Hello, attached is a picture of a “Franken Bell”, a Standard Time bell that was assembled from two Standard Time bells, one working, the other a parts bell.
I added two slotted nuts and a 2" gong bolt to assemble it, the slots on each nut were widened slightly to fit the gong and mount tabs.
The bell was assembled, aligning the nuts, gong,and bolt…
It works or as Dr. Frankenstein says: “It Lives!”, It Lives!
Ed Burnett
Nice alarm! If I could ask you, where you got the alarm, how much, and its history? If you know it.
Both bells were eBay finds…
I’m guessing the red one was originally a fire alarm type, the other most likely a start/class change bell.
I’ve had a few Standard Electric Time bells over the past year or so; some working and some not.
So what I’ve done is kept not working ones for parts, and working ones as they are.
On the bell in my photo, the grey base/mechanism is most likely what I already described; it had a 6 " gong originally.
The red bell that was nonfunctional I couldn’t see leaving it’s parts unused, so I used the gong on the grey base.
The grey base already has slots for a 6" gong, and 2 tabs for a 10" gong.
All I needed was slotted hex nuts slightly larger than the bolt that I widened the slots on so they’d fit the tabs on the gong and gong mount arm.
Then I got a 3/16" x 2" hex head bolt, I placed the two slotted nuts on the bolt after putting it in the gong, and slowly tightened the bolt while keeping the nuts aligned until the bolt is fully tightened.
The gong looks right at home on the grey bell.
I chose the larger nuts as they would allow for “adjustments as needed”.
My school class change is 6 in. Really quiet, but thinking its loud, my brain on a daily basis with alarms.. Saw the other post about the other Standard Electric Bell, and no I don’t own one at this time.
Hello, I’m also looking for another 6" Standard Electric Time 120AC Vibrating Bell, do you have those?
If not, that’s ok.
I like just about all brands of bell, my least favorite are Edwards ones.
One signal I’ve been looking for is the Simplex 120AC horn like the ones they used in the 60’s and 70’s with the square grille openings.
Federal Signal produced them for Autocall & Standard as their 350 type horn, they are surprisingly loud as I once found out in a old school.
That is the one Simplex item I’ve never had, and want the worst.
Thanks for the feedback, and I’m glad you liked my “Franken Bell”.
Ed Burnett
That is a part I want for my collection, thats the one my school has Ill ask my elementary school plant manger for that bell. Its a 2091-9047 6in. But if he replaces it, I will see.
But currently, no. Sorry! Good luck!
Hi, Carter:
I thought of one reason why that 2901 Simplex bell doesn’t sound as loud as it should…
In my experience, some of the gongs they used were muted because of errors in the gong material or poor steel used to form them.
The 4090 Simplex bells didn’t have that issue, goodness only knows why.
Not all of the 2901’s 6 inch gongs had that issue, and gave clear distinct sound. It’s kind of hit and miss.
If you get that particular bell, I’d look around for another bell gong with the same size bolt hole and aligning tabs and put that on the bell.
If you noticed the gong is tilted down at the bottom, that is because the new gong stud for 6" or larger bells has a downward angle that matches the gong when mounted.
That was so the bell striker could impact the gong without needing to add a longer striker.
Also, if it wasn’t done that way, and the gong was straight upwards, a longer striker would be necessary to reach the gong.
It was also meant to standardize the new bell design so that only two bases could accommodate a chime or 4" gong for the one with the center threaded stud, and a gong post angled slightly down at the end for 6 and 10 inch gongs.
The 10 inch bell had its gong bolt hole down farther on the gong, and it was shaped so that the gong tilted backwards slightly when mounted for basically the same reason as the 6 inch gong was.
was the bell with the red gong originally a single stroke unit?
I believe you mean the 4040; there’s a couple places in the Akron area that have them
Yes, it was single stroke, but the coil didn’t work.
what would be the model number? ASJ-10?
I’m not sure, it had a MAJ-6 gong label on it, but it probably was an ASJ-10.
I’m still hoping to find a list of the old model numbers, and the ones Jonshon Services used for them.
I found out through looking on eBay that Standard Electric Time used Federal Signal Vibratone bells and mechanisms.
Ed Burnett
