Last Sunday, we went to an Advance Auto Parts store in Glen Ellyn, IL to look for a chemical that my Dad needed. The store is fairly new, with what looks to be a Honeywell system. The pulls are BG-12s. The inside of the store has ceiling mount SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes. At least I think they are horn/strobes.
Anyway, we walked in on a test. Prior to entering the store, I saw a weatherproof SpectrAlert Advance strobe outside flashing, so I knew the system was in alarm. I expected to hear the normal loud and obnoxious code-3 horns that Advances produce, however, that was not the case. The tone I heard was a quieter “beep” sound. Not mini-horns, but a much smoother sound you would hear out of a voice evac panel.
The code went something like: Beeeep (2 second pause) Beeeep (2 second pause) and so on. At first I thought it was a voice evac system, and the devices were speaker/strobes, since Advance horns and chimes don’t make that noise. However, after reviewing the video I took just after the system was silenced (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVKj8b3yBe0) it appears that the alarms had one tiny grille on them for a horn, rather than a speaker grille all the way around the device.
Here’s my best guesses: System Sensor made these custom, which is highly unlikely, or, I was standing under a strobe only device with a false grille, and the device up front (shown in the beginnning) was a speaker/strobe. That also seems unlikely, since usually ceiling mount devices in an area this big all produce audible warnings.
I have searched Honeywell voice evac panel tones, and I could not find a tone matching what I heard, and I searched the SpectrAlert Advance product pages, looking for a multi-tone version also with no luck. What do you guys think? Thanks. -Ryan
Maybe there were just strobes connected, and there were speakers somewhere else. There are a lot of systems like that. Those definitely aren’t speaker/strobes. I doubt they are chime strobes, because the chime/strobes don’t have the option to beep for 2 seconds straight.
That was also a guess of mine, just forgot to add it. I still have not heard that tone before. If only I would have asked my brother for his cell phone a few seconds earlier, as the last beep sounded literally right when I pressed record.
Thanks for everyone’s input. However, these are not the chime/strobes. I cannot describe the beeping sound, however, I will try to use Audacity to make a similar beep that I heard.
Are you 100% positive that the tone was coming from the SpectrAlert? It was more than likely coming from the store’s speaker system or something like that.
None of the auto parts stores in my area that I’ve been into have a fire alarm system. In my area, auto parts stores aren’t considered large enough as to even require a fire alarm system at all, let alone a voice evac, or an addressable system.
