Stopped by an old job site from 2005 and barely recognized the wiring

I was driving through a neighborhood I haven't been to in maybe 15 years and saw a house we used to service. Decided to knock and see if the panel was still there. The homeowner let me take a peek and I'm telling you, the wiring was a mess compared to what we do now. Back then we ran everything on 22/4 and daisy-chained sensors like crazy. Now that same house has a wireless hub and some smart sensors stuck on the windows with double sided tape. It felt weird seeing our old work next to a Ring retrofit kit. I guess times change but part of me misses the old reliability of hardwired stuff. They said they never had a false alarm until they added the wireless motion detector last year. Anyone else go back to an old install and feel a little sad about how it looks now?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantw413d ago

Pulled open an old panel I did back in '08 last month and felt the same way. That daisy chain thing you mentioned is what kills me now - we thought it was genius to run one 4 conductor across the whole house and tap into it everywhere. Now I'm seeing those same joints getting loose or corroding after 15 years and causing intermittent opens that take forever to track down. Those smart sensors with double sided tape are ugly as hell but at least when they fail you just peel it off and stick a new one on. Hardwired stuff was solid don't get me wrong but man I don't miss crawling through attics to chase a broken wire on a 22/4 run that someone stapled too tight.

kai_burns733d ago

Man @grantw41 you nailed it with that intermittent opens nightmare. I remember chasing a ghost in a panel for three days once, finally found the break where someone stepped on a wire in the attic. Those taped up smart sensors might not look pretty but at least they don't give you that sinking feeling when a zone shows trouble. Hardwired stuff felt like real security back then, but the reliability comparison is getting harder to defend.

the_emma3d ago

Saw a trade magazine article last month that said the average lifespan of hardwired security wire is only about 20 years before corrosion starts causing issues in most climates. Those smart sensors might look slapped together but at least they make troubleshooting something the homeowner can actually do themselves instead of calling us out for a $150 trip charge. Hardwired was real security back then but it was also real work to maintain it.