Just realized testing every circuit in older builds is non-negotiable

I used to breeze past full wire checks in homes with existing alarm setups, thinking it was a time-saver. My logic was that if the old system worked, the wiring must be good enough. That changed after a nasty job in an 80s condo where the keypad kept losing power randomly. I wasted a whole afternoon tracing a bad splice in a wall that was hidden behind drywall. A simple continuity test at the start would have flagged it immediately. Now I pull out my multimeter and check each run before I connect anything, no exceptions. It adds maybe twenty minutes to the install, but it prevents hours of headache later. I tell my apprentices this story so they don't make the same lazy call I did.

4 comments

4 Comments

skyler6279h ago

Yeah that upfront testing really pays off. When you hear @the_derek talk about that payback headache, how do you figure out when a wire is just old versus actually too far gone to trust?

the_derek12h ago

Had a similar wake-up call on a retrofit in a 90s office building... the fire alarm loop kept faulting from one corroded wire in a conduit packed with other lines. Now I tone out every leg before I even pull out my tools... it's just part of the routine. That check catches hidden problems like rodent damage or old splices you'd never see. Skipping it is just borrowing time from your future self... and the payback is always a huge headache.

the_derek11h ago

That whole "borrowing time from your future self" thing is way too real. Sounds like the building was just waiting for the most inconvenient moment to spring that corroded wire on you. Gotta love when a simple job turns into a full archaeological dig for a single bad splice. The payback headache always arrives right when you're about to pack up for the day.

evas158h ago

Actually worked on a 50-story building where the rule was if the jacket was intact and passed a megger test, we left it. Sometimes you're just borrowing trouble by over-checking stuff that's been fine for decades. It's a tough call between finding every fault and creating new ones by disturbing old, settled wiring.