c/alarm-system-installers

14

karen410•3d ago

Customer told me my wire runs looked like spaghetti, so I changed my whole approach

I had this one job in a big office building in Denver where the homeowner walked in, looked at my panel, and said 'dude, this looks like a bowl of spaghetti.' lol I was kinda annoyed at first but he was right. So I started using those little adhesive wire clips to keep everything straight and use a label maker for every single zone wire. Now I leave the panel looking clean enough that customers actually take pictures of it lol. Has anyone else had a client call them out on messy work like that?

18

jordan330•3d ago

Am I the only one who thinks wireless sensors are getting worse, not better?

I installed a full hardwired system at a house in Phoenix back in 2015, and the thing still works perfect without a single hiccup. Fast forward to last month, I did a wireless job for a new build in Tempe, and I had three sensors drop signal within the first week. Everyone in the forums acts like wireless is the future and hardwired is obsolete, but I just don't see it. I mean, maybe it's just me, but all these new batteries and encrypted signals seem to cause more problems than they solve. The customer ended up calling me back twice to check the door contacts, and both times it was just a signal issue that should not exist. Has anyone else noticed wireless reliability going downhill over the last five years?

13

the_elliot•3d ago

Old school panel swap turned into a mess last Thursday

I was swapping out an old Ademco 4110 in a house near Elm Street, thought it would be a quick hour job. Got the new Vista panel up but somehow crossed the zone wires on the keypad bus, tripped the entire alarm at 2 in the morning. Owner called me screaming, had to drive back out at 3 AM and re-run the 4-wire cable from scratch. Anyone else had a late night panic fix like that?

27

kim_patel89•4d ago

Spent $200 on a cellular dialer and it saved my bacon on a remote cabin install

Ngl, I was cheaping out on cellular backups for years, but last month I did a cabin up in the mountains near Asheville. The customer wanted real peace of mind so I dropped $200 on a Honeywell 4G dialer instead of just using the landline. Landline went down in a storm three days later and the system still called out fine. Has anyone else had a cellular backup pay off like that?

12

verafoster•4d ago

Had a customer question my panel placement and now I'm second guessing myself

I was doing a job in Akron last Wednesday, finishing up a retrofit in a finished basement. The homeowner came down and asked why I put the keypad right next to the circuit breaker box. I told him it's the most central spot for coverage and makes for an easy wire run. He said 'yeah but every time the wife does laundry she'll look at it and worry about false alarms.' Honestly it never crossed my mind that people don't want to stare at the alarm panel all day. Now I'm thinking about putting it behind a door or in a hallway where it's less in your face. Has anyone else had a customer make a small comment like that that changed how you plan your installs?

3

paige_ellis59•20d ago

Tried using outdoor-rated sensors for an indoor job in a humid basement and got weird results

I had a job in Austin last summer for a finished basement that had a dehumidifier running 24/7. The client wanted motion sensors down there, so I figured I'd grab some outdoor-rated ones since they're supposed to handle moisture better. After 3 weeks I got a call saying the sensors were false alarming every time the dehumidifier kicked on. Turns out the outdoor ones were too sensitive to the warm air blowing from the unit, even though they're sealed up tight. I swapped them back to standard indoor sensors with the sensitivity dialed way down and it fixed everything. Now I just use normal stuff for basements unless it's actually getting wet. Has anyone else run into a situation where the heavy duty gear caused more problems than it solved?

8

david739•20d ago

Ran Cat6 behind baseboards for 3 houses until a sparky showed me the wiremold trick

Last month I was on a job in Phoenix running sensor wires for a new security system. Guy had textured walls and I was dreading fishing cable. The electrician on site handed me a piece of wiremold and said just stick it on. I laughed. But after watching him do one run in 4 minutes versus my 20 minute ordeal, I switched. Now I keep a few sticks in the truck. Has anyone else had luck with surface raceway for wireless transition zones or do you still fish everything?

