Two sides to this. Some guys swear by the cheap LTE dialers and say they work fine for residential. I put one in a house in Dallas and it dropped signal during a storm, alarm never reported. Client was pissed. Worth the extra cash or just a fluke with that one unit? Anyone else gamble on the cheaper cellular gear?
I was down in a 120 degree crawlspace wiring up a 16 zone expander for a new build. About 40 minutes in, the unit stopped accepting any new sensors and started throwing random trouble signals. Checked the power supply first, then realized the board had a cracked solder joint near the transformer. Swapped the whole unit with a spare I had in the truck and finished the job. That was a brutal 3 hour lesson in checking hardware before you start running wire. Has anyone else had a zone expander fail like that on a fresh install?
A senior installer from Dallas told me last month that wireless panels are the future for residential, but I just had to rip out a full Honeywell Lyric system because the homeowner's new metal roof killed the signal. On the other hand, I've spent three days running wires through a finished basement before that took forever. Which route do you guys lean for new construction where the drywall isn't up yet?
I had to choose between a wired Vista and a wireless Qolsys for a 3,000 square foot house in the country. Went with the wireless because the attic was full of blown insulation and crawling through it would have taken all day. Has anyone dealt with signal range issues on those bigger properties?
I took a shortcut last week on a job in Austin. Old house had a 30 year old 16V transformer still running from the 90s. I hooked up a new Vista 20P without swapping it out and the panel died after 2 hours. Learned the hard way that old transformers can spike voltage when they get loaded fresh. Anyone else have a panel die from an overlooked power supply?
So I had this job in a 1920s house near Seattle where the basement wall was always a little musty. I put some 1 inch foam board behind the alarm panel to try and keep moisture off the back of it. Worked okay for about 6 weeks, then I came back and the foam had this weird black mold growing right where it touched the concrete. Learned that foam traps moisture against the wall instead of letting it air out. Any of you guys dealt with mold behind a panel in a damp spot?
Had a day last July where I installed three panels in an attic near Phoenix. Outside temp was 108, attic was probably 140. Used my regular adhesive like always. Next week the customer called saying the panels were hanging loose. Went back and all three had the glue literally dripping down the wall. Had to redo the whole job with high-temp rated adhesive. Cost me an extra 4 hours and $60 in materials. Anyone else run into adhesive failure in crazy heat?
Been doing this for about 8 years now. Last month I put in a DSC PowerSeries in a small office building in Cleveland. Took me 3 extra hours because the wireless range was garbage through their metal studs. Had to add a repeater, then the keypad kept dropping connection. Next week I did the same setup with a Honeywell Vista 20p and everything linked up in 2 hours flat. No extra gear needed. I'm done messing with DSC for anything over 2,000 square feet. Anyone else find Honeywell just works better for bigger buildings?
I was installing a Vista 21iP in a house near Akron last month when the owner's lab mix got into my van and shredded the wiring harness, cost me $380 to fix. Had to wait three days for the part and lost out on two other jobs because I couldn't schedule around it. Any other installers have a game plan for dealing with customers' animals on site?
Bought a no-name toner and probe set from Amazon to save money. Took me 4 hours to trace a short in a panel that a good Fluke would have found in 10 minutes. Anybody else swear by a specific brand for troubleshooting?
I was at a supply house yesterday waiting on a panel and overheard this guy on the phone telling a homeowner their new alarm would have zero wires anywhere. No mention of power or sensor batteries dying at 3am. I had to bite my tongue. Does anyone else run into sales reps oversimplifying stuff to close a deal and leaving you to explain the fine print later?
I was running wire at a house last Tuesday and heard the dad say 'don't worry, that beeping is just to scare people off, it doesn't call anyone.' That made me rethink how I explain monitoring plans to clients - maybe I need to push the real response part harder. Anyone else run into homeowners who treat their system like a fake camera?
Used to test alarm panel voltages with a $20 meter from Home Depot and kept getting weird readings on 12v circuits. Picked up a Fluke 117 last month and found three zones that were actually running at 10.5v instead of 12v. Anybody else had issues with cheap meters throwing off your voltage checks?
