The biggest problem is that Ring should give the specs for this thing in bold letters. I had this problem and replaced my transformer with a 24V 40vac which is approximately 40 Watts. Ring gives you the minimum of 16V but does not make clear that that the amperage is just as important. i.e. 16v 20va no good which most doorbell tranformers are at 16V. also a 24V 20va is no good as well. Your Ring Pro requires a power source that supplies a minimum of 16 volts AC at ~30 volt-amps. To check the voltage of your Ring Pro, open the Ring app, select your Ring Pro, and tap Device Health. For Ring Pro to function correctly, the voltage needs to be at least 3,900mV.
Even if your health shows 3900mV you could still be in trouble. As that's measured by the ring pro when its not in use. If you have it hooked up to use your old doorbell (ding dong), powering the solenoid on your old doorbell could starve your Pro of power causing it to lose connectivity/reset. You are 100% correct on your message - just don't have people rely on the health voltage inside the ring app...........and save yourself a headache and just buy a 30VA tranformer
There is only one Nutone C907 I have found that is 16V and 30VA. Will that be enough? It does satisfy both Ring's 16V requirement and higher amperage for Pro bell.
Youre exactly right. I had 16v 20vc to the camera and it wouldnt work at all. I replaced with the same 24v 40vc that is shown here and it works flawlessly now. No need for the extra bs that ring inckudes in the kit. Straight from 24v/40vc to the ring doorbell.
So many videos talking about the power issues, but yours is the only one that shows the struggle, and every aspect of the solution. Thank you for that!
I have had two ring doorbells at two different houses, both of which I installed myself following the instructions AND the POWER requirement was clearly spelled out. Installed both Ring Doorbells without any problems and my mechanical doorbell worked as well, excellent product. Clearly, you had a power issue you were ignoring which Ring clearly tells you about in the instructions. However, after watching your video it is also clear that you have limited language and vocabulary capabilities, which I suspect would have complicated your conversations with customer support. Great Product.
This video is two years old, but I just got a Ring Pro and everything I've read says 16-24v and min 30VA. If you order a ring Pro, order a 24v 40VA transformer with it. There are several hard wired options as well as the plug in step down transformer. I just paid $17 for one. The red pro power wire they sent is a resistor, and is needed if you don't have a traditional chime (you took yours out of the system), which acts as a resistor itself. Or, if you have a long run of wire, that may be enough resistance that their pro power resistor would not be needed or wanted (probably your case).
$20 for the Elk today. I hooked up two Ring Pros front and side doors and it worked like a charm. Avoiding the whole doorbell portion was the key. I don’t have a chime. As long as it rings my phone is what I want. Thanks for info. I understand the frustration. They should seriously start with this first if it’s hardwired.
so you just bought the adapter , plugged it into an electical socket , ran the two wires to the pro and it turned on? can't wait to order this adapter.
Thank you for this video. I was already frustrated because it only took about a year for me to convince my family members who are neither electricians or "techy" but are good at figuring stuff out. The instructions that come in the kit are pretty straight foward and simple and they did everything you did minus the cursing. (That was all me! Lol!) After 4 hours of back and forth trips to the breaker box and listening to all of their theories ("wifi is weak", "you damaged the ring", "the cables are no good or wired wrong"), I was just as frustrated with them and dreading having to either replace my ring or calling customer service, or having to hire "a real" electrician to hook it up. I had a gut feeling that there was a missing factor and decided to see if there were any videos with people who had similiar issues before I decided. There were several out there and they all had the answer.....of course, the transformer! There was the missing factor that my intuition suspected. So, thank you for posting this video and I have to say I didn't mind the cursing because it is what anyone who has experienced this problem is actually feeling and thinking at that time. All of these "dos and don'ts" videos are saving a lot people money, time, and from the insanity of it all. Thanks for keepjng it real. Im headed to buy the transformer now....
Your issue all along was a weak transformer. The voltage doesn't matter. When you're checking it you're checking it under no load, the issue is the lack of amperage. Replacing your transformer with a better one would have allowed you to use your mechanical doorbell. You didn't need to use that one that plugs in. Glad you got it working though, Ring is a great product.
In case it helps you and your viewers: The reason that Ring will send you their "Pro Power Kit" (which is basically just an inline fuse) is because when you bypass the bell and wire the Ring directly to the transformer, when anyone pushes the button to ring the bell, the unit will short the two wires together internally. When the bell is attached this causes is to ring, but when the bell is gone there is no load on the circuit so it just creates a dead short. This can damage or ruin your transformer, hence the fuse. The good news is that, all you have to do to prevent this is to go into the settings in the Ring app, and be sure that you select the "Doorbell Type" to "None." By selecting this option the default behavior is changed so that the short doesn't happen. Just be aware that if you don't change this setting and someone presses the bell button, if you don't have the fuse installed it will probably burn up your transformer. If this happens and you DO have the fire installed, it will definitely blow the fuse. Hope this helps.
I follow all the steps and it works, in the beginning is difficult , I am a old woman ,73 years . Do as the support tell you, go slowly, ring is a good product. Good luck
This video completely describes my entire thoughts and experience with Ring minus the calling into support and wasting time. Bought the exact amp from Amazon and it took about 5 minutes to set up after that. Thanks for a few laughs and for the advice!
chris primavera I’m not a handy person at all so I wanna make sure I understand this properly. What exactly am I connecting to the ELK transformer? Thanks in advance
Great video. I installed a Ring Pro for my brother a couple of years ago. It has worked good but with some occasional/intermittent issues. The performance deteriorated over time and recently it quit powering up. He replaced it with a new Ring and same problem. Not sure if the transformer failed or if the voltage and or amperage is sufficient. Going there in a couple of days to check things out. Your information is EXACTLY what I was looking for to successfully troubleshoot the issue. Thanks for the vid. Kudos
After trying a multitude of things, I ran across your video and bought the plug-in transformer that you mentioned from Amazon. Started working great. Thanks for the tip.
I had Gatorade shoot out of my nose the first time I watched this video because Mr. Eardely is 100% accurate and funny as hell. I had the same power issues because as Mr. Eardley accurately points out, you need the Elk 24V AC 40 VA (volt amp) transformer. I tried a Thomas & Betts 24V AC 20 VA transformer and if the wire run is more than 20 feet, you NEED the 40 VA Elk unit. Also, use 20 gauge or LOWER wire. I had the added bonus of insufficient WIFI signal and I had to add a Verizon network expander AND a Net Gear AC750 extender so that the Net Gear extender was within 6 feet of the Ring Pro. The rest of the support comments he makes are spot on as well as the host of electrical add-ons that Ring sends out no charge that don't do a damn thing. Loved the video!
YOU R THE MAN! I was going crazy when I first installed the Pro everything worked. It took all of 10 minutes and then the next day everything went dead. I bought a larger transformer and still to no avail. I bought a chime pro(Wi Fi) and it still kept could not connect to my ASUS RT-AC3100 router which is powerful enough that I can see it across the street at my neighbors house. My wife said its probably a power issue so I bought a Utilitech that did not work and Nutone C907 16volt 30va that did not work so I returned them and then purchased a new mechanical doorbell $20. That still did not work I could see 18 volts at the transformer and 18 at the doorbell. Ring doorbell chimed outside and mechanical doorbell ding dong on the inside, but still could not connect to my Wi-Fi. The Ring doorbell light just kept circling and on my phone it was displaying an authorization issue. Long story short I found your video and ordered the ELK-TRG2440 transformer Amazon Prime rushed it one day shipping. I connected my two wires on the end of the transformer leaving the middle free and BANG! instant connection everything is working fast on my 5G network. I cant remember but my volt meter showed 24 volts at each end. So no Ring Chime, No Chime Pro just straight from transformer to mechanical doorbell to Ring Pro and BAMMMM/Shazaaaam!!! Thank YOU!!!!!!
Yes but the old electromechanical chimes tend to do weird electrical shit every once in a while which is why they recommend using the fuse in between. However you can avoid everything by hardwiring directly and forgetting about the old chime doorbell and get the Ring Chime....voila problem solved. By the way guys, the old white box that went in to the old electromechanical housing had a fuse inside....that could not be changed. It would prevent the Ring from blowing instead...then once you replace that white box and press the reset button on the side of the Ring...poof it would work...but all that is a big pain in the proverbial derriere so instead get rid of that antiquated electromechanical crap and get the chime...
Thank you for the video, your frustration is matched with mine! I have exactly all the same problems you had, RING'S customer support has sent me some much of that same crap to try and nothing works. I am soo frustrated that I don't know what to do. I've replace so many transformers, returned so many RING Doorbell's, all that you've described. Your video totally helps, I'll order that power supply today.
Brilliant video and your solution resolved all of my power issues. The transformer in my house here is probably close to 50 years old and was designed to put out 16 volts but a volt/ohmmeter indicated it was deliivering right about 17.24 but it just wasn't enough. The Ring Pro would fire up fine during the day but at night when the special LEDs fired up for night vision the current draw would cause the unit to act unpredictably and when it occurred it would cause our ancient mechanical doorbell chime to create a rapid buzzing sound which I've seen numerous threads on in the subreddit for the ring bells. I even was able to verify that turning off the porch light with the old transformer and the bell going into low light mode would cause the doorbell solenoid to buzz loudly and rapidly creating a potential for fire due to comstant current overdraw and when the light was back on again it would work fine. To make a long story short replacing the old transformer with The Elk model ELK-TRG2440 transformer took care of all of these problems either porch light on or off and from one musician to another I tip my hat to you Maco5555! Great video and awesome job!