3

jordanl82•21d ago

Changed my mind about wireless sensors after a bad panel replacement

I used to hardwire everything for 12 years. Thought wireless was just for lazy installers. Then last month I had to re-run all the wiring in a 1940s house on Elm Street because the old panel died and the homeowner wanted a new one. Took me 8 hours of crawling through a dusty attic to pull fresh wires. The next job I did with a full wireless system took about 3 hours total. That attic crawl was what flipped me. I still prefer hardwire for new builds but I get the appeal now for retrofits. Anyone else have a job that made you rethink your whole approach?

14

michael_craig•21d ago

Hardwired everything for 15 years till a wireless system proved me wrong

I used to be one of those guys who swore hardwired was the only way to go. Thought wireless was just for homeowners who didnt want to drill or pay for real labor. Then last spring I did a 4 bedroom house in Austin where the attic was completely finished with no crawl space. Running wires would have meant cutting into drywall all over the place and patching everything after. Customer was set on the Ring alarm pro with the zwave sensors and keypad. I went in expecting to hate it but after installing 22 sensors in about 4 hours I have to admit it saved me a full day of work. The range was solid and the customer could add stuff themselves later without calling me back. I still prefer hardwire for commercial jobs but for residential retrofits I get it now. Anyone else come around on wireless after hating it for years?

14

michael_bennett11•22d ago

Rant: Hit my 500th residential install this morning and got an unwelcome surprise

I finally cracked 500 residential alarm installs after 6 years in the business. That's a lot of basements and awkward attics (my back feels every one of them). But what got me was the sheer number of times I've had to fix someone else's hack job from cheap handyman companies. Today's job had a panel mounted upside down and wires just twisted together with tape. Has anyone else kept a count like this and felt more annoyed than proud?

26

barbara84•23d ago

Pro tip: Using double-sided tape on junction box lids saved me an hour on a big install

I was wiring up a 16-zone panel in a commercial building last Tuesday and kept dropping covers while balancing on a ladder. A buddy suggested putting heavy-duty double-sided tape on the lid corners before screwing them in, and it held everything steady while I worked. Has anyone else used a temporary adhesive trick like this, or do you have a better method for keeping lids out of the way during installs?

14

adam_robinson•23d ago

PSA: That elderly woman in Cleveland taught me to hide a spare key better

I was installing a new keypad at a house near Lakewood last Tuesday, and the homeowner, a sweet 82-year-old named Mrs. Kowalski, told me she kept a spare key taped under her mailbox. I gently suggested a magnetic lockbox instead, but she insisted the mailbox trick had worked for 20 years. She was right, but it got me thinking - has anyone else run into clients with shockingly bad hiding spots that somehow never got exploited?

26

taylorhunt•26d ago

Just hit 50 residential installs this month and I'm not sure how to feel about it

I've been doing this alarm install thing on my own for about three years now, mostly for folks in the suburbs around Columbus. Last week I finished my 50th residential system for the month and it kind of caught me off guard. That's way more than I usually do in a month, like double my normal pace. I think it's because a bunch of homeowners got spooked after a few break-ins in the area and they all called around the same time. The thing is, I'm running myself ragged doing all the wiring, panel setups, and testing by myself. I mean, the money's good but I'm exhausted and I'm starting to wonder if I should hire a helper or just slow down and pick jobs. Has anyone else hit a crazy milestone like that and had to figure out if it was worth the grind?

9

hugo_nelson•26d ago

Had a chat with a homeowner yesterday that changed how I approach panel placement

I was installing a new system in a 1950s house in Oak Park and the owner asked me why I always put the main panel in the basement coat closet. He showed me his old alarm panel was mounted in the kitchen pantry and said he never used the system because he hated walking down there to disarm it. Has anyone else had a client give feedback that made you rethink your standard install habits?

23

theawest•26d ago

That veteran installer told me to stop using wire nuts on alarm panels

Old school guy at my supplier said I should swap to Wagos for all my low voltage connections after he saw me finishing a panel in Phoenix last month. Tried it on my last three residential jobs and had zero callbacks on those loose connections I used to get. Anyone else make the switch and notice less service calls?

24

andrew778•29d ago

Pro tip: stop running speaker wire next to high voltage if you can avoid it

I was on a job last week in a new build in Austin and the homeowner kept getting static on his keypad. The old timer I was with pointed out the alarm wire was sharing a stud bay with 120V romex for about 6 feet. He swapped in shielded wire and the static disappeared. I always thought interference was overblown but seeing it fixed in real time changed my mind. Anyone else run into this issue with long parallel runs?

