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Old timer at the supply house changed my whole approach to panel wiring
I was grabbing some parts at the local ADI branch last Thursday and this guy who's been installing since the 80s saw me grab a bundle of zip ties. He just laughed and said "you're wasting time with those, kid." I asked him what he meant and he showed me how he uses velcro straps instead of zip ties for all his panel wiring. Said it saves him about 15 minutes per panel when he has to troubleshoot because he can just rip it open and rewrap without cutting anything. At first I thought it was crazy but I tried it on a DSC panel I was putting in at a medical office near downtown. The difference was huge. Now I'm wondering how many other old school tricks I've been missing out on. Anyone else run into something that made you feel silly for doing it the hard way for so long?
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felix_hayes646mo ago
Did you see how fast he was running that wire without even measuring first?
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wendy3915mo ago
And honestly I think there's something to be said for measuring with your eye over time. Once you've run a few thousand feet of wire you start to get a feel for it, you know? It's like how a painter doesn't always measure the canvas before a brush stroke. Your mileage may vary of course, but I've seen guys who spend way too much time measuring and then still have to redo it because the run changed anyway. The really fast workers I know are just working from experience, not from a tape.
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