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?

3 comments

3 Comments

green.mason1mo ago

Ran 14 gauge for mine after that happened once.

ivancoleman1mo 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.

miles_roberts2223h ago

Undersized wire is a classic homeowner special... seen it a dozen times. They grab whatever scrap they got lying around and think it's fine cause it's low voltage. That puff of smoke is pretty much a rite of passage though, lol. The real kicker is when they bury the transformer in a wall cavity with no access... then you gotta cut drywall just to swap it out. Always pays to double check the gauge before you button everything up.