Rant: The difference 2 years made on a DMP panel that I thought was fine

I've been installing alarms for about 6 years now. I had this account I took over from a guy who retired, and his installs were always solid. But last week I went back to a house I first did a service call on in 2022. The panel was a DMP XT50 and I thought it was in good shape back then. When I opened it up last Tuesday, the battery was swollen and the main board had this green crust on a few contacts. I checked my old notes and saw the place had a small leak near the panel area I never caught. That moisture over 2 years just ate through the board slowly. Now I gotta swap out the whole thing. Anyone else run into hidden moisture damage on panels that look fine from the outside?

2 comments

2 Comments

ruby4941mo ago

My friend had a similar thing happen with a Vista panel he put in a basement. He said it looked clean when he checked it but a year later the board was corroded from humidity soaking through a drywall seam. He ended up having to replace the whole thing too, real pain.

mia4421mo ago

Green crust on a few contacts" - man, that's the kind of surprise that makes you wanna check your own panels for hidden drama. I once opened up an old panel in my own garage and found a family of spiders had been living in there for years, guess I'm not much better at spotting trouble than you.