Electronic Alarms and Home Security Devices - Auth Electric apartment intercom issue

Hello, I'm tryiing to find out about how to troubleshoot a problem with my Auth electric intercom. I'm not sure if I'm in over my head, or should I be able to trouble shoot this problem. So I have an intercom, that does talk listen, and buzz in. We just bought this condo recently, and it wasn't something we checked when we first moved in. 2 of the 4 features of the intercom work.
1) People can buzz me.
2) I can buzz open the door.
3) But I can't hit the talk button and talk to them,
4) I can not hit the listen button, and listen.

My unit (which I jsut bought a new one ( Pacific Electric 3406) 6 wire unit.

Does anyone have any ideas on which wires I should be worried about?
the wires: "SIG", "T" "PT" , "D", "-" , "C"
for anyone who may know this unit, have any ideas on things I can look at?

I spoke to the building super, and he didn't even have a name of guy who could come out and take a look.

Anyone have any ideas.

Thanks.

First thing I would check is the transformer for the amplifier unit. It's possible that the strike and buzzer are running off a seperate transfomer (seen that before) which would explain why that part of the system still works.
Before you replace the amp, are you sure the new amp is compatible with your apartment stations? And if it is, you really need the wiring diagrams of the old Auth Electric amp.

There are two power supplies in this unit. An AC to power the release as well as a rectified, filtered section for the voice portion. Chances are that the rectifier went bad or the transformer feeding that rectifier. You can get most of the basic parts for the repair at Radio Shack. The part that I have found to go bad most of the time in the voice section is a full wave rectifier bridge which converts as AC voltage to DC. If there is a "Buzzing" in the sound, then the filter is bad as well. Usually a 1500 MFD Capacitor. There is no amp per say, just an old fashioned "telephone" type circuit of a handset and speaker coupled with a DC voltage to carry the voice. Simple, but very complicated to tblshoot in an apartment scenario. I have a schematic if you need one. Send me an email address for a copy.

1st of all, there IS an amplifier and it'd NOT like a telephone circuit. There has to be an audio amp because we have speakers and we have a Talk and Listen buttons on the station. The Talk button controls the speech path (direction) of the audio. The amp gives us enough voltage out to drive the speakers. There is usually 1 16VAC trasformer that is used for the door release and the audio amplifier. let's back up. If you have this unit in a condo then you're not the only one with an intercom. See if your neighbor's is having the same symptom as yours. My guess is yes. Then the problem is amp related since it's common to all intercoms. The xformer is good because you can operate the door. It's controlled by a relay in the amp. The tone oscillator, which is part of the "amp", is also working since people can "buzz" you to let you know they are at the entrance. The amp is, no doubt, accessable only to maintenance and not in your condo. This is a problem they should be fixing, not you.
BTW, Sig="buzz" tone signal, T & C= audio pair, D= door release, PT= push to talk (signals the amp to change direction), (-)= common connection

Mike

1st of all, there IS an amplifier and it'd NOT like a telephone circuit. There has to be an audio amp because we have speakers and we have a Talk and Listen buttons on the station. The Talk button controls the speech path (direction) of the audio. The amp gives us enough voltage out to drive the speakers. There is usually 1 16VAC trasformer that is used for the door release and the audio amplifier. let's back up. If you have this unit in a condo then you're not the only one with an intercom. See if your neighbor's is having the same symptom as yours. My guess is yes. Then the problem is amp related since it's common to all intercoms. The xformer is good because you can operate the door. It's controlled by a relay in the amp. The tone oscillator, which is part of the "amp", is also working since people can "buzz" you to let you know they are at the entrance. The amp is, no doubt, accessable only to maintenance and not in your condo. This is a problem they should be fixing, not you.
BTW, Sig="buzz" tone signal, T & C= audio pair, D= door release, PT= push to talk (signals the amp to change direction), (-)= common connection

Mike

I'm sorry Mike.... But you are incorrect here. The AUTH system is 35+ year old and there (unless modified by someone) is NO amplifier. I just repaired one last week. The volume is very low but audible and the power supply is a multi-tap transformer, one side is rectified and filtered for the voice portion and the other side is straight out to the door release system. Believe what you want, but I have the schematics to prove the point. I don't want to get into a pi$$ing match here, just tried to help. Thanks!