Update - maybe I was unaware of this before but you can actually detect the current draw of the ring by bringing up the app on your phone, tap the hamburger menu in the upper left hand side of the user interface and tap on devices. Then tap your doorbell. One of the options in that menu is device health. Under "power" there's a voltage heading which for me currently says "good" but you can tap on the "good" and it turns into the current voltage. Presently mine is reading 4010mV. Nice to know it actually can produce meaningful data. It will be interesting to see what that turns into come nightfall because I know for a fact it draws more power to run the night vision stuff.
Love your FRENCH. Totally feel you. I’m going through the same issues. Bottom line is you need more voltage going to the Ring and older systems might be inadequate. They hire level 1 people in support to read scripts. Very painful for consumers with problems.
In newer houses, they carry the pair of wires from the transformer in your basement to the box behind your door bell, from there they run the pair going to the push button... The problem I had was Ring worked but didn't make my mechanical bell chime...for some reason you have to make sure that the Trans screw is hooked up to directly to one side of the bell transformer and not to the front terminal!
You are awesome and 100% accurate! Ring should include the $13.00 24V transformer for $250. I returned my first one like you did. Went on youtube saw this video and ordered a 24V transformer from amazon, plugged it in and worked like it's suppose to work.
Thanks for saving me the headache. I just got a ring 2 and I know now I have to buy a transformer. You should make more fix it yourself videos. I was cracking up.
Thanks Maclaine, your video was hilarious. I bought the Ring Pro doorbell with a couple of Ring floodlights a couple of weeks ago and installed them pretty quickly. The floodlights work flawlessly, no issues whatsoever. The doorbell, however, was giving me problems. My house is over 50 years old and so is my mechanical chime. When I tried hooking up the Ring doorbell to the wiring, (with the "power kit" wired up also, guess it come with the packaging now), the chime would work for about an hour, then nothing. I removed the power kit and the chime would work for another hour, then no power again. Bought another chime kit at Home Depot, but the same thing kept happening. Wasn't sure what voltage the existing transformer was, but was thinking that was probably the issue. After searching all over for it, I finally found it in the furnace closet. It was only 10v, so it wasn't providing enough power. Saw this video and was debating whether to just change the wired transformer or switch to a plug in. After looking around in the furnace closet, I noticed there was a plug-in transformer from a security system that we disabled many years ago. It was only 15v, but I said, WTH, transferred the wires from the old 10v transformer to the plug-in, wired up the old chime with the power kit, and now it works like a charm! Was able to use 50 year old existing chime, got refund from Home Depot for the new chime and didn't have spend any more $$$ for a transformer!!! Thanks everyone for all the comments, they were all helpful!!!
Jameson Lee I have 19volts at the door bell wires and I have blank screen after several minutes of if being powered. I powered off the 18volts at the circuit breaker and powered back on and it worked fine for a few mins then power in the device health status shows very good to 4315mV
Like I said before though....the old electromechanical doorbells have strange issues and can blow the fuse of your transformer or that white box and it's built-in fuse (which can't be replaced) because it will eventually blow and you'll be back at square one....listen to the video and get the 24V 40VAC and then remove the old doorbell from the equation and get the Ring Chime....you'll thank us in 6 months.
Man I truly love your narration! If we could have our kids teachers teach like this our country would be graduating brilliant kids. Thanks this was awesome
I dont know if you're being sarcastic because of my language or if you genuinely enjoyed my step by step troubleshooting process. Either way thanks for the comment.
Finally somebody makes a video that explains this. All other videos are junk. I bought the 16v model since I didn’t know what I was doing. So far my issues are over but I will give a few more days before I secure it.
Great info.. just got screwed with this today. I had 18.56VAC on my lines too and it never powered on at all. I just got the return authorization from the Amazon vendor but will check the transformer tomorrow. Thanks for the video it was awesome.
Thank you so much, yes it has been a very frustrating process for my husband. We received two replacement rings with out any success. Your video showed us the light and it worked!!!! Thanking you again :)
No problem. If you bought the same transformer I did don't worry about the comments talking about ditching the little pro power cable which is a fuse. The transformer comes with an inline ptc fuse built in.
I think this video is great for someone experiencing the issues you had. It can also prepare you on what to expect when calling for help if that ever happens. When I saw the fuse they sent you I thought how in the world will that ever help. Waiting for a solution and getting a fuse is kind of like kicking someone when they are down, but you stuck with it until the problem was solved, and everyone else with similar issues will benefit from it. Nice work and a bit animated delivery, better than many of the boring videos on RUclips.
Agreed about Ring response to emails - they don't read and answer your question but link you to FAQ. The same FAQ you read before asking for help via email. I am UK and specs says a 8 - 24 VAC Transformer is required
8:58. You’re welcome. Also, important to note... the unit needs to charge. We thought we had the same issue but after we changed the transformer, it still didn’t work. Turns out the internal battery needs to fully charge before it can enter setup mode. Unit didn’t appear to come on. I walked away from it in frustration and, after watching more videos, went back to it about an hour later and found a dark blue light that looked to be about 3/4 of the way around and the remaining 1/4 was flashing. I left the unit alone for about another hour and sure enough, once it finished charging, it was in setup mode and worked fine. Just something to keep in mind.
Thanks! I had an ac adapter 18v 500mA and all I got was part of the ring blinking. After an hour it went into setup mode just like you said. Going to let it run sitting on the inside window sill for a couple days before installing at front door.
Frustrations are high it seems. I got my ring 2 installed the other day with the mechanical doorbell working. Before I bought it, my doorbell hadn't worked since I moved in 6 yrs ago. Just hadn't gotten around to looking into it. It's a very old house, cloth wires. I will try to summarize. I knew i needed to install a transformer.. picked up a transformer from Lowe's and also picked up wiring that was below the Ring doorbell at the store. Fun fact, dont use that wire! It will provide the voltage but not the amps required for your ring. Volts input into find is just as important as amps the wire can provide. I used a thicker braided wire to run through-out circuit. That wire they sent you is a clue, it is much thicker than what you have. They can both provide the volts, the thicker one can also provide the amps. Think of it like water, you can have the required PSI, if you use a small pipe, it wont have the correct amount of flow. You CAN use your mechanical doorbell easy enough with only 18vac at ring, just need a thicker wire for the amps. It is a simple fix. You are right though, the people who are at ring probably are reading off a screen. Would be better if they hired electricians to answer calls..lol. anyway, if you still want to give it a shot, use thicker braided wire, tight connections and at least 16VAC transformer.
24V 40VA To figure out what the VA equals 40 volt amps divided by 24 volts . 1.66 amps of current available. The small wire they sent to you is a fuse and not a "power booster". A fuse is a safety for a device in case of too much current.
I know exactly what you went through. I just finished going round and round with Ring. They are sending me a Ring Pro to replace Ring 2 that NEVER worked as advertised. Hope to have better luck with PRO. Great video! Laughed my ass off because you sounded just like me !
So glad I found your video, I was on my second Ring Pro that appeared to be DOA. I was actually getting 20v at the front door, however just like you, I couldn't even get the thing to turn on. In my case it was the cheap transformer, rated at 16V 10VA. Just not enough Volt-Amps/watts to power the thing even though the voltage was fine. I was able to source a hardwired transformer with the same specs as your wall socket version (24V 40VA). Swapped them out and it powered up. Like you said, Ring's customer service, although friendly and more than willing to send me new/replacement Ring Pro's, not once did they ask me about the VA rating on my transformer. Why their customer service never mentioned that is bizarre to me as that alone would have solved this problem. Anyway because of your video, mine is working now with my original door chime. Thank you, thank you!
I REALLY enjoyed your video no joke it was extremely helpful along with entertaining because I talk exactly the same when I'm frustrated with something. Thanks so much again for a great job.
Purchased the ring pro from homedepot. Living in Canada, the box and product manual came with french instructions ony for some reason. No worries, watched the video and downloaded instructions from Ring website. I to experienced the issues with the unit not powering on. I am an EE so started to dig into the issues (not having seen this youtube post at that point). Using mechanical Nutone door bell BL125L and c905 16 v 10VA transformer, confirmed no issue with wiring, voltage 21.4V at door and at chime. Current draw seemed to be in the 70ma at the door. Ring pro would never power up wired at door and or at chime/transformer. Called Ring and spoke to a a customer service rep who I could tell was just reading from a scrip. No idea what he was saying. Put me on hold and came back on a few minutes later. Said they were extremely busy with call volumes and someone would call me back within 24hrs. No one called me back past 24hrs. Having worked in the hardware electonics business this usually means one thing. Hardware issues. Went and bought a 24v 20VA 16V transformer, and installed it. Still no luck using 24v or 16v. Returned product to HomeDepot. Reading this post (and subsequenty Rings article on the ELK24v 40A (that 1.66A peak) would be required to power the Ring Pro. Find it very hard to believe a Ring Pro would draw more than 1A. Very poorly designed power supply is my guess. Anyway, very disatisfied with this product. Glad I bought it at HomeDepot as they did not question my return. Will try the SkyBell next.
I was able to piece your video together to get the information I needed to install my Ring Pro, Thank you. I was yelled at, by my kids, several times for the language used in the video. They did not like it at all!
I just unsuccessfully went through the second stage of trying the 'free' chime and power cable. Thank you for posting - very informative. I have now ordered the ELK transformer. It's frustrating to have wasted so much time, but am looking forward to using the Ring Pro...maybe...soon.
I had no issue at my Mom's house with mechanical chime, all I did was two wires from button on to ring with that diode they sent. 5 minutes I was done and ringing.
Perfect. I've had the same problem for about 6 months. The first time their firmware killed the unit but they sent a replacement with a power kit. I metered and replaced the transformer. Worked fine for about 3 months & started having power issues again. Wires & transformer are fine. I call Ring to ask for one of these power cables & they email me a 20-step troubleshooting form and expect me to fill it out, take pictures, then return it for them to review. Pure BS. Awesome product when it works, but considering that they obviously know this is a widespread issue & do nothing productive about it really pisses me off. I'm going to go the same route and wire a decent plug in xfmr.
