After some info from the brain-boxes if you can.

A bloke who's alarm I look after in his car garage has a mechanical bell wired to the phone line so that it rings when phone rings. Followed cable and it goes straight to master socket (1 wire to either 2 or 5 and the other to 3). This bell still works fine but the problem is he recons that a door bell switch outside the reception also used to make this bell ring when pressed. Now i've looked at the door bell switch and the cable disappears into the cavity never to be seen again. Cant find the other end. Not at any phone points, no jb's anywhere and not going straight to bell. Now what he asked me is a) can door bell be fixed (i have no clue how it used to work if someone could shed some light) and B) could I make the bell ring when the recption door is opened (answers on a postcard please ).

any info on how this used to work would be great.

thanks

Alarm Guard, I thought it must be something dodgy like that.

Norman, for the idea but its a VERY noisy garage, compressors and stuff running. and he wants it to sound when the door is opened. I thought a door contact wired up to something. Just cant find the answer for the something. I've got some electronics knowledge and would have no probs knocking up a timer circuit. Any more ideas?

As above, very dodgy to use BT line voltages to power doorbells. PSU, bell push and sounder, I think RS do some 12\24V bells that would suit.

Cheap IA panel, contact, sound bomb

Contact, relay, PSU and sound bomb is cheaper.

Cheap IA panel, contact, sound bomb

or a bell push,psu and a sound bomb

or a bell push,psu and a sound bomb

PSU, bell push and sounder

Or employ a 'Town Crier'

You're hired matey!

Mechanical bells are usually taken off pins 3 and 5 on a phone socket, It shouldnt be wired from a switch tho as said above and if it is it must have a seperate power supply to trigger the external bell i would have thought