Warning: That $30 panel I bought off eBay almost cost me a job

I was trying to save a few bucks and grabbed a used DSC PC1832 off eBay for 30 bucks... looked fine in the pictures. Got it installed at a client's house in Cleveland and the thing started throwing false alarms every night at 2am. Had to rip it out and replace it with a new one from the supply house for 120 bucks, plus the extra labor. Anyone else get burned trying to go cheap on used equipment?

2 comments

2 Comments

lane.joel2d ago

I get what you're saying but honestly I've put in plenty of used DSC panels with no issues, it's more about testing them on the bench first before taking it to a job site. A $30 gamble isn't bad if you've got a spare hour to cycle it and check the voltages, the real mistake was trusting it straight out of the box.

samward2d agoMost Upvoted

Did you have a chance to check the board revision before you installed it? Those older PC1832 boards, especially the ones with the white plugs instead of the green ones, are known for those phantom zone problems that show up when the temp drops at night. I've seen guys try to flash the firmware on them to fix it, but it never really takes. Did you try calling DSC tech support at all before you ripped it out, or did you just cut your losses and swap it?