Re: Church told to hang own fire panel

["Sue" <sodom@xxxxxxxxxx>]

All I know is that my previous husband and I, we are both engineers,
installed our own with advice from a DIY alarm shop.  Consequently we knew
every wire, every switch, and all the details of the system.  It worked
great.  The only time we had a problem was when we were struck by lightning
and it fried the panel.  But we had it up and going again with a new panel
within 24 hours because we knew exactly what to do.

When I had a professional installation done at my condo after my divorce, we
had numerous problems, and it always took time and money to get them fixed.
I have sinced moved into a house with a system that was already installed.
The installer was kind enough to give me his code so that I could make some
needed changes.  I really enjoyed reading the manuals and getting to know
the system.  Of course when this dies, I will call Jack.  ;-)

"Jim" <alarminex@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1179848569.069578.81770@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On May 22, 8:28?am, "Sue" <s...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> You know, you guys, there are some smart people out there besides you.
> There are people with engineering degrees that can read a manual, know
> what
> continuity is, can use a voltmeter and know when to ask questions. Luckily
> tho, I don't go to church. :-)
>

It's not a matter of "smart" it's a matter of experiece and knowing
"what" questions to ask. There's "always" a learning curve that
DIY'ers and Dead ass Bass, will never admit exists and what the
comparitive cost for it are. The cost of labor and the extended amount
of time to do the job is never/EVER, mentioned by anyone involved with
a DIY project. It's always
compaing the cost of equipment to the cost of equipment AND labor and
always ignores the time, labor, expense and cost of mistakes of the
DIY'er. When you add it all up at the going rates for a professional
to do the job, it's pretty damn close and when done by a professional,
subsequent problems are his. A DIY'er has the burden of responsibility
of maintaining the system forever. The initial project might be a
challange but most times, they eventually opt to have a professional
come in. That's where most of the alarm installers come in contact
with the ..... shall we say ..... "unorthodox" methods, that are
typical to DIY installations. In other words, ..... the systems done
by DIY'ers may work, but, at the end,  without inspections by someone
familiar with the standard and traditional way of doing things, when a
professional finally DOES get involved, trying to figure out how
things were done in order to test, repair or maintain a system, gets
to be ..... if not difficult, just simply a PITA.

The example I often give is the DIR'er who called me in because he
couldn't locate an open on his burglar alarm system. He'd seen the
drawing on the panel door instructions, that shows a wire coming from
one zone terminal with contacts in series and the other end of the
wire going back to the box to the other zone terminal. Sure enough, he
ran one single wire out from the box to every door and window with all
the wires buried in the wall. No test points, no drops to the basement
or attic. Nothing exposed.

Oh, and not going to church is no problem as long as you spent the
previous night at a Holiday Inn.