Shoutout to the guy at the supply house who talked me through a panel upgrade

Had a job in a 1980s split-level in Akron where the old DSC panel was failing. The choice was between a full rewire with a new Honeywell Lyric or just swapping the main board and keeping the old zones. Went with the Lyric, which meant pulling new 4-conductor for the keypads, but the wireless sensors saved me a ton of time. Anyone have a go-to retrofit panel for those old DSC setups?

4 comments

4 Comments

kellyr202d ago

Totally get it, did the same thing last month.

finley_smith1d ago

Pulling new wire for keypads is a pain, but the Lyric is a solid panel. Just a heads up, those old DSC keypads usually run on 2-conductor, not 4. You might have pulled more wire than you needed. For a retrofit, the DSC Neo is worth a look since it can sometimes talk to the old sensors.

cora8131d ago

Wait, are you sure about the two conductor thing? Every older DSC keypad I've seen needed four wires for power, ground, and the data pair. Pulling extra wire might seem like a waste now, but it gives you options later if you ever want to upgrade to a fancier keypad with a backlight. I've had to go back and pull new wire before, and that's a real pain. Having four conductors already there just saves a future headache.

dakotag261d ago

Honestly, I always pull four wire for keypads on a retrofit. The extra cost in wire is nothing compared to the labor of going back later. Even if the old keypad only used two, you're covered for any future panel that needs more.