OK, with the way the forum is designed now, and I had some new pics from the K-8 school I went to for kindergarten, as well as a summer day program during the summer of 2000 (before I started junior high) I thought I’d just do it all here now, in a more appropriate place.
Back then, this was a regular K-8 school, but not much has changed since then…
The school currently has two fire alarm panels installed: a Simplex 4010 and a Simplex 4208. Obviously, the 4208 is the original from when the school was built in 1974, and is used for the existing pull stations and heat detectors. The 4010 is for newer duct detectors and for system monitoring (when I went here for kindergarten, I think they had a Simplex 2001 or 4002 panel tied into the 4010.)
Most of the alarms throughout the school are Simplex 4051 horns on 4050-80 light plates. When I was here, the 4051s were on Slow March Time, and the pitch could vary in several areas (I recall at least one or two of them sounding pretty deep-pitched, almost like in SimplexTech’s videos!)
These are the original alarms from when the school was built; however if you look around there are a few interesting differences…
The 4051 in the small gymnasium (referred to on the doors as the “Playroom,” and this is where they have sporting practices and election votings) is on a Space Age AV32 light plate. This AV32 is obviously not original; it is probably replacing a 4050-80 that was damaged by a ball or something (you can see the imprint from where the 4050-80 was.)
There’s another 4051+AV32 combination in the main gymnasium, but this one has the “FIRE” lettering. I imagine they were both installed separately over time (probably some time in the 1980s.)
The Simplex 4051 horn in the music room broke down some time after 2000, so they removed it and slapped a Wheelock NS horn/strobe onto the 4050-80 light plate, and removed the lens from it! You can obviously tell by this install job that it was due to replacing a broken alarm.
Located in the boiler room is a Simplex 4903-9236 electronic horn/strobe. The boiler room was redone in 1998, and I’m guessing there used to be a 4051+4050-80 in there, and they replaced it with this in the process.
Most of the pull stations throughout the school are Simplex break-glass 4251-30s (a popular choice on Simplex systems in my area from the 1970s and early 1980s!) Many of them still have the original glass in them.
The 4251-30s in the main gymnasium had those Simplex red wire guards installed over them (IDK what they called the 2099-9800s in the 1970s.)
For some reason, one of the 4251-30s had the wire guard AND the break-glass mechanism removed some time between 2000 and 2009! When I first saw this, at first glance I thought that a new pull station was installed there until I saw the old Simplex logo and the holes and peg above the lever.
OK, I found this 4251-30 already looking like this, in one of the hallways. It looks like someone broke the glass or pulled the alarm at one point, and they never got around to fixing it (as 4251-30s are designed so the frame flips down once the glass is smashed.)
There are also a few Edwards/AIP 270-SPO pulls replacing 4251-30s that stopped working in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The boiler room has these two Federal Signal pull stations, for some reason. IDK if this is run off the 4208 or the 4010.
There are also two Simplex 2099-9103 break-glass pulls in the main lobby/cafetorium, installed in early 2009 to replace a couple of 4251-30s that stopped working. I’m actually kinda surprised they used these!
An OLD Simplex 4262-5 ionization smoke detector in the cafetorium.
Other areas have Simplex 4255-1 mechanical heat sensors (the ceiling was being replaced here, and that’s why this one looks like that.)
These 2098-9806 test stations are also common in many areas. They were installed in 1998 and go to the current duct detectors run off the Simplex 4010.
Simplex graphic annunciator in the main lobby. It looks like the kind that was used on Simplex 2001 systems in the 1980s (which is what leads me to believe the school had a 2001 or 4002 at one point.) The 4010 was in trouble mode when I took this pic, hence the “TROUBLE” LED being on here.
At least two of the 4050-80s have no lens on them! This one has been like this for as long as I can remember, and it had the bulb removed a while back.
The 4251-30 pull in the west wing computer lab has the hammer broken off, but the glass remains intact.
This alarm has an unusual install job, with the 4051 horn on two backboxes mounted onto the 4050-80. The 4251-30 pull (missing the glass and hammer, but with frame still intact) is also on a backbox underneath it. This was obviously not how it was originally installed in the 1970s, but was probably done during a panel/duct detector upgrade.
A new system would definitely be for the better. Not just here, but the mentioned middle school, THEY have an even older Gamewell FlexAlarm system from 1957!