THANK YOU! I thought I was the only one having trouble with Ring’s products. I came across this video because Ring gave me a Doorbell Pro as a way to say sorry for the headaches I’ve been experiencing with their Floodlight Cam. I’m on my 3rd floodlight cam and 2nd Chime Pro. I was checking out review videos for the doorbell. I too, wish this system would just work but it’s been more of a pain in the ass than anything. BTW, my wife said I sound exactly like you with the frustration I’ve been experiencing with this LOL.
Good shit. Hang in there and hopefully you get it figured out. Hopefully Ring pulls their heads out of their asses and improves the customer service. Another story of a start up company taking a shot, making it big, growing too fast and then shitting on their customers. Ring as a company probably tried to automate the customer service side of things since they grew so fast but as I've said, it sucks and no one who works there has a solution.
Hi. Thank you for your video. You are a patient man, I am not. After I saw your video, I returned the device. Thank you for taking the time to show all the details. Save me from going crazy!!
Don't let my video deter you as the Ring Pro works very well once it's finally installed correctly. If you really want to keep your mechanical chime in the wiring scheme then my video isn't for you. I could have probably upgraded to a 24V doorbell transformer but I was done messing around at that point.
That was a riot. I've been fighting with mine for a week. Ring is sending me a transformer (my doorbell was only 5 V!) and power kit - but maybe I won't need either one. Thanks.
Awesome and entertaining video! You basically just described my last month of hell. Like you, I ended up running new 18 gauge wire. The run is under 3 feet. I also got the Elk 40VA transformer. 40VA is a power rating. 40VA/24V means it should be able to provide 1.67A of current. Today it appears to be working and hasn’t gone offline for 30 minutes which is a miracle. What I have noticed however is a wide range of voltages being reported. 4.2, 3.99, 3.67, etc. Every time I check its different. With the brand new wire and transformer it should be solid at well over 4. When I first added the new transformer it was at night and it went offline in ten minutes. I saw a post that 1.9.2 firmware messed something up with the IR LEDs which may explain what happened. Maybe after all the screwing around it somehow damaged the input power circuit. If it goes offline tonight I will call Ring and see about a replacement.
Mine stopped working altogether about 5 months ago. Sorry for the late reply by the way. I had to call ring and the updated the firmware to the device while i was on the phone. You have to take the doorbell off and undo the wires to kill the power completely. Probably the same issue I had.
Funny video, even though you had a terrible experience, and I'm sorry about you getting the run-around but glad to see you got up and running in the end. The red fused cable is for circuit protection. If it wasn't working most likely the fuse was blown. However, the plug-in transformer you got has a PTC, which is a built in form of circuit protection.
Thank you for your honest and realistic feedback. I'll be honest, if I made this video, I might have a few more F words cause this is just pissing me off. From the no power to the no real help. I am now going my 3rd round with the ring pro because of your video. Thanks again.
I hear you....I had issues with my Ring Video Doorbell Pro as well. I ended up after all the phone calls getting a high powered Transformer installed only after having a electrician check my voltage on my original transformer that was getting about 18 volts. Now, I'm pushing 40Volts and no issues with my doorbell whatsoever. The only difference between you and I was that yours didn't power up at all and mine would have power but then a hour or two later drop power. So I feel your pain but am glad it finally worked. Oh, and Ring thought it might have been a hardware issue and sent me a free replacement ring doorbell pro.
They were nice enough to send me the chime for free but that was already after a lengthy conversation. It's nice they hooked you up with the pro model. I have to say after all of the aggravation it is an awesome product.
MACLAIN EARDLEY Do you find that the volume of the speaker from the ring pro is very soft? That you have to put ur ear near to ring pro in order to do that?
Dewei Zhang in all honesty, no I don't but that could be because my home has a over hang and a wall across from the doorbell so it helps amplify the sound.
FYI the fuse protects ring from burning your house to the ground. Sorry for being blunt but I’m an electrician and have seen 2 faulty ring system short out the chime and basically melted and almost caught on fire. That’s what the fuse protects you from.
The plug in transformer has an inline ptc fuse. I'm assuming this is why the pro power cable (with fuse that I cussed out) didn't work in rings suggested wiring scheme with the plug in transformer. Does that sound accurate? I've had this going for 2 years now with no problem.
If your transformer has a built in fuse that will be safe to use. What I’ve seen was people adding the ring system to their old doorbell system and when there’s a malfunction with the ring doorbell the chime inside the house stays powered up causing it get get really hot and melt because doorbell system are not typically fused.
thanks for the video. One would think there would be more information on their website. But what ever. This was exactly what helped. I tested by connecting it to my Humidifier transformer and it allowed me to set up. You are correct though. It needs it's own power source. Good video!
MACLAIN EARDLEY ...hey brother..so...i called ring because i was having network cinnection w my floodlights and they offered to send me a chime pro..basically..a wifi extender/chime ..that takes care of the connection with the floodlights...then..i told them that i have the ring pro..but no existing doorbell...they ...shit!!! Ill cut it short.... i ordered tge transformer on your video ELK 24v 40v..they recommend 16v 24v...have you had any problems lately since the ine you have has more voltage(24) than the required (16v). Im pretty bad when it comes to shit like this...so..i can plug in the transformer anywhere in the house..close to the ring pro..and then run the cables to it? Plug in...cables from ring pro to transforner and thats it? Also..how do you make it ring when thry push the button?...does that wifi extenderchime shit connect to the ring pro or i have to run more cables to it?. Thanks in advance bro
Yup. Just plug in the transformer and the wires from it go right to the back of the Ring Pro, either screw. The chime will ring but you have to link it to the Ring Pro. It's easy to set up in the app. Once you see your chime icon in the app you can click on it. Then "Linked Devices" is an option. Click that and you can link that particular chime to the Ring Pro and You're good to go!!
dude. this video had me ROLLING. I bought a Ring Pro last week and hooked it up, all wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. hooked it up and double-checked it before being met with immense letdown. I basically read every review you read, where it could be THIS or THIS or THIS...and good luck, once you actually get it powered on because then you may have CONNECTIVITY ISSUES. Gee thanks, Ring, for creating these other random a accessories that are supposed to fix the product that already cost $250. How do these other pieces of equipment even exist?!
You connected into the transformer incorrectly, you needed to connect one side into the AC and the other side into the ground. That pro power wire looks like it's just a fuse line, it just helps protect your equipment (Ring Pro) in case the transformer stuffs up. Connect the pro power wire in line into the AC connection and then connect one wire into that and then into the Ring Doorbell Pro, connect the other wire into the ground connections and into the other line of the Ring Doorbell Pro and see how you go.
LOL...this guy is hysterical. I literally am in the middle of the same run around. My doorbell has worked flawlessly for about 2 months now its just crapping out daily. I just got the pro power kit today I will def press for the free chime.
Just give them shit and hopefully they will hook you up. Maybe if you mention that I got a free one they will be forced to hand one over. At least if you comply with some of their troubleshooting bullshit that is....
Loved your video and take on your problems. I'm glad you got it to work and turn on, at least. However, if you're like me, you never got a free chime, and now that old analog chime is a paperweight (for you), or relic hanging on the wall (for me) because if you take it down there's no paint and a giant hole. Really, they should address how much power you will/should need to power an analog doorbell. I want the old school sound and chime... I'll anti up the $12 for a chime, but these old doorbells shouldn't be relegated to paper weights/relics.
They actually sent me the plug in chime about 2 years ago and its great because it literally just plugs into the wall near my door. I can unplug it when i'm cleaning and when I plug it back in it automatically reconnects.
@@maco_5555 Will definitely be picking one up, since the new 16V 30VA transformer is not powering the one I have. It is also not keeping the doorbell charged now, either.
Love your colorful vocabulary. I'm watching your video to see if I can fix mine that stopped worked after 2 years. Thanks for the vid. But mine is just dead.
LMAO! Thanks for posting this. You have probably saved me a couple of weekends frustration by revealing that Ring has robotic customer service. I'll cut to the solution.
one thing I discovered in my scenario was our house had a "Class 3" transformer. from what I understand, that sort of transformer sends current dependant upon need. This, opposed to a Class 2, which gives a consistent current, wreaked havoc on my set up too. low and behold, changed to a 15 dollar "Class 2" transformer, and it works perfect now. Not info I've seen readily available-
That is excellent information! Could be why I had to abandon my doorbell transformer. Unfortunately the Home Depot only offers one 16v transformer as the only option.
Had the same issue. I had a 16v transformer but it didn't have enough AH (amp hour) to run the ring pro. I simply replaced it with a 16v 15AH transformer and it wotked perfectly
Lol! I’m being serious, in a good way, when I say I laughed my ass off watching this video & understand the frustration when shit doesn’t work. Had similar issues, but I’m an electronics engineer who designs far more complex stuff for a living, so I got mine up & running in an evening after pulling out $2K worth of test equipment & rigging up a massive 16 volt 2000 VA (yes 2000 VA) transformer as a temp solution until I can get an 18 volt 60VA one from work. While troubleshooting, I was like “Ain’t no fucking way your average dude is going to figure out how to fix this stupid shit without a lot of bullshit... What the fuck was Ring thinking?” Anyways, nice “No BS” video. I always like the unfiltered feedback on the stuff I design, hopefully the Chinese engineers that Ring uses get this type of feedback.
not Chinese engineer. I know a fucker that worked on the doorbell from school. We both studied EE. I don't know why on earth they couldn't just hire a good designer to fix the power issue.
Dude. This should have been the first RUclips video l looked at to install this fucking thing. Bought an old house and everything is just, well, old! My chime provavly hasn't worked in years. I'm gonna give this a go. Makes complete sense to me. Thanks man.
