I had a job last Tuesday at a new build in Austin and the homeowner wanted all wireless sensors. I argued that hardwired is still more reliable for big houses like that one. After 3 years in the trade, I'm starting to wonder if wireless has caught up enough - what do you guys think?
Last spring I had a lady in a 4,000 square foot house near downtown insist on putting glass break sensors in literally every room including the bathrooms. I thought she was paranoid and tried to talk her down to just the ground floor. She was dead set though so I ran the wire and installed all 14 of them. Her house got hit three months later when some kids tried smashing through a second story window while she was upstairs. The sensor caught it and she called me to thank me because the police got there before they even got inside. Now I offer that setup to every customer with a two story house and I've sold like 6 of them since. Any of you guys ever had a request you thought was overkill that turned out to be the right call?
Guy called me out last month for mounting a window sensor right on the frame instead of a few inches away. Said I was making it easy to bypass with a magnet from the outside. I brushed him off at first but then tested it the next day, sure enough a cheap fridge magnet tripped it. Now I always offset those sensors by at least 2 inches on every install, even if the customer doesn't ask. Has anyone else had a homeowner point out a flaw that ended up improving your work?
Did a big install last month at a warehouse in Cleveland, owner insisted on all wireless sensors to save on labor. Three weeks later and we're replacing batteries on half the motion detectors... plus two false alarms from signal interference. Has anyone else had better luck with wireless in commercial spaces, or is it just me?
I've been doing commercial mostly for two years, but my boss threw me a house in the Mueller neighborhood last Tuesday. Got there at 8am with a Vista 21iP and four wireless sensors, all new to me in a residential setting. The homeowner wanted a glass break detector in the master bedroom and I managed to mount it without drilling into a pipe. Finished by 1pm, programmed the keypad, and the test call went through on the first try. Anyone else have that moment where a simple install finally clicked for you?
Told me he'd rather buy a new panel than just move the sensor 2 feet higher, so I charged him $150 for the visit and he was happy about it.
Honestly, that Tuesday was a mess. First a ceiling tile fell on a motion sensor, then I accidentally bridged a tamper on a faulty door contact from 2003. Has anyone else had a day where everything just fought back?
I was installing a DSC PC1616 in a new build in Tacoma last Tuesday. All the zones were showing open no matter what I did, even after checking each sensor. Spent 4 hours re-terminating wires, swapping zones, and testing continuity. Finally noticed the ground screw on the transformer terminal wasn't quite snug. Tightened it up and everything worked instantly. Anyone else waste a whole afternoon on something that simple?
I was getting ready to install a new system for a customer in a rental property last month and the budget was tight. They wanted something they could manage themselves without a contract. I was about to order my usual wired setup but decided to try that new all-in-one wireless panel from Ajax instead. It set up in about 20 minutes and the range on the sensors has been rock solid for the last 3 weeks. Any of you guys had good luck with a brand you were skeptical about at first?
Had a client last month say their kid kept hitting the keypad by accident in the hallway. I always put them right by the front door at 48 inches high, never thought twice about it. She asked if I could move it higher near the ceiling and it actually looks cleaner and stays out of reach. Has anyone else dealt with placement issues from families with small kids?
My old boss told me to save money and just grab a sturdy tree branch to push wire through a tight attic space. Sounded clever at the time, you know? Well, the branch snapped after about 6 feet and left a chunk of wood lodged between two joists. Took me an extra 45 minutes to fish out the broken piece and finish the run with actual glow rods. Has anyone else had a shortcut like this backfire in a big way?
I installed a Honeywell wireless keypad on a steel door frame last Thursday thinking it would be fine. The client called me 2 hours later saying the alarm kept going off randomly. I drove back out and the signal was getting blocked by the metal frame every time the door moved. Took me 3 tries with different mounting spots before I got it to work on a wooden trim piece 4 feet away. Now I always test signal strength with my meter before drilling any holes near metal. Has anyone else run into this with other wireless sensors around metal studs or frames?
Had a guy last month who insisted on putting a motion sensor in his master bathroom. Kept saying he wanted "full coverage" even after I explained it picks up the shower curtain moving. Homeowner was a real know-it-all type, been reading forums and thought he knew better. I flat out told him I wouldn't install it there because it'd false alarm every morning. He argued for 15 minutes straight. Finally I said look, I'll put a door contact on the bathroom door instead and a glass break for the window. Reluctantly he agreed. 3 weeks later he called me to say the door contact caught someone trying to sneak in through the bathroom window at 2am. Said I saved him from having a useless motion sensor. Anyone else deal with customers who think they know the trade better than you? I got a few more stories like this.
