I have 2 Fire Lite BG-8s that look very similar, but one uses a Spring like the Notifier BNG-1R while my other one uses a Tab like on Most BG-8s I’ve seen. The Unit with the Spring is very difficult to pull without a Backbox, while the unit with the Tab is way easier to pull.
Top: Older BG-8. Date Code 1/25/1993.
Bottom: Newer BG-8. Date Code 11/06/1997.
Another unique thing I noticed about the 2 is that the older one has 4 Black Wires while the Newer one has 2 Black and 2 Red Wires.
You know, I’m not sure I ever noticed or realized that there are differences in the design. I’d imagine that the spring is technically better though since it’ll likely last longer than the tab (as eventually the tab will likely break from the force applied by pulling it: sure BG-8s in actual life safety service aren’t being pulled as frequently as ones in demo systems, but still).
Not sure why they did that if conventional pull stations almost always have no polarity since they’re simple switches (unless maybe it’s to help installers know which pair comes from the panel or last device & which go to the next device or the EOL resistor).
Another difference to note is the label, which both have different wiring diagrams.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bg-8 with a spring instead of a steel tab
I found something very interesting.
So I was looking for Pictures of a Fire Lite BG-8 with a Spring instead of Tab when I came across an eBay listing for Fire Lite BG-8s.
One of them has a Date Code of 05/07/1993 which is a few Months after my BG-8 with the Spring was made.
Something very interesting about My BG-8 with the Spring and the 1993 BG-8 with the Tab is that both have the same Metal Piece that holds either a Tab or a Spring. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, look at the Piece that Holds the Spring/Tab on both 1993 BG-8s.
This makes me wonder if either my BG-8 with a Spring is an early variant of the Fire Lite BG-8, a Rare Factory Defect, or it is a Modification.
Heh, clever.
Well why completely redesign or replace that piece to accommodate a tab instead of a spring when you can just slightly modify what’s already there instead? (which of course helps save on redesign time, cost, & work)
Wouldn’t surprise me if that implies that Fire-Lite switched to the tab design sometime in 1993: there’s likely no way they’d intentionally make one with a spring & then send it out after they’d already switched to the tab, & I very much doubt the modification theory either (for the same reason as the previous one).
Blockquote Well why completely redesign or replace that piece to accommodate a tab instead of a spring when you can just slightly modify what’s already there instead? (which of course helps save on redesign time, cost, & work)
Newer BG-8s use a smaller piece of Metal as apposed to the larger Metal used on older BG-8s.
My speculation is they used that larger piece of metal that holds the Spring during their Transition to using a Tab Mechanism for a short time before they used a smaller Piece of Metal.
Oh, yeah, actually didn’t notice that at first. That may be more evidence that Fire-Lite switched from the spring to the tab in 1993 & then at a later date further modified the design to accommodate the tab (since I’m sure keeping it the way it was initially was just temporary, or perhaps Fire-Lite didn’t feel the design needed to be changed at the time (they might have done so for simplicity or to save on production costs).
Another difference that I just spotted is the fact that the lock tab appears to be shorter (& also possibly wider) on the tab version, likely because of the change in latch.
What I meant by a Defect is it could be a Notifier BNG-1R but labeled as Fire Lite BG-8.
But either way, your probably right about it being an Early variant of the BG-8.