Hey I know this is a late reply but thanks for watching the video. Ring has got a lot better with customer service and to this date I have never had problem with mine except there was a big update. I had to call them and unscrew the ring from the wires and update it and screw the wires back in.
Maco this is the best Video for ring door bell pro i have seen, i had your problems and let me tell you , my man this is the great help and i love the fuck work as many times as your used it, it made the video more understanding. Thanks again MY Man Tom of cape coral fl.
I gotta say, this is basically 100% correct. I mean I know from personal experience that the ringpro can run off a 16vac power... But Not always, and in cases where it isn't even turning on, I almost feel like Ring's answer should be to recommend a 24vac one... I mean I'm having a hard time seeing why not.
You sound like me right now. Left them a pristine review. 😂 Hey, question. I fortunately have power to mine, so that hurdle has been jumped. Was able to set it up (at least the camera portion works). My issue however, the doorbell portion only worked once initially on the ring side. Meaning, when I went to test it, it the Ring-wired doorbell itself rang, but the chime in my house DID NOT. So. Currently I have a front door camera that has power and is connected to my wifi, but it doesn’t ring. The pushing mechanism seems to be stuck in a…mode. What I’ve got is a solid white light. Which I looked up on Ring’s “support” page, and…needless to say it was less than helpful to read that the Ring solid light indicates “idle”. Well, what does that mean? I have no idea, bc that’s the only info available. Any expert advice you can dish my way would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time. I appreciate your frustration 😂
Classic video - excellent. I honestly don't know why Ring doesn't include a 16v 30VA trasnformer in the bloody box. I had issues with mine when first setting up. I'm thinking there is a small battery inside the ring that needs to charge up that balances out a transformer at 16v 10va..........but if you have "heavy use" on that battery you'll drop below the power threshold. ie the transformer can't keep up. So ya - go on amazon and buy a 16v 30va transformer. Rings answer seems to be to give you a chime speaker - which is a crap solution IMO. Long and short - if you want to use your Ring Pro WITH your old doorbell chime.......GET A 16V 30VA transformer. A higher voltage transformer will decrease the coil life on your existing doorbell - ie if your current is 16v and you replace with a 24v.
I did hook one up direct with 16VAC without that resistor, it's worked for almost a year, but just today stopped charging. I have to fly from CA to NY to figure out what's up. It does say in manual and on line you need this resistor about 6 bucks and 12 to ship it.. I am thinking with mechanical doorbell you are putting the Ring in series with transformer, so without it something might burn up.
Ok so unscrew your old doorbell from the wall outside. Make sure the breaker is off and tie a long and strong string around the 2 wires that you should be presented with. Make sure you know where those wires go to. In my case it was in the basement underneath my front door. Once you tie a string around the wires outside in a tight knot, go to your basement and tug on the wires gently. Again, in my case I had insulation foam sprayed around the hole the wires came through so I had to pull harder. once you get your wires pulled through your string will be attached and you can fix new wires onto your plug in transformer and pull the new wire up from the string on your front porch. Hope this makes sense. If not then message me.
so with the wires exposed outside on your porch or wherever your doorbell is, tie a really long and durable string to the wires. go into your basement and find where the wires lead through the ceiling. im lucky in this instance because my basement isn't finished so i can see all the wiring and pipes on my ceiling. i found the wires for my doorbell and began to slowly pull them to see if there was resistance. there was. There was spray foam insulation filling the hole that the wires were going through so i had to scrape that away. after that i slowly pulled again and was able to pull the old wire out with my long string attached. now that your long string is fished from your basement ( or wherever) to your doorbell, you can attach new wires in your basement, tie it to your long string and go to where your doorbell is to pull your string (with new wires attached up and out). pretty ingenious.
That fuse and that wire they provide doesn't do anything. If I fry my Ring somehow I would imagine they would be nice enough to send me a new one given that the Ring Pro doesn't even come with the pro power cable piece of shit I mentioned in the video.
like donovan said, the pro cable is just a fuse meant to keep your pro from frying. it might not have worked if the fuse arrived broken during shipping or whatnot. it can also double as a bypass around the chime if you wanted. the pro kit (the square bit with wires attached to your mechanical chime) is a relay. since the pro needs constant power, pressing the doorbell button would create a constant supply of power to the chime never letting it reset to ding again. the relay lets the power cut off from the chime while still supplying constant voltage to the pro doorbell. thsi many months later, is your doorbell still going strong?
Hope Ring watch your video and lessons learn for them. I got the god damn pro tonight, bought plug transformer AC to AC ~16.5VAC 40VA to power the Ring pro up, power up, and se up OK. After couple minutes, no power to ring, I checked the power output by Transformer, no voltage, dead, got another Same Tx it dead again after couple minutes. I googled and find your video. Damn, your pointed to the point, the god damn Ring pro needs fucking 24VAC instead spec calls out 16-24VAC. Thanks bro, I will buy 24VAC Tf and give it one more try before I go back to Ring doorbell 3
I had the same run-around nonsense with RIng support. I went through two pros and eventually got a Ring 2 with a battery since I never got the power to work consistently. It would turn off after 4-10 hours. I replaced the original transformer with two different units. Nothing worked. Maybe I'll pick up a used Pro on eBay someday and try it out with this transformer.
Of course this works great but, if you also want to keep your mechanical doorbell, the doorbell transformer can be upgraded as well to solve the problem. The voltage is not the critical part, the amperage is. Run-of-the-mill doorbell transformers are 16 volt - 10vA. The 10vA is the issue. 30vA (or greater) output capability is needed. It was the first Ring customer service associate that provided me that information so they are apparently more aware of the real issue now. However, I do now have another issue with mine. The evening sun will beam in and heat the Ring to 148°F and it will shutdown until cooled. They state that It is good for 120°F and apparently they mean it. I haven't found a good solution for this issue on my house yet (other than a cloudy day). It is much more frustrating than the amperage problem.
I think you are on to something. I am using a plug-in transformer 12VAC and 20vA that was running my original Ring Doorbell with a mechanical doorchime to now run my new Ring Doorbell Pro and it works "OK" during the day. Functions on the Ring Pro all work fine but the mechanical chime rings with a 3 second delay. If I push the doorbell again then it may not ring the mechanical chime. This recovers after a few minutes. At night with night vision on, the mechanical chime is not reliable at all. Probably because the night vision is drawing more voltage and current. So am I guessing that both you and MaClain are correct. the 24VAC and 40vA solves the problem. I also did use the powerkit on the mechanical chime. I ordered the Elk 24VAC 40vA plug-in transformer last night. Will let everyone know if it solves the mechanical chime problem.
When you switch the transformer from 12VAC & 20vA to 24VAC & 40vA, did you notice any difference in your mechanical door bell chime? Its not buzzing or work any different than before?
Nathan C, I did not. After spending hours (and I mean hours) on the phone with Ring CS I do know that when the Ring Pro Power Kit goes bad it will cause a mechanical chime to buzz.
Ok Thanks! I’m going to try that then this weekend. Just out of curiosity, how many mV does your Ring app show now? Mine is working on the 12volt transformer that is currently installed but it’s sporadic at best.
Nathan C, 4368mV right now. I ended up getting a replacement Doorbell Pro and that's what it took to actually fix mine. It took lots of wasted time on the phone to do so.
The biggest problem is that Ring should give the specs for this thing in bold letters. I had this problem and replaced my transformer with a 24V 40vac which is approximately 40 Watts. Ring gives you the minimum of 16V but does not make clear that that the amperage is just as important. i.e. 16v 20va no good which most doorbell tranformers are at 16V. also a 24V 20va is no good as well.
Your Ring Pro requires a power source that supplies a minimum of 16 volts AC at ~30 volt-amps. To check the voltage of your Ring Pro, open the Ring app, select your Ring Pro, and tap Device Health. For Ring Pro to function correctly, the voltage needs to be at least 3,900mV.
This is the best explanation that I have seen! Thank you and I'm pinning this for others to understand.
Even if your health shows 3900mV you could still be in trouble. As that's measured by the ring pro when its not in use. If you have it hooked up to use your old doorbell (ding dong), powering the solenoid on your old doorbell could starve your Pro of power causing it to lose connectivity/reset. You are 100% correct on your message - just don't have people rely on the health voltage inside the ring app...........and save yourself a headache and just buy a 30VA tranformer
There is only one Nutone C907 I have found that is 16V and 30VA. Will that be enough? It does satisfy both Ring's 16V requirement and higher amperage for Pro bell.
Imran Khan it did not work for me. Ring suggested it but the device still doesn’t power up. 😡
Youre exactly right. I had 16v 20vc to the camera and it wouldnt work at all. I replaced with the same 24v 40vc that is shown here and it works flawlessly now. No need for the extra bs that ring inckudes in the kit. Straight from 24v/40vc to the ring doorbell.
So many videos talking about the power issues, but yours is the only one that shows the struggle, and every aspect of the solution. Thank you for that!
I have had two ring doorbells at two different houses, both of which I installed myself following the instructions AND the POWER requirement was clearly spelled out. Installed both Ring Doorbells without any problems and my mechanical doorbell worked as well, excellent product. Clearly, you had a power issue you were ignoring which Ring clearly tells you about in the instructions. However, after watching your video it is also clear that you have limited language and vocabulary capabilities, which I suspect would have complicated your conversations with customer support. Great Product.
This video is two years old, but I just got a Ring Pro and everything I've read says 16-24v and min 30VA. If you order a ring Pro, order a 24v 40VA transformer with it. There are several hard wired options as well as the plug in step down transformer. I just paid $17 for one. The red pro power wire they sent is a resistor, and is needed if you don't have a traditional chime (you took yours out of the system), which acts as a resistor itself. Or, if you have a long run of wire, that may be enough resistance that their pro power resistor would not be needed or wanted (probably your case).
