NuTone Doorbell!

[dalangdon]

We found a fabulous NuTone Doorbell/Clock combo today with the four long chimes. I have no idea if it works or not, however.

It calls for a NuTone 301-0B transformer. Anybody know if that's some funky voltage, or anything else that would cause it to blow up?

 

[dalangdon]

The Innards....

 

[dalangdon]

The Clock....

 

[dalangdon]

The wiring diagram...

 

[petek]

That's a cool one I've never seen. The original Nutone in our house circa 1957 has sticking plungers so it only dings, no dongs LOL etc. Haven't gotten any futher than taking the case of of it yet.. apparently absolutely NO oiling the plungers, only cleaning and perhaps some dry graphite.

 

[sudsmaster]

My guess would be that it takes 24 volts AC, which is standard for doorbells.

24 volt transformers are readily available at hardware stores.

 

[sudsmaster]

Or it could be for 16 volts AC...

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(tn4nib55dvzz1n45o0lart45)/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=998003634

 

[sudsmaster]

And here's a vintage nutone website

Sounds like a 24 volt transformer will work with your clock/chime unit. Check the clock motor to see what voltage it wants - the site says that if it's 20 volts, a 24 volt transformer should work ok...

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[dalangdon]

Thanks, Rich!

That website is amazing, and the guy is incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. So much so that it is now installed, and looks like its been there forever.

 

[retroguy]

it looks great!

so finish the story! how much did it set ya back? where did ya find it? answer any two

 

[sudsmaster]

Congrats, Dan.

Looks like it really belongs, esp with that spikey hall light. Looks like a very nice house too (I'm a sucker for hardwood flooring). What year was it built?

Are the doorways and doors natural wood, or painted to look that way?

This reminds me... this house has a classic ding-dong two brass tube front door chime, with tubes about a yard long, fit in a specially made alcove in the entrance hall. Works fine. But when I repainted the interior of the house just after I bought it, I noticed the plain steel cover over the solenoids was peeling, so I stripped the paint off but never got around to repainting it. Now it has a light coat of uneven surface rust, and it would probably be a very good subject for trying out my bead blaster and powder coating equipment. I'll probably use the matte black powder color (have red, white, and yellow powder as well). I've also noticed that the thing seems to ring louder with the cover in place. Not sure of the brand, though. There's also a smaller Sears Roebuck two-plate chime off the kitchen, which only rings when the back/side doorbell is pressed. That one doesn't get much use since that door is behind a locked gate. But it gives a very pleasant chime as well.

 

[dalangdon]

Douglas, I found it at a recycled building materials place called Earthwise here in Seattle. It was $60, which was quite a deal - considering the prices they tend to charge there.

Rich, The house was built in 1954. We are the second owners. The doors are natural - they have some color variations in them, probably because they were so dried out when we moved in. I keep coating them that stuff they sell at antique stores, and they are coming along.

I confess to having a total doorbell fetish. It dates back to the Sears store at Crossroads Mall in Omaha, which had a huge doorbell department. I was drawn to it every time we went there, and stayed there trying all the doorbells until some boring adult came along and told me to knock it off.

But there were always the riding lawn mowers, tents, and refrigerators to look at afterwards. I loved the fake plaster food in the Sears refrigerators and ovens, and even had some for a while.

 

[andyelectrolux]

My parents built their house in '87 and one of the things that they put in was a Nutone doorbell similar to yours Dan. It had three long chimes but it didn't have a clock on top. Just three little pictures of I don't know what. I even remember when we were picking stuff out for the house one day, we went to a ladies house who had the same doorbell to look at it.

I loved the look of those long chimes but since the doorbell was located in the main hallway off the foyer, we were always bumping into them causing a tremendous racket.

 

[gansky1]

Very nice, Dan! It looks perfect in your hall.

I also remember the doorbell aisle at Sears - Crossroads. That was great fun when I was shooed out of the appliance department!

 

[dalangdon]

That really was (and still is) a fabulous Sears. The big staircase with the aluminum handrails and the big campy planters full of plastic plants. The exterior is pretty much the same - just missing the big Sears sign in cursive script in turquoise neon.

I'm surprised they haven't torn it down yet ;-)

 

[rp2813]

Sears

Dan, that is an awesome doorbell and looks absolutely original to your house! In the Bay Area we have "Urban Ore" which is a similar type of operation to "Earthwise." It got its start on the same property as the Berkeley dump, salvaging usable items and building supplies and has over the years morphed into a huge warehouse facility in Berkeley that has everything you can imagine, and at reasonable prices.

Interesting stories about the Crossroads Sears. Here in California the 50's Sears stores were often free-standing instead of attached to malls and were surrounded by excessively large parking lots but in either case the trademark landscaping items were tall Mexican Fan palms in pairs or trios at one or more corners of the buildings. They towered over the low-slung single story buildings and associated sidewalks with sparkles in them. What was once the main Sears in town (with auto center and "Snackette" on one end) here is long gone, but they saved the palms and incorporated them into the subsequent development's landscaping. For decades we took them for granted, but those 50's Sears buildings were really quite beautifully done at least in this part of the country.

 

[petek]

The first and only Simpsons-Sears (later just Sears in the 80s) here built in the 50's was demolished about 3 years ago and a new store built across town adjoining the mall in big box land. It's the only real dept store left but sort of sterile. How they stay in business is beyond me since everytime I've been in it's deserted while the WalMart Supercenter down the street is packed. Same with the old dowtown Sears across the river in Port Huron MI which was demolished a few years back and moved out to their mall strip. Calgary had about 5 Sears stores mostly newer but the original 50's store still stands and surprisingly and for some reason they never did a full reno on the building like they did about 5 years ago on all their stores. It still smells, looks and feels original pretty much. No Peggy Kellogg candy counter though LOL

 

[xyz]

Dan, I used to tead down old houses years ago and I salvaged quite a few old doorbells that made it to my truck before the boss got his hands on them. He also ran a warehouse much like what you guys speak of. He sold lots of re-usable building materials. I could only wish that I could have had the foresight to gather up more of the old appliances back then (mid 1980's) which are all but gone now. Alot like some of the cars we once drove, we wish had them back but all are gone now.

 

[frontaloadotmy]

Very Fab Nutone , Dan

Just what the Hall ordered!!!!