That residential hardwire upgrade that cost me 3 hours

I spent a full Saturday trying to reuse old 22/4 alarm wire for a new Honeywell panel and it was all corroded from attic moisture. Had to rip it out and run fresh cable anyway. Anyone else learned the hard way that ripping old wire is faster than troubleshooting?

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3 Comments

thomasshah4mo ago

Oh man, I feel this one. Did the exact same thing with some old 22/4 wire and it ended up being more work than just starting fresh lol.

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jamie_white4mo ago

Haha yeah, pretty sure my "saving money" plan turned into a 3 hour YouTube tutorial and a lot of bad words.

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brown.gavin4mo ago

Rip it out and run fresh cable anyway" - man, that line gave me flashbacks. I swear, every time I think "ah, I'll just reuse this old wire, it'll save me an hour" I end up two hours deep in a battle with brittle, corroded crap that crumbles in my hands. Like, I had this one run where the jacket looked perfect but the copper inside was basically green dust (no joke, it just turned to powder when I stripped it). You know it's bad when you're literally pulling wire and it snaps in the middle of the wall and you have to go digging for the other end. I've learned the hard way that old wire is never worth the gamble.

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