Your solution was the only one that worked. I feel your frustration. 22-year I.T. Engineer and I felt like a toddler.
Glad it helped you out. I almost gave up.
The review/help video made me smile.
Love this guys take on his problems
Same to me. Bro. Ring And chime drive me crazy
This is what I did after 2 ring doorbell pros and 6 months of poor voltage and frustration. Works. This guy is hilarious.
$20 for the Elk today. I hooked up two Ring Pros front and side doors and it worked like a charm. Avoiding the whole doorbell portion was the key. I don’t have a chime. As long as it rings my phone is what I want. Thanks for info. I understand the frustration. They should seriously start with this first if it’s hardwired.
so you just bought the adapter , plugged it into an electical socket , ran the two wires to the pro and it turned on? can't wait to order this adapter.
Thank you for this video. I was already frustrated because it only took about a year for me to convince my family members who are neither electricians or "techy" but are good at figuring stuff out. The instructions that come in the kit are pretty straight foward and simple and they did everything you did minus the cursing. (That was all me! Lol!) After 4 hours of back and forth trips to the breaker box and listening to all of their theories ("wifi is weak", "you damaged the ring", "the cables are no good or wired wrong"), I was just as frustrated with them and dreading having to either replace my ring or calling customer service, or having to hire "a real" electrician to hook it up. I had a gut feeling that there was a missing factor and decided to see if there were any videos with people who had similiar issues before I decided. There were several out there and they all had the answer.....of course, the transformer! There was the missing factor that my intuition suspected. So, thank you for posting this video and I have to say I didn't mind the cursing because it is what anyone who has experienced this problem is actually feeling and thinking at that time. All of these "dos and don'ts" videos are saving a lot people money, time, and from the insanity of it all. Thanks for keepjng it real. Im headed to buy the transformer now....
The cursing was the best part : )
Your issue all along was a weak transformer. The voltage doesn't matter. When you're checking it you're checking it under no load, the issue is the lack of amperage. Replacing your transformer with a better one would have allowed you to use your mechanical doorbell. You didn't need to use that one that plugs in. Glad you got it working though, Ring is a great product.
Sometimes its as basic as simply recharging the internal battery via usb. These need to be recharged occasionaly
In case it helps you and your viewers: The reason that Ring will send you their "Pro Power Kit" (which is basically just an inline fuse) is because when you bypass the bell and wire the Ring directly to the transformer, when anyone pushes the button to ring the bell, the unit will short the two wires together internally. When the bell is attached this causes is to ring, but when the bell is gone there is no load on the circuit so it just creates a dead short. This can damage or ruin your transformer, hence the fuse. The good news is that, all you have to do to prevent this is to go into the settings in the Ring app, and be sure that you select the "Doorbell Type" to "None." By selecting this option the default behavior is changed so that the short doesn't happen. Just be aware that if you don't change this setting and someone presses the bell button, if you don't have the fuse installed it will probably burn up your transformer. If this happens and you DO have the fire installed, it will definitely blow the fuse. Hope this helps.
The transformer Ring recommends has an inline PTC fuse built into it.
I follow all the steps and it works, in the beginning is difficult , I am a old woman ,73 years . Do as the support tell you, go slowly, ring is a good product. Good luck
This video completely describes my entire thoughts and experience with Ring minus the calling into support and wasting time. Bought the exact amp from Amazon and it took about 5 minutes to set up after that. Thanks for a few laughs and for the advice!
chris primavera I’m not a handy person at all so I wanna make sure I understand this properly. What exactly am I connecting to the ELK transformer? Thanks in advance
Dude, don't hold back...Love the no nonsense approach. You remind me of me when I have explain shit to people. great video with solution.
Great video. I installed a Ring Pro for my brother a couple of years ago. It has worked good but with some occasional/intermittent issues. The performance deteriorated over time and recently it quit powering up. He replaced it with a new Ring and same problem. Not sure if the transformer failed or if the voltage and or amperage is sufficient. Going there in a couple of days to check things out. Your information is EXACTLY what I was looking for to successfully troubleshoot the issue. Thanks for the vid. Kudos
After trying a multitude of things, I ran across your video and bought the plug-in transformer that you mentioned from Amazon. Started working great. Thanks for the tip.
I had Gatorade shoot out of my nose the first time I watched this video because Mr. Eardely is 100% accurate and funny as hell. I had the same power issues because as Mr. Eardley accurately points out, you need the Elk 24V AC 40 VA (volt amp) transformer. I tried a Thomas & Betts 24V AC 20 VA transformer and if the wire run is more than 20 feet, you NEED the 40 VA Elk unit. Also, use 20 gauge or LOWER wire. I had the added bonus of insufficient WIFI signal and I had to add a Verizon network expander AND a Net Gear AC750 extender so that the Net Gear extender was within 6 feet of the Ring Pro. The rest of the support comments he makes are spot on as well as the host of electrical add-ons that Ring sends out no charge that don't do a damn thing. Loved the video!
YOU R THE MAN! I was going crazy when I first installed the Pro everything worked. It took all of 10 minutes and then the next day everything went dead. I bought a larger transformer and still to no avail. I bought a chime pro(Wi Fi) and it still kept could not connect to my ASUS RT-AC3100 router which is powerful enough that I can see it across the street at my neighbors house. My wife said its probably a power issue so I bought a Utilitech that did not work and Nutone C907 16volt 30va that did not work so I returned them and then purchased a new mechanical doorbell $20. That still did not work I could see 18 volts at the transformer and 18 at the doorbell. Ring doorbell chimed outside and mechanical doorbell ding dong on the inside, but still could not connect to my Wi-Fi. The Ring doorbell light just kept circling and on my phone it was displaying an authorization issue. Long story short I found your video and ordered the ELK-TRG2440 transformer Amazon Prime rushed it one day shipping. I connected my two wires on the end of the transformer leaving the middle free and BANG! instant connection everything is working fast on my 5G network. I cant remember but my volt meter showed 24 volts at each end. So no Ring Chime, No Chime Pro just straight from transformer to mechanical doorbell to Ring Pro and BAMMMM/Shazaaaam!!! Thank YOU!!!!!!
I don't know shit about wiring anything but I'm glad I could help!
Yes but the old electromechanical chimes tend to do weird electrical shit every once in a while which is why they recommend using the fuse in between. However you can avoid everything by hardwiring directly and forgetting about the old chime doorbell and get the Ring Chime....voila problem solved. By the way guys, the old white box that went in to the old electromechanical housing had a fuse inside....that could not be changed. It would prevent the Ring from blowing instead...then once you replace that white box and press the reset button on the side of the Ring...poof it would work...but all that is a big pain in the proverbial derriere so instead get rid of that antiquated electromechanical crap and get the chime...
Thank you for the video, your frustration is matched with mine! I have exactly all the same problems you had, RING'S customer support has sent me some much of that same crap to try and nothing works. I am soo frustrated that I don't know what to do. I've replace so many transformers, returned so many RING Doorbell's, all that you've described. Your video totally helps, I'll order that power supply today.
Brilliant video and your solution resolved all of my power issues. The transformer in my house here is probably close to 50 years old and was designed to put out 16 volts but a volt/ohmmeter indicated it was deliivering right about 17.24 but it just wasn't enough. The Ring Pro would fire up fine during the day but at night when the special LEDs fired up for night vision the current draw would cause the unit to act unpredictably and when it occurred it would cause our ancient mechanical doorbell chime to create a rapid buzzing sound which I've seen numerous threads on in the subreddit for the ring bells. I even was able to verify that turning off the porch light with the old transformer and the bell going into low light mode would cause the doorbell solenoid to buzz loudly and rapidly creating a potential for fire due to comstant current overdraw and when the light was back on again it would work fine. To make a long story short replacing the old transformer with The Elk model ELK-TRG2440 transformer took care of all of these problems either porch light on or off and from one musician to another I tip my hat to you Maco5555! Great video and awesome job!
Update - maybe I was unaware of this before but you can actually detect the current draw of the ring by bringing up the app on your phone, tap the hamburger menu in the upper left hand side of the user interface and tap on devices. Then tap your doorbell. One of the options in that menu is device health. Under "power" there's a voltage heading which for me currently says "good" but you can tap on the "good" and it turns into the current voltage. Presently mine is reading 4010mV. Nice to know it actually can produce meaningful data. It will be interesting to see what that turns into come nightfall because I know for a fact it draws more power to run the night vision stuff.
Love your FRENCH. Totally feel you. I’m going through the same issues. Bottom line is you need more voltage going to the Ring and older systems might be inadequate. They hire level 1 people in support to read scripts. Very painful for consumers with problems.
In newer houses, they carry the pair of wires from the transformer in your basement to the box behind your door bell, from there they run the pair going to the push button... The problem I had was Ring worked but didn't make my mechanical bell chime...for some reason you have to make sure that the Trans screw is hooked up to directly to one side of the bell transformer and not to the front terminal!
You are awesome and 100% accurate! Ring should include the $13.00 24V transformer for $250. I returned my first one like you did. Went on youtube saw this video and ordered a 24V transformer from amazon, plugged it in and worked like it's suppose to work.
Absolutely. Or they are going to get lots of returns and refunds!!
Thanks for saving me the headache. I just got a ring 2 and I know now I have to buy a transformer. You should make more fix it yourself videos. I was cracking up.
