That Honeywell panel in a basement taught me about moisture the hard way

Last Thursday I was swapping out an old Vista 20p in a finished basement over in Maplewood. Customer said the keypad kept going haywire, showing random zones tripped. Turns out the previous installer ran the wiring right along a concrete wall that sweats in the summer, and corrosion had eaten through three wires. I spent an extra 45 minutes re-running everything with a wire mold to keep it off the wall. Anyone else run into moisture issues in basements that make your installs act up?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera_campbell13d ago

110% feel your pain on that one. Had a similar job in a split foyer in Woodbury where the panel was tucked into a corner that got the worst of the humidity. The wires looked fine on the outside but the insulation was all brittle and flaking off. Ended up cutting back about a foot of cable and splicing in fresh wire with a little silicone grease on the connections to keep the moisture out. That extra time upfront saves a callback later.

oscarb7713d ago

Spent an hour once fixing a problem I created by using too much grease.

elizabethn5611d ago

12 gauge stranded wire on that one, 15 amp circuit, and yeah I've done the same thing. I swear dielectric grease is one of those things where a tiny dab does the job but my brain goes "more is better" every time. Ended up having to wipe half of it off the terminals because the connections were getting loose from the excess squishing out.