Last Tuesday I updated 14 DSC panels for a client in Tulsa and suddenly their driveway fobs only work from 10 feet away, not the usual 80. I tried re-pairing and swapping batteries with no luck, has anyone else seen this after the 2.8 update?
He said 'it's just copper' and that got me thinking about how many times we assume our low voltage stuff is too simple for them to mess up, only to find out they ran 18/2 to a motion detector and now I'm wondering how often other installers have to undo someone else's 'close enough' work?
Went back to a house I installed 2 years ago in Fresno. The owner said the alarm was dead after a power outage. Opened the panel and there was no backup battery inside. The original installer left it out to save maybe $30. The whole system was useless the second the lights went out. Anyone else run into installers cutting corners like this?
I was at a supply house in Nashville picking up some panels and got to talking with a guy who works for the local fire department. He told me that most residential alarm systems have a delay of 4 to 6 minutes before dispatch even gets notified. That's because of the verification calls the monitoring stations make. He said by the time they roll a truck, a small kitchen fire is already through the drywall in a modern wood frame house. I never really gave it much thought because I just install what the specs say. But hearing him describe how many calls they treat as false alarms until it's too late made me rethink how I wire up zones. I've already started putting combined heat and smoke detectors in every bedroom on my own jobs. Has anyone else had a firefighter or dispatcher give you feedback that changed how you do things?
Had a client in Austin with a warehouse conversion they wanted monitored. Owner wanted to save money and asked me to go wireless instead of hardwiring. I figured hey, the specs looked solid. First 3 weeks were fine. Then the interference started. All 15 motion sensors went offline during a thunderstorm. False alarms every night from a neighboring business's wifi. Spent 6 weekends chasing signals and replacing batteries. Ended up ripping it all out and running wire anyway. Client paid double in the end. Has anyone else had wireless fail this bad on a bigger install?
I've been to three jobs this month where someone mounted motion sensors directly above a heating vent. Every time the furnace kicks on, that warm air sets them off false. Saw it at a house in Maplewood just Wednesday - customer thought the system was junk when really it was just bad placement. Has anyone else been running into this or am I just getting all the unlucky calls?
So I had this job out in Phoenix last month where the customer wanted their garage monitored but no way to run a wire across the driveway. I set up a wireless bridge between the house panel and garage sensors, thought I was being clever. Everything worked fine until their neighbor fired up a ham radio on Saturday morning and the whole system started triggering false alarms every 10 minutes. Learned the hard way that those bridges can pick up random interference from stuff you'd never expect. Has anyone else run into weird RF issues with wireless setups?
I've been installing alarms for about 8 years now, and I keep going back and forth on this. Last month I did a new build in a suburb outside Austin where the builder pushed for all wireless sensors. It took me 3 days to get everything paired and stable because of interference from the house's smart appliances. But three years ago I did a similar house with hardwired contacts and it took me two days total with zero callbacks. On the flip side, wireless is way faster for retrofits and you don't have to fish wires through finished walls. I've had customers complain about battery changes in wireless systems though, especially for door sensors that get triggered all day. What do you all think for a standard 3-bedroom house - am I old school for leaning hardwired?
Had a callback last month at a house in Madison. Customer said their alarm was going off randomly at 2am every other night. I figured it was a bad PIR or maybe a loose connection. Took me 3 hours to find it. Someone had left a tiny piece of metal shavings from the drill in the panel box. It was barely visible but it was bridging two terminals. After I cleaned it out, system worked perfect. Made me think about all the jobs where I might have left little bits of debris behind. Has anyone else found weird stuff causing phantom issues like that?
I was out on a job in Aurora last week and noticed something weird. The builder had the main alarm panel tucked right behind a door in the utility room. Hard to reach and blocked half the keypad. I talked to the general contractor and he said they always put them there to keep them out of sight. But that makes programming and testing a real pain. Plus if the door swings open you can't even see the screen. I get wanting a clean look but isn't functionality more important? Has anyone else run into builders insisting on bad spots like this?
I always dogged on those old Vista 20p panels, thought they were trash compared to the new Qolsys stuff. But last week I had a service call in a 90s house in Glendale where the homeowner wanted to keep their wired sensors. The Vista took everything I threw at it no problem, even those old 2-wire smokes. I had to eat my words right there in the basement. Anyone else have a panel they swore they'd never touch that ended up being the right tool for the job?
Had coffee with a guy who did alarms back in the 80s and he told me to stop running wires straight through joists and start using the edge of the floor plate instead. Tried it on a ranch house in Austin last Tuesday and saved about 40 minutes of drilling. Anyone else pick up weird old school tricks like that?
Was reading a security trade magazine last week, and it said cellular alarm signals fail about 5% of the time during power outages, while old radio paths only drop like 1-2%. That surprised me, because I always figured cell was more reliable since it's newer. But I guess radio towers have backup batteries and cell networks get jammed up. What side do you guys lean toward for critical sites like banks or hospitals?
I was pulling 3-4 false alarms a week on my new installs and couldn't figure out why. He watched me place a motion sensor and said I was aiming it too close to a heat vent, which was triggering it every time the furnace kicked on. Has anyone else had to adjust their sensor placement because of something unexpected like heating ducts or drafty windows?
I was at a supply house in Portland last week picking up some resistors and a 20-year-old kid in line was telling his buddy that hardwired systems are a waste of time. He said everything should be wireless now, like home wifi. I get it, wireless has its place, but I've been in this trade 18 years and I've seen too many wireless panels lose sync because of a neighbor's new baby monitor or a metal roof. Last month I had to tear out a whole wireless setup from a house in the hills because the signal couldn't reach the basement workshop. Hardwired still wins for reliability, especially on larger commercial jobs. Has anyone else noticed this push from younger guys to skip the wire runs?
Had a PC1832 completely lock up mid programming last Friday, no response to keypad commands at all. Had to swap it out with a spare from the truck and redo all the zones from scratch. Anybody run into this with the newer firmware versions?
He said they'd corrode in 6 months with the dry heat and dust, and sure enough I went back to a job last week where every single terminal was green and crumbling. Has anyone else found a reliable alternative for exposed box connections?
I dropped $400 on a cellular dialer backup for a commercial install in Denver thinking it would save me from phone line outages. First real test came during a storm last Thursday and the unit just blinked red instead of connecting. Anyone else had issues with these things dropping signal in bad weather?
Customer's motion detector kept tripping and it was just a spiderweb inside the lens. Anyone else waste time on something that dumb this month?
Now I'm pulling every panel I've done in the last 6 months to check for interference issues, anyone else ever deal with false alarms from bad wire placement?
Won a pallet of security cable for cheap on Auction Nation, but when I got it half the spools were oxidized and the other half had the wrong gauge printed on the jacket. Anyone else get burned by mystery bulk wire deals?
I was working on a bank job last month in Des Moines and a commercial electrician watched me for about 2 minutes. He goes 'you know you're supposed to put those loops on the grid wire, not the tile itself right?' I had no idea. For 5 years I was just fastening my wire to the actual ceiling tile. That's why I kept getting calls back for loose sensors after maintenance crews moved tiles. Has anyone else found out they were doing a basic install step totally wrong way later than they want to admit?
I had this old installer named Dave tell me to swap out all my wireless sensor batteries for lithium ones about 6 months ago. I thought he was just being stubborn about change, so I kept using alkaline like I always did. Well, I got called back to 4 different houses last month where sensors were chirping low battery after only 10 months. The alkalis were already dead. I finally switched to lithium in all my new installs and those same sensors are still reading full charge. Has anyone else seen a big difference in battery life between the two types?