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/wireless-doorbell-troubleshooting.html

[douglas9401]

Remotes for car central locking can set it off.

[ummmm]

I've turned mine off at the mains. It just randomly rings but it doesn't do 'ding dong' as it should, it goes 'dong dong dong dong dong'

[LazyGun]

That sounds very -portentous- ummm :)

Brings to mind John Donnes line;
"therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.""

[Scylax]

I suggest that someone in the vicinity has a device tuned to the same frequency as your 'Oh, Susannah'. It could be anything; a garage door opening, a baby alarm, a curtain closure, a car alarm, etc. Even the electricals of a passing motorist could trigger your door bell.

My own bell used to be triggered by a similar device in an adjacent street. I learned to ignore anything except 'my' selected sound. Annoying, but it's the easiest expedient.

[gingejbee]

If you look at the instructions, it should tell you how to change the frequency channel that your unit operates on, there's usually several that you can choose from. This can sort out these sorts of problems.

[ferlew]

Errrrrr, mmmm, I didn't keep the instructions :(

[Khandro]

Spooks? this might be a good one for the Religion and Spiritualty section! :-)

[whiskeryron]

I guarantee this one will never alter.

http://www.belowstairs.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Bell_Pulls___Intercom_Bells_63.html

WR.

[The Builder]

Picking up on LG's post... it's quite a common problem today with so much wireless control in our lives.
It could be triggered by one of many things. If it's a good quality one, it may have the facility to change the frequency. If not, then replacing it with one of a different frequency should fix it.

[Old_Geezer]

I tried changing fequency on mine. I think all neighbours must have different frequencies for stuff, meaning I jump from frying pan to fire. That said, when it failed to fix it first time I opted for the "ignore" option instead.