Back in the 90s I'd spend half a day hammer drilling through 12 inch concrete block for a commercial job. Now I'm running a Kevo through a half inch of sheetrock with a paddle bit and done in 10 minutes. Anyone else miss the old security when installs actually felt solid?
I was over at a buddy's shop in Phoenix last month helping him with a new install and he watched me crimp a wire. He pointed out I was putting the little tab facing the wrong way so it wasn't making solid contact. How many false alarms did I cause from those loose connections?
Used to swear by hardwired everything for 8 years until a house in Phoenix with stucco walls had me running conduit for two extra days. Switched to wireless Honeywell sensors after that job and cut my install time by nearly 40%, plus no more crawling through attics in 110 degree heat. Has anyone else found that wireless reliability has caught up enough to ditch the hardwire route?
I wasted $400 on one of those fancy wireless alarm panels from a brand I won't name (but you can guess). Installed it for a client's new build in Denver, and after 6 months the touchscreen went completely black. No warning, no error codes, just dead. The client called me at 9 PM on a Friday because the whole system was useless without that panel working. I spent 3 hours driving over, diagnosing, and swapping in a backup panel I had in my van. The replacement was $200 extra plus my time. Now I stick with wired panels for the main hub and only use wireless for sensors. Has anyone else had a flagship panel just brick itself like that?
I was installing a system for a credit union downtown last spring and a jammer took out all my wireless door sensors in under 3 seconds. The manager watched it happen on the test log while I stood there with my mouth open. Have you guys ever had a customer call you back after a jammer test and demand a hardwired redo?
Went to check out a customer's new construction site yesterday. Builder wanted me to do the low voltage. Walked in and saw they already ran all the alarm wires. But here's the thing. They stapled everything to the studs tight as a drum. No slack at all. And they bundled the 22 gauge stuff right next to Romex for 30 feet. I'm gonna have to rip half of it out and redo it. That's gonna cost the homeowner extra. Plus interference is gonna be a problem if I don't fix it. How do you handle builders who think they know how to rough in alarm cable?
I was fresh out of trade school and thought I knew better, so I ran all my wires first on a big house in Evanston. Took me nearly 3 extra hours wrestling cables through studs because the panel location changed halfway through. He was right obviously, but I had to learn it the hard way. Has anyone else had a piece of advice that seemed stupid at first but saved their butt later?
I went back to a house in Oak Park last week to finish a panel swap I started on a Monday. Got there and saw all my cat6 and 18-4 was just yanked down and coiled on the garage floor. The homeowner said they wanted it all running through conduit because their brother-in-law told them that's code. Tried explaining low voltage doesn't go in pipe like that and we had an agreement on the walkthrough. They just kept saying I should have known better. I packed up my tools and left them with a bill for the wire and labor. Has anyone else had a customer change the rules halfway through a job without warning?
I walked into a new construction house last Tuesday and found the previous installer had screwed a touchscreen keypad straight into two layers of sheetrock with nothing behind it. Three months of someone leaning on it and that thing is going to crack the wall or rip right out. How are you all securing these things when the stud is nowhere near your mount spot?
Been putting off adding cellular backup to my panel for like two years now... finally threw down around $200 for a LTE unit. That very next week a drunk driver hit a pole near the house and knocked out the landline for everyone on the block. Customer's alarm still reported in fine and they didn't even know the phone was dead. Any of you guys had a similar close call that made you finally pull the trigger on a backup?
The keypad kept showing a 'system low battery' fault even after I put in a brand new 12 volt 7 amp hour battery. I checked the charging circuit on the board with my meter and it was only putting out 11.2 volts. Turns out the old transformer behind the panel was cooked and wasn't giving the board enough juice to charge the new battery. I swapped the transformer and the fault cleared right up. Has anyone else run into a bad transformer causing a false battery fault like that?
I was putting in a new panel at a house and went to drill through a stud. My bit hit something hard and just stopped. I pulled it out and the tip was gone. The homeowner said the last guy must have left a nail in there from some old work. Now I always run a stud finder with a metal scan first, even if I think I know where to drill. Anyone else run into hidden metal like that?