Thanks Maclaine, your video was hilarious. I bought the Ring Pro doorbell with a couple of Ring floodlights a couple of weeks ago and installed them pretty quickly. The floodlights work flawlessly, no issues whatsoever. The doorbell, however, was giving me problems. My house is over 50 years old and so is my mechanical chime. When I tried hooking up the Ring doorbell to the wiring, (with the "power kit" wired up also, guess it come with the packaging now), the chime would work for about an hour, then nothing. I removed the power kit and the chime would work for another hour, then no power again. Bought another chime kit at Home Depot, but the same thing kept happening. Wasn't sure what voltage the existing transformer was, but was thinking that was probably the issue. After searching all over for it, I finally found it in the furnace closet. It was only 10v, so it wasn't providing enough power. Saw this video and was debating whether to just change the wired transformer or switch to a plug in. After looking around in the furnace closet, I noticed there was a plug-in transformer from a security system that we disabled many years ago. It was only 15v, but I said, WTH, transferred the wires from the old 10v transformer to the plug-in, wired up the old chime with the power kit, and now it works like a charm! Was able to use 50 year old existing chime, got refund from Home Depot for the new chime and didn't have spend any more $$$ for a transformer!!! Thanks everyone for all the comments, they were all helpful!!!
Glad to help. You can tell I was pissed!
Jameson Lee I have 19volts at the door bell wires and I have blank screen after several minutes of if being powered. I powered off the 18volts at the circuit breaker and powered back on and it worked fine for a few mins then power in the device health status shows very good to 4315mV
Like I said before though....the old electromechanical doorbells have strange issues and can blow the fuse of your transformer or that white box and it's built-in fuse (which can't be replaced) because it will eventually blow and you'll be back at square one....listen to the video and get the 24V 40VAC and then remove the old doorbell from the equation and get the Ring Chime....you'll thank us in 6 months.
Man I truly love your narration! If we could have our kids teachers teach like this our country would be graduating brilliant kids. Thanks this was awesome
I dont know if you're being sarcastic because of my language or if you genuinely enjoyed my step by step troubleshooting process. Either way thanks for the comment.
Finally somebody makes a video that explains this. All other videos are junk. I bought the 16v model since I didn’t know what I was doing. So far my issues are over but I will give a few more days before I secure it.
I'm glad I could help. This video is over 2 years old now but still very relevant.
@@maco_5555 Thanks for the video.
Great info.. just got screwed with this today. I had 18.56VAC on my lines too and it never powered on at all. I just got the return authorization from the Amazon vendor but will check the transformer tomorrow. Thanks for the video it was awesome.
Thank you so much, yes it has been a very frustrating process for my husband. We received two replacement rings with out any success. Your video showed us the light and it worked!!!! Thanking you again :)
No problem. If you bought the same transformer I did don't worry about the comments talking about ditching the little pro power cable which is a fuse. The transformer comes with an inline ptc fuse built in.
I think this video is great for someone experiencing the issues you had. It can also prepare you on what to expect when calling for help if that ever happens. When I saw the fuse they sent you I thought how in the world will that ever help. Waiting for a solution and getting a fuse is kind of like kicking someone when they are down, but you stuck with it until the problem was solved, and everyone else with similar issues will benefit from it. Nice work and a bit animated delivery, better than many of the boring videos on RUclips.
It's seriously hilarious how much of a genius this kid is. And how many things he mentioned were correct.
6 years later your video is very helpful of why the ring pro is not turning on. I agree they did just say it requires 24v Thanks!
or maybe the internal battery needs to be recharged ? there is a usb plug on the left side of the ring. The battery needs to be recharged occasionally
Agreed about Ring response to emails - they don't read and answer your question but link you to FAQ.
The same FAQ you read before asking for help via email.
I am UK and specs says a 8 - 24 VAC Transformer is required
8:58. You’re welcome. Also, important to note... the unit needs to charge. We thought we had the same issue but after we changed the transformer, it still didn’t work. Turns out the internal battery needs to fully charge before it can enter setup mode. Unit didn’t appear to come on. I walked away from it in frustration and, after watching more videos, went back to it about an hour later and found a dark blue light that looked to be about 3/4 of the way around and the remaining 1/4 was flashing. I left the unit alone for about another hour and sure enough, once it finished charging, it was in setup mode and worked fine. Just something to keep in mind.
Thanks! I had an ac adapter 18v 500mA and all I got was part of the ring blinking. After an hour it went into setup mode just like you said. Going to let it run sitting on the inside window sill for a couple days before installing at front door.
Frustrations are high it seems. I got my ring 2 installed the other day with the mechanical doorbell working. Before I bought it, my doorbell hadn't worked since I moved in 6 yrs ago. Just hadn't gotten around to looking into it. It's a very old house, cloth wires. I will try to summarize. I knew i needed to install a transformer.. picked up a transformer from Lowe's and also picked up wiring that was below the Ring doorbell at the store. Fun fact, dont use that wire! It will provide the voltage but not the amps required for your ring. Volts input into find is just as important as amps the wire can provide. I used a thicker braided wire to run through-out circuit. That wire they sent you is a clue, it is much thicker than what you have. They can both provide the volts, the thicker one can also provide the amps. Think of it like water, you can have the required PSI, if you use a small pipe, it wont have the correct amount of flow. You CAN use your mechanical doorbell easy enough with only 18vac at ring, just need a thicker wire for the amps. It is a simple fix. You are right though, the people who are at ring probably are reading off a screen. Would be better if they hired electricians to answer calls..lol. anyway, if you still want to give it a shot, use thicker braided wire, tight connections and at least 16VAC transformer.
I understand the wire is not up to requirements but my ring has worked perfectly since I made that video. Thanks for the comment.
24V 40VA To figure out what the VA equals 40 volt amps divided by 24 volts . 1.66 amps of current available. The small wire they sent to you is a fuse and not a "power booster". A fuse is a safety for a device in case of too much current.
Thank you for this video. You saved me 80% frustration. The transformer is now listed for $20 on Amazon.
I know exactly what you went through. I just finished going round and round with Ring. They are sending me a Ring Pro to replace Ring 2 that NEVER worked as advertised. Hope to have better luck with PRO. Great video! Laughed my ass off because you sounded just like me !
So glad I found your video, I was on my second Ring Pro that appeared to be DOA. I was actually getting 20v at the front door, however just like you, I couldn't even get the thing to turn on. In my case it was the cheap transformer, rated at 16V 10VA. Just not enough Volt-Amps/watts to power the thing even though the voltage was fine. I was able to source a hardwired transformer with the same specs as your wall socket version (24V 40VA). Swapped them out and it powered up.
Like you said, Ring's customer service, although friendly and more than willing to send me new/replacement Ring Pro's, not once did they ask me about the VA rating on my transformer. Why their customer service never mentioned that is bizarre to me as that alone would have solved this problem. Anyway because of your video, mine is working now with my original door chime. Thank you, thank you!
Bypassing the doorbell chime?
I REALLY enjoyed your video no joke it was extremely helpful along with entertaining because I talk exactly the same when I'm frustrated with something. Thanks so much again for a great job.
Thank you! This video is for the people. I hope it works for you.
Purchased the ring pro from homedepot. Living in Canada, the box and product manual came with french instructions ony for some reason. No worries, watched the video and downloaded instructions from Ring website. I to experienced the issues with the unit not powering on. I am an EE so started to dig into the issues (not having seen this youtube post at that point). Using mechanical Nutone door bell BL125L and c905 16 v 10VA transformer, confirmed no issue with wiring, voltage 21.4V at door and at chime. Current draw seemed to be in the 70ma at the door. Ring pro would never power up wired at door and or at chime/transformer. Called Ring and spoke to a a customer service rep who I could tell was just reading from a scrip. No idea what he was saying. Put me on hold and came back on a few minutes later. Said they were extremely busy with call volumes and someone would call me back within 24hrs. No one called me back past 24hrs. Having worked in the hardware electonics business this usually means one thing. Hardware issues. Went and bought a 24v 20VA 16V transformer, and installed it. Still no luck using 24v or 16v. Returned product to HomeDepot. Reading this post (and subsequenty Rings article on the ELK24v 40A (that 1.66A peak) would be required to power the Ring Pro. Find it very hard to believe a Ring Pro would draw more than 1A. Very poorly designed power supply is my guess. Anyway, very disatisfied with this product. Glad I bought it at HomeDepot as they did not question my return. Will try the SkyBell next.
I was able to piece your video together to get the information I needed to install my Ring Pro, Thank you. I was yelled at, by my kids, several times for the language used in the video. They did not like it at all!
0:05 seconds and what a "Hardman" swearing like that, ooh, we are impressed.
I just unsuccessfully went through the second stage of trying the 'free' chime and power cable. Thank you for posting - very informative. I have now ordered the ELK transformer. It's frustrating to have wasted so much time, but am looking forward to using the Ring Pro...maybe...soon.
I had no issue at my Mom's house with mechanical chime, all I did was two wires from button on to ring with that diode they sent. 5 minutes I was done and ringing.
Perfect. I've had the same problem for about 6 months. The first time their firmware killed the unit but they sent a replacement with a power kit. I metered and replaced the transformer. Worked fine for about 3 months & started having power issues again. Wires & transformer are fine. I call Ring to ask for one of these power cables & they email me a 20-step troubleshooting form and expect me to fill it out, take pictures, then return it for them to review. Pure BS. Awesome product when it works, but considering that they obviously know this is a widespread issue & do nothing productive about it really pisses me off. I'm going to go the same route and wire a decent plug in xfmr.
THANK YOU! I thought I was the only one having trouble with Ring’s products. I came across this video because Ring gave me a Doorbell Pro as a way to say sorry for the headaches I’ve been experiencing with their Floodlight Cam. I’m on my 3rd floodlight cam and 2nd Chime Pro. I was checking out review videos for the doorbell. I too, wish this system would just work but it’s been more of a pain in the ass than anything. BTW, my wife said I sound exactly like you with the frustration I’ve been experiencing with this LOL.
Good shit. Hang in there and hopefully you get it figured out. Hopefully Ring pulls their heads out of their asses and improves the customer service. Another story of a start up company taking a shot, making it big, growing too fast and then shitting on their customers. Ring as a company probably tried to automate the customer service side of things since they grew so fast but as I've said, it sucks and no one who works there has a solution.
