Re: Garage Door Opener keypad recommendations

[tourman <robercampbell@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Nov 21, 12:49=A0am, Jim <alarmi...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Nov 20, 4:08=A0pm, tourman <robercampb...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
> Magnet falling out of door? =A0 I can only say that if an installer
> doesn't silicone the switch and magnet in the door they deserve the
> service call.

RHC: Yeah, quite so. One of the many reasons why I am increasingly
fussy about doing takeovers from other companies - especially those
that traditionally use subcontractors !
>
> One question I have about the =A0use of roller ball
> switches, ............ since their "play" seems to be a primary factor
> in your use of them, why wouldn't =A0you use a push button on the jamb
> side of the door that has a greater throw and would MUCH less succumb
> to changes in the door-to-jamb gap? I'm guessing that a roller ball
> switch has a throw of about 3/16 ths of an inch, whereas a pushbutton
> switch would have at least a 5/16ths inch throw.

RHC: Frankly, there's little differentiation between the two for all
practical purposes.  Talking about "play", I sometimes find a job
where the installer has put a magnetic contact on the hinge side of
the door....???? ....the door then has to be opened about two feet
before the zone shows open.  Some people's children !!!!!!!!

Also talking about takeovers, here are the rules I use when I go on
premises to potentially "takeover" another account. After opening the
box, if there is no kind of wiring diagram on the inside of the
door...strike 1. If the installer has only left about an inch of wire,
rather than the normal six inches of service wire on the loop...strike
2. If the can is not neat, nor organized,  I can only assume that the
hidden parts of the alarm are the same way....strike three and he's
out ! Of course, when you open the can and see the following, it's an
automatic "OUT"

1- A ball of wires fall out and the owner says, "oh, those are the
windows which have never been hooked up"
2- You know there are several motions on the system, but only one wire
is coming into the box...#$$%$#
3- Colour coding of wires is not consistent
4- The type of wire leading away from a motion or keypad is not the
same type of wire coming into the alarm can
5- One or more motions are simply hanging from the wall with no
logical explanation why from the owner.
6- The owner proudly announces he installed the system himself...(I'm
outa there....)

As well, when I come up to the house, if  I see a generic sticker, or
no sticker at all.....or....I see the stickers from one of four local
companies that no one will touch due to known poor
installations !! ...or I see the stickers from a company I know went
out of business 20 years ago.....my guard goes up !!

Just like it makes little sense to spend the money on an alarm system,
if you haven't taken the time to secure the home physically (at least
to a minimal degree), it also doesn't make sense to take on a
potentially problem ridden alarm unless the client is willing to pay
to have it brought up to spec !  Why buy a bag of shit for a few bucks
a month, if your time is going to be eaten up with needless future
service calls ??

I've managed to put 1100 alarms on line with only two people including
myself available for service, and we have lots of spare time to
ourselves. I believe the next "glass ceiling" comes around 1200
accounts, but we may have been able to extend this past this point by
being careful of systems we choose to take on.

I'd be interested to hear the criteria you use for takeovers.......