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- Jim

Sorry Jim, I was looking at my original drawings from Auth that show amps. Mine are 2100-WD11 (1981), 2300-WD19 (1982) and the AF1000 for ex. I was going by the intercom model he has and assumed that he must have the hookup that requires an amp. I don't see how you can have a phone ckt that can operate with a 45 ohm speaker. I must be missing something. I'd post my dwg's but they're D size. I wonder what's inside that box in your dwg just above the "power rectifier".

Sorry Jim, I was looking at my original drawings from Auth that show amps. Mine are 2100-WD11 (1981), 2300-WD19 (1982) and the AF1000 for ex. I was going by the intercom model he has and assumed that he must have the hookup that requires an amp. I don't see how you can have a phone ckt that can operate with a 45 ohm speaker. I must be missing something. I'd post my dwg's but they're D size. I wonder what's inside that box in your dwg just above the "power rectifier".

That box was drawn to illustrate the separation of units. Look to the top right of the box and see "Vestibule Phone". That's to simplify the reading of the schematics....

Hey, sorry for not looking at this thread for a while. I had spoken to the salesman for Phillips electric, who gave me something to look at. He tought that given my problem, that it could quite possibly be that the speaker was out. He said, that if you hear a clicking down at the vestibule (which I did) when I push the "talk" button in my unit. He asked me to do a Ohm test, to see if the speaker was working. I finally did that today, as I don't get much change to come up here, and look at the system. So when I did the Ohm test, I did get 150Ohms..which I assume is okay. The other thing I did find, is that 4-5 other folks(that I have spoken too) is having the same talk/listen problem. So I would think that the problem is down at the vestibule area.


I know that Alarmguy thought it was this full wave rectifier bridge. Is that something right at vestibule area, or at some other intermediate points? Is there much of a test for this? I don't get much of a buzzing, when I"m pushing talk, or listen, so hopefully it won't need the MFD capaciter. I know that I should leave it to the building manager, but I know all that he will do is bring in a contractor, who will charge 90/hr for looking into this. At the very least, I would like him to just change a particular item.

Thanks.
Sony

Hey, sorry for not looking at this thread for a while. I had spoken to the salesman for Phillips electric, who gave me something to look at. He tought that given my problem, that it could quite possibly be that the speaker was out. He said, that if you hear a clicking down at the vestibule (which I did) when I push the "talk" button in my unit. He asked me to do a Ohm test, to see if the speaker was working. I finally did that today, as I don't get much change to come up here, and look at the system. So when I did the Ohm test, I did get 150Ohms..which I assume is okay. The other thing I did find, is that 4-5 other folks(that I have spoken too) is having the same talk/listen problem. So I would think that the problem is down at the vestibule area.


I know that Alarmguy thought it was this full wave rectifier bridge. Is that something right at vestibule area, or at some other intermediate points? Is there much of a test for this? I don't get much of a buzzing, when I"m pushing talk, or listen, so hopefully it won't need the MFD capaciter. I know that I should leave it to the building manager, but I know all that he will do is bring in a contractor, who will charge 90/hr for looking into this. At the very least, I would like him to just change a particular item.

Thanks.
Sony

1500 Ohms seems a bit high at a speaker. You should remove (carefully) any wires connected to the speaker before testing. Also, make sure that the meter is set to the right range. You could be reading 15 ohms incorrectly. The power supply is usually in a meter room or some type of utility room. If it's an older system, it will be a large (about 12 X 12) metal box with a few transformers in it. Check for DC power with your meter. If not, check AC directly from the transformer. If there is AC and no DC, the rectifier/capacitor may need to be changed. If there is clean DC, then some other component or a wiring issue may exist. Your next step would be to check for power at the vestibule. (see the diagrams) If there is no power at the vestibule and good power at the power supply, you probably have a wiring issue. Since you say that there are multiple tennants with the same issue, it's a "common" problem and therefore you need to seek out a "common" source.