My old boss told me to skip the siren test on a Honeywell Vista 20p last year

I was rushing through an install in a small office complex over near Elm Street and he said just trust the panel, no need to run the full alarm test. Turned out the siren wire was loose and we didn't catch it until the tenant set off a motion sensor by accident two weeks later. Now I always test every single component even if it adds 15 minutes to the job. Anyone else ever get burned skipping a simple step like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_tessa16d ago

I mean is it really that big of a deal though? You caught it two weeks later and nobody got hurt or anything. Sometimes you gotta take shortcuts to get the job done on time and honestly a loose wire on a siren isn't gonna set the building on fire. I've skipped plenty of little tests over the years and never had anything blow up in my face like that. It's just a siren not a life safety issue like a smoke detector. You probably spent more time worrying about it than the actual risk was worth.

brown.gavin16d ago

Trust me on this, a silent siren is a huge deal when a real break-in happens and nobody shows up. Sirens are the main thing that scares thieves off before they grab anything valuable. I'd rather take the extra 15 minutes than explain to a customer why their alarm did nothing.

derek65616d ago

I hear you man, that's a tough spot to be in. It's one thing to skip a test on something minor, but a silent siren is the whole point of the alarm system to begin with.