Old timer told me to stop using zip ties on alarm wires and I ignored him for 2 years

Back in 2021 a retired installer named Hank told me to use velcro straps for bundling sensor wires inside the panel. I thought he was just being old school and kept using zip ties because they are faster. Fast forward to last month I had to swap out a panel for a house in Phoenix and spent 45 minutes cutting zip ties just to trace a single loop. That job should have taken 20 minutes tops. Now I keep a roll of velcro in my bag and it really does make service calls way easier. Has anyone else had to learn a lesson the hard way from a veteran in the field?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucashart20d ago

Did you read that post on r/accesscontrol last week about the same thing lol?

riley_taylor20d agoTop Commenter

Yeah that post you're talking about was wild. I saw that one about the apartment complex with the failing maglocks. Someone in the comments said they had a similar setup and the locks kept freezing up in the winter. That whole thread was full of people sharing their horror stories about bad installs. It's crazy how many places cheap out on access control and then wonder why stuff breaks. I remember one guy said his building used a residential grade system for a 50 unit building. No wonder it didn't work.

kimr1020d ago

Oh come on @riley_taylor, you're acting like this is some huge crisis. I've seen those posts too and half the stories are probably exaggerated or user error. People expect top tier performance from bargain basement equipment and then act shocked when it fails. That residential grade system in a 50 unit building? Yeah that's stupid, but the guy probably saved a few bucks and it limped along for a year or two before dying. Most of these "horror stories" are just landlords being cheap and renters not knowing how to use the stuff properly. It's annoying but not exactly the end of the world.