wireless door button - several failed.

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dacflyer
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wireless door button - several failed.

Post by dacflyer »

hi, i have a few of these Heath / Zenith type wireless door bell buttons.
the buttons are listed as ( SL-6194-TX ) rev.A 085-6194-05
i haven't dug into them very deep yet, but several of these seem to fail after a year or so, the batteries are ok still, no water intrusion.
has anyone delt with any of these and had luck to repair them ? common failure part ?
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Janitor Tzap
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by Janitor Tzap »

What's the weather like there?

I've seen similar keypad systems fail, because the air was damp, and condensation built up inside, shorting it out.

Another thing that caused me headaches were the switches.
The Carbon Rubber ones would stop conducting after so many presses.

Mechanical switches that got pressed a lot, would break loose from the PCB.

Well.....
Those are the most common issues I've found.


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dyarker
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by dyarker »

Chime battery? It's receiver runs 100% of the time, plus surge when striking gong. The button only draws current when button pressed.

Cheers,
Dale Y
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dacflyer
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by dacflyer »

The chime is electronic, it works fine.
The buttons are them mini click types, I checked all soldering joints etc.. These buttons are not exposed to outdoors.
something electronically is failing. The buttons use the A23 ( 12V ) battery. The batteries are fine.
I'm going to take a few home and see what i can see with the silly scope.
I'm limited at what i can see or test here at work other than a DVM.
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CeaSaR
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by CeaSaR »

Are those batteries brand name or the generic super cheapies? If the latter, those may test okay for voltage but not have enough current capacity to work properly. Here's an example: https://youtu.be/nWK3DwFeo5M

CeaSaR
Hey, what do I know?
dyarker
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by dyarker »

The chime is electronic, it works fine.
If pushing the button does not make ding-dong, how do you know if it is the button or the chime which does not work? Does the chime have a battery?
Dale Y
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Janitor Tzap
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by Janitor Tzap »

CeaSaR wrote: Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:03 pm Are those batteries brand name or the generic super cheapies? If the latter, those may test okay for voltage but not have enough current capacity to work properly. Here's an example: https://youtu.be/nWK3DwFeo5M

CeaSaR
CeaSaR has a good point! :lol:

DacFlyer, try powering the buttons with a bench power supply, or get a fresh new battery from DuraCell, EverReady, Sony, or Panasonic.
Then give it a try.

If you still got zippo/nodda.
Then throw them in the electronic recycling.
Because these dumb wireless chime buttons cost under $10, and aren't even worth messing with.


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dacflyer
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by dacflyer »

i have 1 good button left, so the chime does work.
the retailers do not sell spare buttons at my Home Cheapo or Slowes Hardware.
the batteries are ok, they work in the other GOOD button.
maybe i'll search ebay for spares.
i thought i'd give it a try. but what ever is failing has to be something common..
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Janitor Tzap
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by Janitor Tzap »

Here's a video on one issue with a wireless door bell button.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lug7VC51f4I

Have you checked the Jumpers?
Here's a manual.
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/67246 ... tml?page=3

Also.....
Check the battery connector terminals.
I've had issues with the connectors on garage remotes that use the A23 Battery.
In that the connectors breaks loose from the PCB.


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dacflyer
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by dacflyer »

i checked all connections, and buttons,, some component has failed,, or the epoxy chip has failed.. either way, i'm done...threw them into the donor box.
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haklesup
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by haklesup »

I hear the complaints about buttons. For new projects with uControllers, there is lots of support for capacitive touch keypads, sliders and other button configurations on ebay and other places to get modules. No need to use mechanical buttons if you are determined. Unlikly any would eb compatible to fix the doorbell switch.

Since it is wireless, you may be able to confirm transmit using a diode RF prone and an oscilloscope. If a component has drifted and shifted the signal, it may be deaf at the receiver to its calls. If they used an electrolytic in the oscillator circuit besides being dumb, would not be stable for very long
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Janitor Tzap
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by Janitor Tzap »

dacflyer wrote: Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:54 am i checked all connections, and buttons,, some component has failed,, or the epoxy chip has failed.. either way, i'm done...threw them into the donor box.
Hmmm........

I wonder what is actually under that black epoxy? :?

I've come across PCB's that had the epoxy cover over the chip that was first soldered in place.

Because of flexing of the PCB, and stress from hot and cold temps.
The solder connections would break, or make connections while the PCB was flexed.

I've made several tries in removing that epoxy on different PCB's with limited results. :(

Well, it's just a thought. :P


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dacflyer
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by dacflyer »

this one had to have a die under it, it was no bigger than that of a onboard lcd controller die.
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haklesup
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by haklesup »

in almost all cases this is a bare die epoxied to the PCB then gold bond wires ultrasonically welded to the die and PCB pad then covered with a "Glob" of epoxy. Its pretty close to a packaged device technology but is even lower cost for high volume products. For more most chips, they almost always come in a package to facilitate testing. New technology chip scale packaging has no plastic. its just a chip with BGA like bumps and is assembled like a BGA. Usually that's inside a product case and not overmolded with a glob. Most singing greeting cards have this assembly as well as some cheap toys.
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dacflyer
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Re: wireless door button - several failed.

Post by dacflyer »

yup
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