I had a window sensor that kept falling off because the adhesive pad wouldn't stick to the rough frame. I tried double-sided tape and even super glue, but nothing held for more than a day. Then I just ran a small zip tie through the sensor holes and around the window hinge, snugged it tight, and it's been solid for 3 months now. Has anyone else found a quick fix like this for a tricky mount?
I got called to a house out in Clovis to fix a system that kept false alarming at 2 AM. Took me an hour to find out the homeowner's new cat was jumping on the motion sensor in the living room. On the same job, I accidentally tripped the panic alarm while testing the keypad and the cops showed up. The homeowner just stood there watching me explain to the officer that no, there was no emergency. Then my ladder slipped on the driveway gravel and I scraped my arm up pretty good. To top it off, the panel was a brand I'd never worked with and the wiring diagram was blurry. Has anyone else had a day where everything that could go wrong did?
Went with wired because the owner wanted no visible sensors, and I spent 3 extra hours drilling through mortar joints to hide the cables, anyone else run into this with old construction?
Just learned a hard lesson about cellular backup placement. Last month I installed a Vista 20p with a cellular communicator in a warehouse outside of Phoenix. Put the module near the main board like I always do, inside a metal electrical room. System passed the test call fine. Then three weeks later the customer calls saying the alarm won't report. I drive back out and find the signal strength at like 2 bars. Moved the cellular unit to a window about 40 feet away with an external antenna and now it's solid at 5 bars. Guess I never really thought about how much metal shelving and concrete blocks can kill a signal. Anyone else run into this where the test call goes through but real world conditions mess it up later?
I saw this "professional" disconnect tool online, one of those all metal ones with the spring loaded grip for pulling alarm panel power terminals. Cost me 80 bucks shipping included. Figured it would make my installs faster. First time I used it on a DSC panel, the tip broke off inside the connector. Had to stop everything and dig the broken metal out with needle nose pliers. Total joke. My regular flathead screwdriver does the same job in 2 seconds for free. Anyone else get burned by fancy tools that look good on Instagram but suck on the job?
Used to just tighten them down and move on, but now I crimp every single wire with ferrules because one loose strand arced and fried a DSC panel on a 110 degree afternoon has anyone else run into corrosion issues with screw terminals in humid basements?
I know everyone swears by them for reliability but I've had two go bad this year alone. This one just wouldn't take the programming no matter what I did. Power cycled it three times, checked the wiring twice, even swapped out the backup battery. Nothing. Had to drive all the way back to the shop to grab a Honeywell unit I had in the van just to finish the job on time. The homeowner was watching me the whole time too which made it worse. Has anyone else seen an uptick in these just dying on you out of the box?
Yesterday I had a job in a townhouse complex near Denver where every single wired zone on a DSC panel kept tripping at random. I swapped the panel, checked grounds, even ran new wire to one zone (which took forever). Turned out the builder had used this really cheap 22/4 cable and the insulation was breaking down inside the walls, causing cross-talk between zones. Has anyone else run into bad cable causing phantom alarms like this?
I remember back in the late 90s running 4-conductor wire to every door and window, now half my jobs are wireless and I'm just pairing sensors through an app. Has the reliability really improved that much or are we just trading one set of headaches for another?
I bought that new Touchcom panel at the trade show 6 months ago. Connected to my home system for testing and it dropped signal 3 times in the first week. Customer support was useless, just kept saying to update firmware. Has anyone else had trouble with these newer wireless panels? I'm sticking with wired systems from now on.
I was out at a house in Wichita last Tuesday, putting in a door sensor for a new system. It kept giving me intermittent faults even after I checked the connections twice. Turns out I had been using 22 gauge wire for runs over 100 feet, but the spec actually calls for 18 gauge past 75 feet. Has anyone else accidentally undersized their wire like that and fried a resistor?
I've been going back and forth on this for a while now. Did a install in a 1920s house last spring and went with wired because the owner wanted it bulletproof. But then I had a buddy who did a similar job with wireless and says he hasn't had a single issue in 2 years. Me, I'm leaning wired still cause I hate changing batteries, but that run took me 3 extra hours to fish through plaster walls. What's your experience been with older homes - does wireless hold up or do you stick with hardwired?