Zone 4 keeps getting wired to the panel's aux power instead of the bell circuit, and it burns out every time | Alarm System Installers

James Clark · 2026-10-02T22:55:03.620888+00:00

Two weeks ago I pulled a can off a house in Mesa where the last guy tied the siren straight to the aux terminals, and the panel fried the second the battery hit low voltage. That aux output only pushes about 500mA on most cans, and a 30 watt siren will pull double that on startup, so you get a dead board and a customer who thinks your company sold them junk. I've now seen the same mistake on three installs in the past year, all from techs who never read the wiring diagram past page one. Put the siren on the bell terminals and use a relay if the draw is too high. Anybody got a trick for spotting this before you power up, or do you just meter every terminal on the takeover?

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Zone 4 keeps getting wired to the panel's aux power instead of the bell circuit, and it burns out every time | Alarm System Installers - Opinions Matter