Blew a panel off a wall last Tuesday because of bad transformer wiring

Honestly, I was out on a job in Oak Park installing a DSC system, and the customer mentioned they'd had a false alarm the night before. Checked the transformer and someone had used 18-gauge wire for the AC connection, way undersized for the run. Panel lost power at 3 AM and triggered the alarm. Has anyone else run into homeowners doing their own wiring and creating a mess like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

green.mason13d ago

Ran 14 gauge for mine after that happened once.

ivancoleman13d ago

1983, first house I owned. Wired a new doorbell myself. Used lamp cord. There was a literal puff of smoke when I hit the transformer. Learned that one the hard way too.