11

adam675•1mo ago

Spent 3 hours chasing a false alarm that was just a loose wire on the panel

Honestly, thought my panel was fried or the zone was shorted. I tested every sensor on that zone, swapped batteries, rechecked the loop resistance like 4 times. Turns out the screw terminal on the PCB just wasn't tight enough from the factory. After all that testing, a simple quarter turn with a screwdriver fixed it. Has anyone else wasted a whole afternoon on something that dumb?

9

graceprice•1mo ago

Took me 3 hours to figure out a wireless zone that kept failing

I was out on a Honeywell Vista 20P install last Tuesday in a old house in Columbus. Kept getting a zone 2 trouble that would drop every 45 minutes. Checked the sensor, the battery, even swapped the 5800 transmitter. Turned out the metal junction box on the wall was blocking the signal by like 20 feet. Anyone else deal with wireless range just getting eaten by metal boxes like that?

5

xena_kim•1mo ago

Panel placement debate. High up or down low?

So I had this install last Tuesday in a new construction house out in the suburbs. Homeowner wanted the main panel by the front door, but we had to pick between putting it at eye level or down near the baseboard. I usually go high, keeps kids from messing with it, but the guy had a thing about it being "too visible" up there. We settled on low, about knee height, behind a little side table they had. Hour later their golden retriever walks by and bumps the cover loose, triggers a false alarm. Had to go back out, tighten the latch, and now the homeowner wants to move it up anyway. Anyone else run into a spot where the perfect height caused more trouble than it saved?

14

the_elizabeth•1mo ago

Surprised by how many false alarms come from insects

I was reading through some stats from the monitoring center last week and found out that about 15% of false alarm calls in our area are caused by spiders and bugs getting into motion detectors. I always thought it was mostly user error or bad wiring. Found this in the monthly report from the central station in Phoenix. Has anyone else noticed more false trips during certain seasons?

21

graceprice•1mo ago

Put in a Vista 20p at my buddy's house last month and came back to check the programming yesterday

When I first installed it, the zones were all programmed with default response times and it was triggering false alarms from a cat brushing the sensor. I tweaked the dialer delay and swapped the entry zones to a 45-second response, and yesterday he said he's had zero false trips since. Has anyone else found that adjusting the zone timing makes or breaks a residential install?

12

miab87•1mo ago

Used to run all my wires through the attic - now I go through the basement every time

Switched after a job in July 2022 in Charlotte. Attic was 140 degrees and I almost passed out. Basement runs take me 20 minutes longer but I don't feel like dying. Anyone else swap their main route based on weather?

14

benk26•1mo ago

Watched a crew in Seattle retrofit a 10-story building with a new fire alarm network

They were running the new fiber backbone through the existing elevator shafts instead of core drilling every floor. The project lead said it cut three weeks off the schedule. Has anyone else seen that method used on a retrofit that size?

1

morgan_butler•1mo ago

Pro tip: always check the existing wiring before you cut into a wall

I was putting a new motion sensor in a house built in the 1970s last week. I cut a small hole for the wire and hit a live 12-gauge wire that wasn't on any of the old plans. The whole circuit for the kitchen went out. I had to patch the drywall, find the right breaker, and run a whole new line for the sensor, which added about 2 hours to the job. It was a real pain and taught me to scan the area with a stud finder that also checks for wires every single time now. Has anyone else had a close call like that in an older home?

30

shane_wilson•1mo ago

Spent a full day chasing a phantom signal on a new build in Tempe

Got called out to a new house in Tempe last week for a panel that wouldn't arm, showing a trouble for a single hardwired door contact. Checked the contact itself, the wiring run, the terminal block, everything. Meter showed a clean loop. After about four hours, I finally found it. The builder's crew had run the alarm wire in the same bundle as a line for some low voltage landscape lighting. When that light circuit was on, it induced just enough voltage on my loop to trick the panel into seeing an open. Took me eight hours total to find that. I had to isolate and rerun about thirty feet of wire in a finished wall. Ever run into something like that where the problem wasn't even with your own gear?