A River Ran Through It

["Bob La Londe" <none@xxxxxxxx>]

A bunch of years ago we installed a burg/access system in a commercial
building.  No real problems.  When a new tenant moved it we upgraded the
system to make access management easier.  About a year after they moved in
we got a call that the alarm was flaking out.  Condensation from the air
conditioner on their communication room was flooding down the wall on the
inside.  I pointed out the problem and that they needed to remember to blow
out the condensation line when they serviced it.  Six months later they
called again.  Same problem.  Both times I recommended moving the panel, but
they decided not to pay the expense.

Now mind you the previous occupant had a burg access control panel in the
exact same location for more than a decade, and they had never had a
problem.

I received a call on Sunday.  Yep.  You guessed it.  A plastic drip tray
screwed to the wall in front of the AC over flowed because... the
condensation line was plugged up again...

Now, I haven't verified that everything works yet, but the last two times it
happened I blew out the water, let it dry, and powered it back up.
Everything worked like a champ.  That is an X255.  Near the higher end of
Napco panels.

Spare the judgmental comments please.  There was no air conditioner in that
location when the panel was originally installed, and I recommended moving
the panel every time I was there after it was.  The original occupant just
kept everything serviced and it was never a problem.  Today I finally get to
move the panel.

WAIT!!!  There's more!

Last year we had some pretty bad storms here in the desert.  One of my
customers had some damage and water ran through their P801 control panel.
Not just a little.  I was afraid to walk in the room as there was standing
water still coating the floor.  When I pointed out the problem they blew it
out and powered it down themselves.  They powered it back up and I started
receiving signals again.  A few weeks later a driving rain blew MORE water
in through their not yet repaired damage and the panel flaked out again.
Same thing.  Its been working perfectly for a year after the powered it back
up again.  The P801 is near the low end of Napco panels.

 I don't know if that is just luck or if Napco really builds their panels to
withstand a flood, but...