Saw a new guy run cat6 right next to 120v and wanted to scream

I was helping out at a new build in Arlington last Tuesday and watched a rookie staple alarm cable directly against a power line. Told him that's a recipe for false alarms and fried boards down the road, but he shrugged it off. Has anyone else had to follow behind guys who clearly skipped that part of training?

2 comments

2 Comments

karent7520d ago

Told him that's a recipe for false alarms and fried boards down the road" - that part stuck with me because I've actually seen it happen. A few years back I was troubleshooting an alarm system in an older house where the previous installer had zip-tied the alarm wire to a 220v line in the attic. The homeowner kept getting random tripped zones in the middle of the night, and after pulling the panel I found the board had that burnt electrical smell. Did the guy you saw actually listen after you warned him, or did he just keep going like he knew better?

skylerg1720d ago

Oh, you've seen that too, huh? That burnt smell is the worst - once you catch it you know something's been cooked for a while. Yeah the guy didn't listen at all. He just shrugged and said "it's fine, I've done it this way for years" and kept running his wires right alongside the furnace blower motor leads. I walked away from that job, honestly. Some people you just can't talk sense into, and three months later I heard that whole system had to be replaced because the panel fried itself during a storm surge. Makes you wonder how many houses are out there with that same ticking time bomb setup, just waiting for the right conditions.