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Appreciation post: Saw an old school alarm panel still running in a Denver hardware store
It was a classic Ademco 4120, probably from the 90s, just humming along behind the counter. Made me think about how much simpler the wiring was back then, even if the tech is ancient now. Anyone else run into these old workhorses still on the job?
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the_ben26d ago
That 4120 is a tank. My old boss had one in his shop that ran for 28 years straight. The keypad membrane finally wore out, but the main board was still fine. They just don't build stuff with that kind of simple, overbuilt logic anymore. Everything now is a networked computer waiting to fail.
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paigegrant26d ago
The real cost is in the downtime, not the repair bill.
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oliviajenkins26d ago
But isn't some new tech actually more reliable? My phone gets constant updates to fix bugs, which old machines never could. Planned obsolescence is a real problem, but not everything new is worse.
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