Your video is still relevant and helped me a lot. Just wanted to say thank you
Glad I could help! Can't believe it's been almost 5 years!
Hi. Thank you for your video. You are a patient man, I am not. After I saw your video, I returned the device.
Thank you for taking the time to show all the details. Save me from going crazy!!
Don't let my video deter you as the Ring Pro works very well once it's finally installed correctly. If you really want to keep your mechanical chime in the wiring scheme then my video isn't for you. I could have probably upgraded to a 24V doorbell transformer but I was done messing around at that point.
That was a riot. I've been fighting with mine for a week. Ring is sending me a transformer (my doorbell was only 5 V!) and power kit - but maybe I won't need either one. Thanks.
OMG good to know. I’ma just buy the plug adapter & call it a day. They should offer that as an option 🤷🏻♀️
you're the man bro, I was about to call it quits since my transformer is behind a wall. Thanks for posting this
No doubt. People talk shit in the comments about the video because I swear too much. Fuck it.
@@maco_5555 Fuck'em if they can't take a joke!
Awesome and entertaining video! You basically just described my last month of hell. Like you, I ended up running new 18 gauge wire. The run is under 3 feet. I also got the Elk 40VA transformer. 40VA is a power rating. 40VA/24V means it should be able to provide 1.67A of current. Today it appears to be working and hasn’t gone offline for 30 minutes which is a miracle. What I have noticed however is a wide range of voltages being reported. 4.2, 3.99, 3.67, etc. Every time I check its different. With the brand new wire and transformer it should be solid at well over 4. When I first added the new transformer it was at night and it went offline in ten minutes. I saw a post that 1.9.2 firmware messed something up with the IR LEDs which may explain what happened. Maybe after all the screwing around it somehow damaged the input power circuit. If it goes offline tonight I will call Ring and see about a replacement.
Mine stopped working altogether about 5 months ago. Sorry for the late reply by the way. I had to call ring and the updated the firmware to the device while i was on the phone. You have to take the doorbell off and undo the wires to kill the power completely. Probably the same issue I had.
Thank you for the video that shows I'm not crazy and they just sell a doorbell that doesn't work out of the box.
Funny video, even though you had a terrible experience, and I'm sorry about you getting the run-around but glad to see you got up and running in the end.
The red fused cable is for circuit protection. If it wasn't working most likely the fuse was blown. However, the plug-in transformer you got has a PTC, which is a built in form of circuit protection.
Thank you for your honest and realistic feedback. I'll be honest, if I made this video, I might have a few more F words cause this is just pissing me off. From the no power to the no real help. I am now going my 3rd round with the ring pro because of your video.
Thanks again.
I especially liked the last 20-30 seconds of this video. Great Social commentary.
I am in the exact same situation. They are sending me the power cable which after your video looks like wont work. Thanks for posting
I hear you....I had issues with my Ring Video Doorbell Pro as well. I ended up after all the phone calls getting a high powered Transformer installed only after having a electrician check my voltage on my original transformer that was getting about 18 volts. Now, I'm pushing 40Volts and no issues with my doorbell whatsoever. The only difference between you and I was that yours didn't power up at all and mine would have power but then a hour or two later drop power. So I feel your pain but am glad it finally worked. Oh, and Ring thought it might have been a hardware issue and sent me a free replacement ring doorbell pro.
They were nice enough to send me the chime for free but that was already after a lengthy conversation. It's nice they hooked you up with the pro model. I have to say after all of the aggravation it is an awesome product.
MACLAIN EARDLEY Do you find that the volume of the speaker from the ring pro is very soft? That you have to put ur ear near to ring pro in order to do that?
Dewei Zhang in all honesty, no I don't but that could be because my home has a over hang and a wall across from the doorbell so it helps amplify the sound.
David Feather .. speaker too soft.. i send back 3 units back to them..i also brought the power adaptor after watching ur video. Tks
Dewei Zhang to each their own. it's perfect for me. also, just a fyi, this is not my video, this is Mac's video.😉
FYI the fuse protects ring from burning your house to the ground. Sorry for being blunt but I’m an electrician and have seen 2 faulty ring system short out the chime and basically melted and almost caught on fire. That’s what the fuse protects you from.
The plug in transformer has an inline ptc fuse. I'm assuming this is why the pro power cable (with fuse that I cussed out) didn't work in rings suggested wiring scheme with the plug in transformer. Does that sound accurate? I've had this going for 2 years now with no problem.
If your transformer has a built in fuse that will be safe to use. What I’ve seen was people adding the ring system to their old doorbell system and when there’s a malfunction with the ring doorbell the chime inside the house stays powered up causing it get get really hot and melt because doorbell system are not typically fused.
Thank you so much. I've been through hell and back with this ring pro and I finally got it working.
UnseenMasterFC I feel ya
thanks for the video. One would think there would be more information on their website. But what ever. This was exactly what helped. I tested by connecting it to my Humidifier transformer and it allowed me to set up. You are correct though. It needs it's own power source. Good video!
THANK YOU for this post! Your a godsend. You solved a major problem. Bravo!
Glad I went through it first for you!
SARAH Wells trust me it's not rocket science it's 24 volts device needs
MACLAIN EARDLEY ...hey brother..so...i called ring because i was having network cinnection w my floodlights and they offered to send me a chime pro..basically..a wifi extender/chime ..that takes care of the connection with the floodlights...then..i told them that i have the ring pro..but no existing doorbell...they ...shit!!! Ill cut it short.... i ordered tge transformer on your video ELK 24v 40v..they recommend 16v 24v...have you had any problems lately since the ine you have has more voltage(24) than the required (16v). Im pretty bad when it comes to shit like this...so..i can plug in the transformer anywhere in the house..close to the ring pro..and then run the cables to it? Plug in...cables from ring pro to transforner and thats it? Also..how do you make it ring when thry push the button?...does that wifi extenderchime shit connect to the ring pro or i have to run more cables to it?.
Thanks in advance bro
Yup. Just plug in the transformer and the wires from it go right to the back of the Ring Pro, either screw. The chime will ring but you have to link it to the Ring Pro. It's easy to set up in the app. Once you see your chime icon in the app you can click on it. Then "Linked Devices" is an option. Click that and you can link that particular chime to the Ring Pro and You're good to go!!
I install these and old houses all the time that I've never have this issue you're having this is blowing my mind
Every setup video for every product should be like this one!
dude. this video had me ROLLING. I bought a Ring Pro last week and hooked it up, all wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. hooked it up and double-checked it before being met with immense letdown. I basically read every review you read, where it could be THIS or THIS or THIS...and good luck, once you actually get it powered on because then you may have CONNECTIVITY ISSUES. Gee thanks, Ring, for creating these other random a accessories that are supposed to fix the product that already cost $250. How do these other pieces of equipment even exist?!
Thanks for the motion sickness! Great content though. I don't have an existing doorbell so I will definitely try this alternative.
You connected into the transformer incorrectly, you needed to connect one side into the AC and the other side into the ground. That pro power wire looks like it's just a fuse line, it just helps protect your equipment (Ring Pro) in case the transformer stuffs up.
Connect the pro power wire in line into the AC connection and then connect one wire into that and then into the Ring Doorbell Pro, connect the other wire into the ground connections and into the other line of the Ring Doorbell Pro and see how you go.
Thanks for sharing your frustrations. If I get this, I may just leave the mechanical doorbell alone and use the rechargeable battery via the Ring 2.
LOL...this guy is hysterical. I literally am in the middle of the same run around. My doorbell has worked flawlessly for about 2 months now its just crapping out daily. I just got the pro power kit today I will def press for the free chime.
Just give them shit and hopefully they will hook you up. Maybe if you mention that I got a free one they will be forced to hand one over. At least if you comply with some of their troubleshooting bullshit that is....
Loved your video and take on your problems. I'm glad you got it to work and turn on, at least. However, if you're like me, you never got a free chime, and now that old analog chime is a paperweight (for you), or relic hanging on the wall (for me) because if you take it down there's no paint and a giant hole. Really, they should address how much power you will/should need to power an analog doorbell. I want the old school sound and chime... I'll anti up the $12 for a chime, but these old doorbells shouldn't be relegated to paper weights/relics.
They actually sent me the plug in chime about 2 years ago and its great because it literally just plugs into the wall near my door. I can unplug it when i'm cleaning and when I plug it back in it automatically reconnects.
@@maco_5555 Will definitely be picking one up, since the new 16V 30VA transformer is not powering the one I have. It is also not keeping the doorbell charged now, either.
Love your colorful vocabulary. I'm watching your video to see if I can fix mine that stopped worked after 2 years. Thanks for the vid. But mine is just dead.
LMAO! Thanks for posting this. You have probably saved me a couple of weekends frustration by revealing that Ring has robotic customer service. I'll cut to the solution.
Glad to help!
one thing I discovered in my scenario was our house had a "Class 3" transformer. from what I understand, that sort of transformer sends current dependant upon need. This, opposed to a Class 2, which gives a consistent current, wreaked havoc on my set up too. low and behold, changed to a 15 dollar "Class 2" transformer, and it works perfect now. Not info I've seen readily available-
That is excellent information! Could be why I had to abandon my doorbell transformer. Unfortunately the Home Depot only offers one 16v transformer as the only option.
Thanks for sharing the same frustration I'm experiencing! Now I think I got it... : /
Had the same issue. I had a 16v transformer but it didn't have enough AH (amp hour) to run the ring pro. I simply replaced it with a 16v 15AH transformer and it wotked perfectly
Transformer dont have AH (amp hours), batteries do. Transformers current output is meansured in VA.
Thanks for the video - I had the same problem with power! With the transformer, everything turned on. Thanks again!
The best review on RUclips, Love it and thank you for being you.
