Chosen Solution
The intercom in my apartment has a loud buzzer that anyone on the street can access, and they do - day and night (I’m in NYC). I asked the manufacturer about a solution. He said that the buzzer is the x-wire (I posted pictures with the device description) and I could put an on/off switch on it. My question is, what kind of on/off switch would I use for one thin wire? The only on/off switches I’ve installed are the kind used for lamps. I’m thinking I can extend the x-wire from the wrapped portion in the wall, drill a hold in the cover to poke it through, and attach this mysterious on/off switch that way (the manufacturer said there isn’t enough voltage to shock me). But what does this look like??
UPDATE:I’ve been looking at pictures of switches, and the type that seems most amenable is something called a “paste type” switch, usually used with cars. It has wires attached, and I can use adhesive to attach it to the panel or the wall next to it, no drilling. So I think I’d go into the wall to get more of the x-wire length. A friend who is a contractor told me to hold it firmly with a hemostat so the wire doesn’t fall down into the wall when I’m doing this. Once I have some more length, I’d drill a small hole in the plate, and thread a loop of the wire through the hole, noting which part goes to the wall and which part goes to the speaker connector. Then I’d cut the wire and attach the end going to the wall (power) to the power end of the switch, and the end going to the speaker connector to the other wire. I was hoping for a switch with an LED to show whether it’s on, but my contractor friend said that’s not likely to work well since it’s made for a DC system and this is AC. This is a picture of the type of switch I’m thinking about.
But then, just as I was about to pull the trigger, I had a brain storm. Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could find a volume control type switch that allowed me to lower the volume a little or all the way? I doubt I’ll find it, but I thought I’d take a look.UPDATE:I found this - suggests that it won’t work. Not convinced yet, though.https://itectec.com/diy/decrease-apartme…https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/…
You can use a regular light switch if you want. Or, if you have a cover like you mentioned, you can use this switch. Basically any switch you want.
