Customer's offhand comment about siren volume made me recheck my installs

Last Tuesday a homeowner in Denver said my siren was quieter than their old system, so I pulled out the dB meter and found I'd been wiring the horn backwards on 3 of my last 5 jobs, anyone else ever trust a visual check over a sound test and regret it?

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jamiesingh1mo ago

Did you see that thread over on the alarm tech forum about the same thing? Some guy found out his buddy had been doing the same for years because the polarity marking on the cheap horns is printed wrong half the time. It's wild how our ears just get used to what we expect, so a quick test doesn't always catch it. I mean, I've definitely been guilty of just looking at the wiring and calling it good, especially on a hot attic day. Probably gonna start carrying a little meter myself, that's a cheap fix compared to going back to a customer.