Splicing upper and lower sash sensors in DH window

[mikefamig]

I am installing upper and lower sensors in the double hung windows in my garage and have a design question. I will be connecting the two sensors in series as one zone and need to splice the two together. My question is where to physically locate the splice.
 
I do not want to bury a splice in the wall behind the wallboard so I plan to install a single gang box just below the window and make the splice there. Then just put a cover on the box for later access if necessary.
 
What is the traditional method here?
 
Mike.

 

[mikefamig]

Bump....
 
The lack of replies here makes me think that I shouldn't be splicing the sensors together at all. Would there be any benefit to wiring a home run to each of the upper and lower window sashes? My reason to put them together in a series is to conserve zones on my XIN.
 
Mike.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Why the single gang box?  IMO, this isn't 'power'.  I'm a big believer in solder/shrink wrap.  If done correctly you will never have to service the connection.

 

[mikefamig]

Why the single gang box?  IMO, this isn't 'power'.  I'm a big believer in solder/shrink wrap.  If done correctly you will never have to service the connection.

 
I have faith in my soldering and shrink wrapping but I hate leaving splices in a wall just in case there is a problem and it would also allow me to rewire the upper and lower sensors later if I want to split them up or go to a glass break or something. It gives me some flexibility and plastic boxes are pretty cheap. On the other hand it might be even better yet to just run a separate cable to each sensor.
 
I would love to hear from others who have wired both upper and lower sashes and how they dealt with it.
 
Mike.

 

[sda]

At the "upper" sensor, splice on a 22/2 cable fed to the "lower" sensor.  At the lower "sensor", add the EOL and make the connections to the panel.   Allow enough slack to pull the sensors out and replace if needed.   Swap "upper" and "lower" as needed for your situation.  This isn't much different that what you've already been doing. 

 

[Del91574]

Why the single gang box?  IMO, this isn't 'power'.  I'm a big believer in solder/shrink wrap.  If done correctly you will never have to service the connection.

Bad idea.
 
Splices always need to remain accessible, no matter how good you believe you've done it, solder, crimp or what have you, sooner or later you'll need to get to them for service or other issues that arise. I don't agree with using a work box to make them unless absolutely necessary. If the cable route and splices are made appropriately, the splice and slack should be able to be pulled through the hole the wire came from or through.
 
The "best" if cable is not an issue is to home run a cable from each sash. It also depends on if this is a retrofit or prewire, but if you're running a single cable, you could pull a loop at one of the sashes and then pass through to the other sash on the window.

 

[mikefamig]

At the "upper" sensor, splice on a 22/2 cable fed to the "lower" sensor.  At the lower "sensor", add the EOL and make the connections to the panel.   Allow enough slack to pull the sensors out and replace if needed.   Swap "upper" and "lower" as needed for your situation.  This isn't much different that what you've already been doing. 

 
I am using 22/4 cable and it will be tight pulling two of them with splices through a 1/4" hole.
 
Mike.

 

[mikefamig]

Bad idea.
 
Splices always need to remain accessible, no matter how good you believe you've done it, solder, crimp or what have you, sooner or later you'll need to get to them for service or other issues that arise. I don't agree with using a work box to make them unless absolutely necessary. If the cable route and splices are made appropriately, the splice and slack should be able to be pulled through the hole the wire came from or through.
 
The "best" if cable is not an issue is to home run a cable from each sash. It also depends on if this is a retrofit or prewire, but if you're running a single cable, you could pull a loop at one of the sashes and then pass through to the other sash on the window.

As I said above I don't like pulling two cables through the hole in the sill so I have decided to do a home run to each sensor and wire them in series at the control. The windows in question are in my garage which is new work and easy to access all. In my house it is retrofit and I am doing lower sashes wired to the unfinished basement only with motion detector backup..
 
Mike.

 

[Del91574]

I am using 22/4 cable and it will be tight pulling two of them with splices through a 1/4" hole.
 
Mike.

No need if you're pulling a loop through. Split off and pull only the single conductor you need through the hole. The key is to have a 3/8" hole through the sill and in your case, the original wood sill.
 
There's all variations of the theme, but while it's nice to have spare conductors everywhere, it's not a silver bullet for all applications.