Your video was the light i needed to install my Ring Doorbell Pro.
Holy hell, I don't even have a ring and I watched this whole thing LMAO!
Helpful and enjoyed the color commentary. I totally get your frustration!
Lol! I’m being serious, in a good way, when I say I laughed my ass off watching this video & understand the frustration when shit doesn’t work. Had similar issues, but I’m an electronics engineer who designs far more complex stuff for a living, so I got mine up & running in an evening after pulling out $2K worth of test equipment & rigging up a massive 16 volt 2000 VA (yes 2000 VA) transformer as a temp solution until I can get an 18 volt 60VA one from work. While troubleshooting, I was like “Ain’t no fucking way your average dude is going to figure out how to fix this stupid shit without a lot of bullshit... What the fuck was Ring thinking?” Anyways, nice “No BS” video. I always like the unfiltered feedback on the stuff I design, hopefully the Chinese engineers that Ring uses get this type of feedback.
Glad I could help! I don't know dick about wiring anything so my frustration was the real deal.
not Chinese engineer. I know a fucker that worked on the doorbell from school. We both studied EE. I don't know why on earth they couldn't just hire a good designer to fix the power issue.
I'm going to be installing a Ring Pro today...glad I saw this video. Thanks!
I just love this guy he is so real he needs to do reviews more often
Dude. This should have been the first RUclips video l looked at to install this fucking thing. Bought an old house and everything is just, well, old! My chime provavly hasn't worked in years. I'm gonna give this a go. Makes complete sense to me. Thanks man.
No problem. Let me know if you have any questions about the setup. My Ring still works fine almost one year later.
Hey I know this is a late reply but thanks for watching the video. Ring has got a lot better with customer service and to this date I have never had problem with mine except there was a big update. I had to call them and unscrew the ring from the wires and update it and screw the wires back in.
Maco this is the best Video for ring door bell pro i have seen, i had your problems and let me tell you , my man this is the great help and i love the fuck work as many times as your used it, it made the video more understanding. Thanks again MY Man Tom of cape coral fl.
Your words match the frustration I feel with mine!
I gotta say, this is basically 100% correct.
I mean I know from personal experience that the ringpro can run off a 16vac power...
But Not always, and in cases where it isn't even turning on, I almost feel like Ring's answer should be to recommend a 24vac one...
I mean I'm having a hard time seeing why not.
I don’t like when people say bad words...and I don’t like when people say rude stuff of ring Customer service.
I'm sorry do you work for ring lol?
You sound like me right now. Left them a pristine review. 😂 Hey, question. I fortunately have power to mine, so that hurdle has been jumped. Was able to set it up (at least the camera portion works). My issue however, the doorbell portion only worked once initially on the ring side. Meaning, when I went to test it, it the Ring-wired doorbell itself rang, but the chime in my house DID NOT. So. Currently I have a front door camera that has power and is connected to my wifi, but it doesn’t ring. The pushing mechanism seems to be stuck in a…mode. What I’ve got is a solid white light. Which I looked up on Ring’s “support” page, and…needless to say it was less than helpful to read that the Ring solid light indicates “idle”. Well, what does that mean? I have no idea, bc that’s the only info available. Any expert advice you can dish my way would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time. I appreciate your frustration 😂
I brought the Ring Pro. I had so many issues I returned it immediately. I the purchase a Doorbird made in Germany, just miles ahead of ring.
The Doorbird does look amazing, and being able to unlock the doors is neat but scary to me.
Classic video - excellent. I honestly don't know why Ring doesn't include a 16v 30VA trasnformer in the bloody box. I had issues with mine when first setting up. I'm thinking there is a small battery inside the ring that needs to charge up that balances out a transformer at 16v 10va..........but if you have "heavy use" on that battery you'll drop below the power threshold. ie the transformer can't keep up. So ya - go on amazon and buy a 16v 30va transformer. Rings answer seems to be to give you a chime speaker - which is a crap solution IMO. Long and short - if you want to use your Ring Pro WITH your old doorbell chime.......GET A 16V 30VA transformer. A higher voltage transformer will decrease the coil life on your existing doorbell - ie if your current is 16v and you replace with a 24v.
I did hook one up direct with 16VAC without that resistor, it's worked for almost a year, but just today stopped charging. I have to fly from CA to NY to figure out what's up. It does say in manual and on line you need this resistor about 6 bucks and 12 to ship it.. I am thinking with mechanical doorbell you are putting the Ring in series with transformer, so without it something might burn up.
How do you connect the wires from transformer to your doorbell? As in how do you snake it outside?
Ok so unscrew your old doorbell from the wall outside. Make sure the breaker is off and tie a long and strong string around the 2 wires that you should be presented with. Make sure you know where those wires go to. In my case it was in the basement underneath my front door. Once you tie a string around the wires outside in a tight knot, go to your basement and tug on the wires gently. Again, in my case I had insulation foam sprayed around the hole the wires came through so I had to pull harder. once you get your wires pulled through your string will be attached and you can fix new wires onto your plug in transformer and pull the new wire up from the string on your front porch. Hope this makes sense. If not then message me.
so with the wires exposed outside on your porch or wherever your doorbell is, tie a really long and durable string to the wires. go into your basement and find where the wires lead through the ceiling. im lucky in this instance because my basement isn't finished so i can see all the wiring and pipes on my ceiling. i found the wires for my doorbell and began to slowly pull them to see if there was resistance. there was. There was spray foam insulation filling the hole that the wires were going through so i had to scrape that away. after that i slowly pulled again and was able to pull the old wire out with my long string attached. now that your long string is fished from your basement ( or wherever) to your doorbell, you can attach new wires in your basement, tie it to your long string and go to where your doorbell is to pull your string (with new wires attached up and out). pretty ingenious.
I never laughed so hard after being so frustrated. Thanks for the great advice.
That fuse is a fail-safe in the event of a power surge your Ring Pro doesn't fry.
That fuse and that wire they provide doesn't do anything. If I fry my Ring somehow I would imagine they would be nice enough to send me a new one given that the Ring Pro doesn't even come with the pro power cable piece of shit I mentioned in the video.
like donovan said, the pro cable is just a fuse meant to keep your pro from frying. it might not have worked if the fuse arrived broken during shipping or whatnot.
it can also double as a bypass around the chime if you wanted. the pro kit (the square bit with wires attached to your mechanical chime) is a relay. since the pro needs constant power, pressing the doorbell button would create a constant supply of power to the chime never letting it reset to ding again.
the relay lets the power cut off from the chime while still supplying constant voltage to the pro doorbell. thsi many months later, is your doorbell still going strong?
The plug in transformer has a PTC fuse built into it. No need for Rings garbage wire.
Hello sir, just purchased the elk transformer you recommended. I plan on installing today, is your transformer still working today with no problem
Only asking because some guy on another video said his transformer only lasted six months
Hope Ring watch your video and lessons learn for them. I got the god damn pro tonight, bought plug transformer AC to AC ~16.5VAC 40VA to power the Ring pro up, power up, and se up OK. After couple minutes, no power to ring, I checked the power output by Transformer, no voltage, dead, got another Same Tx it dead again after couple minutes. I googled and find your video. Damn, your pointed to the point, the god damn Ring pro needs fucking 24VAC instead spec calls out 16-24VAC. Thanks bro, I will buy 24VAC Tf and give it one more try before I go back to Ring doorbell 3
I had the same run-around nonsense with RIng support. I went through two pros and eventually got a Ring 2 with a battery since I never got the power to work consistently. It would turn off after 4-10 hours. I replaced the original transformer with two different units. Nothing worked. Maybe I'll pick up a used Pro on eBay someday and try it out with this transformer.
Of course this works great but, if you also want to keep your mechanical doorbell, the doorbell transformer can be upgraded as well to solve the problem. The voltage is not the critical part, the amperage is. Run-of-the-mill doorbell transformers are 16 volt - 10vA. The 10vA is the issue. 30vA (or greater) output capability is needed. It was the first Ring customer service associate that provided me that information so they are apparently more aware of the real issue now.
However, I do now have another issue with mine. The evening sun will beam in and heat the Ring to 148°F and it will shutdown until cooled. They state that It is good for 120°F and apparently they mean it. I haven't found a good solution for this issue on my house yet (other than a cloudy day). It is much more frustrating than the amperage problem.
I think you are on to something. I am using a plug-in transformer 12VAC and 20vA that was running my original Ring Doorbell with a mechanical doorchime to now run my new Ring Doorbell Pro and it works "OK" during the day. Functions on the Ring Pro all work fine but the mechanical chime rings with a 3 second delay. If I push the doorbell again then it may not ring the mechanical chime. This recovers after a few minutes. At night with night vision on, the mechanical chime is not reliable at all. Probably because the night vision is drawing more voltage and current. So am I guessing that both you and MaClain are correct. the 24VAC and 40vA solves the problem. I also did use the powerkit on the mechanical chime. I ordered the Elk 24VAC 40vA plug-in transformer last night. Will let everyone know if it solves the mechanical chime problem.
When you switch the transformer from 12VAC & 20vA to 24VAC & 40vA, did you notice any difference in your mechanical door bell chime? Its not buzzing or work any different than before?
Nathan C, I did not. After spending hours (and I mean hours) on the phone with Ring CS I do know that when the Ring Pro Power Kit goes bad it will cause a mechanical chime to buzz.
Ok Thanks! I’m going to try that then this weekend. Just out of curiosity, how many mV does your Ring app show now? Mine is working on the 12volt transformer that is currently installed but it’s sporadic at best.
Nathan C, 4368mV right now. I ended up getting a replacement Doorbell Pro and that's what it took to actually fix mine. It took lots of wasted time on the phone to do so.
Thanks great help. I ordered the transformer. I wonder if I can put 2 ring doorbells on it.
Works. This transformer is the way to go.