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Help designing/making a doorbell chime to work with a C4 Wifi Chime


jevansoh

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I've been having a heck of a time trying to get a doorbell chime to work with my two Control4 Chime doorbells.  The only thing I've been able to get to work is a cheap $20 mechanical doorbell that does a "Ding Dong" but we want a Big Ben/Westminster Chime sound and not a Ding-Dong.

I know a digital doorbell isn't supported with the Wifi version of the Chime, so I purchased a very expensive "mechanical" doorbell (or so I thought) on Amazon and it isn't working either.  It just rings over and over and the Chime's don't get any power and won't turn on.

I believe my only other option at this point is to wire up a small amplifier and speaker and put that in the "guts" of my old/original digital doorbell inside its decorative outer wooden box that hangs on the wall.  That will allow me to conceal the wires, amp, and speaker, and the sound will still come out of the doorbell box on the wall.

Here's where I'm stuck and not understanding how to make this work the way I want.

I used Composer to create a doorbell announcement and went into programming and set the announcement to play when someone pushes the Chime Doorbell button.

This works as it should, but I have to pick a room to play it to which is where I'm getting confused.

The question/problem is, I want it to play this WAV file just through my new little speaker/amp inside the doorbell box from the EA1 in the Great Room (and since the EA1 only has HDMI out, I will have to use an HDMI Audio De-embedder device to convert HDMI audio to analog stereo audio via a 3.5mm small headphone plug that will then plug into my small amplifier for the doorbell to send the WAV file to that speaker) but I don't want whatever someone is watching or listening to in the great room to be interrupted.  I don't want the doorbell WAV file to come through any speaker except the little speaker/amp setup that will go inside the doorbell box.

So my question is, how can I make this doorbell chime box and have the WAV file play when the doorbell button is pressed on one of the C4 Chime units using the Great Room's EA1 but without affecting anything the EA1 is doing so there are no interruptions to the TV/Stereo in that room and instead only play through my new little amp/speaker in the doorbell box?

Thanks for your input!

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19 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

I need to be its own room and set as the audio endpoint for that room.

If I need a separate controller for this new room, would an old one like an HC250 or HC800 work, since this is for one little audio stream/announcement and nothing else or would I have to stick with an EA1?

(Forgot to quote your message before, so please see my two additional replies above.)

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13 hours ago, RAV said:

You bought a mechanical doorbell, as in a button, transformer, wall chimes?

Use a Control4 relay of choice, and wire it in place of the button in your kit.
Programming, when C4 chime button pressed, close and open relay.



 

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That would be my thought too - indeed it's what I'm doing myself because my ancient doorbell transformer does NOT like the chime adapter (not limited to C4 either - and replacing that was going to be a pain in the rear end.

 

Your EA idea isn't going to work - you need a non hdmi output, because the HDMI doesn't have volume and may not even have room endpoints. So a EA3 or Core1. Much cheaper to just get a relay....

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Thanks for the ideas, guys.

I've decided to just make it super simple and I ordered a Sonos Roam, which is a small 2.5" x 2.5" x 6" powered speaker.  I'll hide that behind the decorative doorbell wall chime box (removing the guts of the wall chime box) and if it works the way I'm hoping, nobody will ever know it's not a true doorbell chime box.

It will be in today and I'll report back my test results.

I purchased it used for $109 on eBay and am hoping it will be pretty much plug n play, but we'll see.

Wish me luck!

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I've installed the new Chime Doorbell and I'm having similar issues.

I'd like to have the doorbell ring to a WiFi enabled chime/ringer, or through a speaker, such as the Sonos, as you're describing it.

Isn't there a low-cost WiFi enabled chime that simply connects to Control4, and which can be used to indicate that the doorbell has been pushed?

Please keep us updated,

thanks

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11 hours ago, Clifford Musante said:

I've installed the new Chime Doorbell and I'm having similar issues.

I'd like to have the doorbell ring to a WiFi enabled chime/ringer, or through a speaker, such as the Sonos, as you're describing it.

Isn't there a low-cost WiFi enabled chime that simply connects to Control4, and which can be used to indicate that the doorbell has been pushed?

Please keep us updated,

thanks

Define low cost? Check this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203881538966?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=HjCAv6rcRAS&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=YQQgk-FWSuu&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
 

Will cost around USD $100, there is also a C4 ZP Plugin Chime from Axxess but it’s pricy and not reliable!

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The link to the item above looks pretty cool, but isn't available in the USA (Although shipping to USA is available) and cost the same amount I paid for a used Sonos Roam.

I have to say, if the Sonos Roam wasn't available and/or if you need the size of this device, I think it would be a great alternative and one I would have explored if not for the Sonos Roam.

I received the Sonos Roam speaker (2.5" x 2.5" x 6" roughly) and had it set up in less than 10 minutes.

It works great and my doorbell problems are solved!!

Now I'm working on taking the "guts" out of a real doorbell chime and hiding the Sonos Roam inside it, along with a wall mount I got for the Roam on eBay, so it will appear (visually and audibly) as though the doorbell's Westminster Chime I programmed is coming from the Doorbell Chime Wall Box in the location it's always been in.

I really like this option because unlike a standard doorbell, if I had been able to ever get it to work, I was able to program a Christmas themed chime for our front door and a nice "Ding Dong" for our side door.  On "real" doorbells, you normally only get a one note "Ding" for any secondary door, which by its nature of being one quick note could easily go unheard.

Either of these two devices appears to solve the problem of getting a doorbell chime to work with the Control 4 Wifi Chime (the POE model will supposedly work just fine with a digital doorbell chime of any kind) but I can personally attest to the Sonos Roam option working wonderfully and highly recommend it for anyone else in this situation.

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