Fire alarm pics from my elementary school! (Updated 9/15!)

Fire Alarm General Discussion
1

Here are pictures of the fire alarms in the Edgar B. Davis K-8 school. I went here for kindergarten, and I also went here for a summer day camp-like program in the summer of 2000. I have also included some bell pics too.


These are the primary bells inside the school. 6-inch Simplex bells behind gray grilles. These bells were EXTREMELY LOUD! I don’t know the model number, but they have the older Simplex logo on the labels of the bells (cursive script “Simplex” in a gold rectangle), and I am betting they use AC voltage. They sound a lot like NewAgeServer’s Simplex 4090 bell. They installed these bells just about everywhere in the school. Even some classrooms and the computer lab have bells in them!


These are the outdoor bells. 10-inch Simplex bells behind silver grilles. They had three of these in the gym, too! This particular bell is disconnected. I’m sure all these bells were originally made by Faraday.


A bell that was removed and plated over. You can see how low the bells were mounted with the door in that pic!


This bell’s mounted pretty high up. Look at the crappy condition the grille is in, too! I guess the older kids kept throwing basketballs, soccer balls etc. at the bell grille. I believe this one is disconnected too.


This is, to my knowledge, the only outdoor bell that still works. It was installed not too far from the entrance to my kindergarten classroom.


The Gamewell city master box outside the main entrance. Note that it is blue and does not feature a lever on the outside.


Like the bells and clock system, the main fire alarm system in the school is a Simplex system. The primary signals are Simplex 4051 horns on 4050-80 retrofit plates. They installed them all like this, the bell and horn/light next to each other. And like the bells, the 4051/4050-80s are installed just about everywhere in the school too.


The pulls throughout most of the building are Simplex 4251-30 break-glass. They are installed at each hallway exit, and everywhere else where pull stations are required. They are not in most of the classrooms that have signals in them, and they are not in the locker rooms.


Here’s the bizzare install job I was talking about. A 4051 horn on two backboxes mounted into the 4050-80 light plate, with conduit leading from the middle backbox into the backbox behind the pull station. Also, note that the 4251-30 is missing its hammer and most likely the glass too!


A 4051/4050-80, 4251-30 pull, school bell and the graphic annunciator. It’s some kind of Simplex annunciator, probably from the 1980s or early 1990s. It is obviously not from the original installation. I don’t know what the main panel is. If the original panel is still there, it’s probably a Simplex 4208 or similar model. Or judging by the annunciator and the coding the system was programmed to, the main panel could be a Simplex 2001 or even a Simplex 4002. Also, note the “DO NOT BLOCK PANEL” signs, and above the pull station the sign there reads “Please DO NOT block alarm.”

Not pictured are the Chemtronics heat detectors (older metal ones with black bases), the Edwards 270-SPO pull stations in the hallway leading from the cafeteria to the computer lab and gymnasium, the Simplex test stations, and the SAE horn/light in the small gym and the one in the main gym. Also, the 4251-30 pulls in the main gym have red metal grilles over them (this was in the 1970s before Stopper IIs came around).

For those wondering, the system sounded in Slow March Time (20 BPM). It sounded like the fire alarm system in this video, but in 20 BPM instead of 120 BPM:

Any comments? I’m sure the technicians on this forum have encountered similar install jobs like the bizzare one in one of my pics, and I’m sure this should catch Firefly and Dan D. and Dan M.'s attentions, since this involves a classic Simplex fire alarm system.

2

It caught my attention, as it reminds me a lot of my old ES. We had the 4050-80s but the pulls weren’t breakglass but just single action.

3

Ah, you guys have the same bells too? And what happened to them when they replaced the 4050-80s with the Simplex voice-evac system?

4

Oh no, sorry, we didn’t have bells exept for on the outside of the school. I’m not sure what happened to the 4050-80s, I was in 2nd grade and was about 5 years away from collecting at that point. I wish I could go back and time to get them, they probably all ended up in the dump.

5

I meant what happened to the bells. I’m sure the 4050-80s at my college are winding up in the scrap heap too :frowning:

6

Last time I checked, the outside bells were still there, they had a cage around them, which was painted over when the school was renovated.

7

Sounds kinda like what happened with the Huntington Elementary School and South Junior High School, both not too far from my house. The Huntington school has a 10-inch Edwards Adaptabel outside that appears to be disconnected, and it looks like the old bell and fire alarm systems were Edwards, installed maybe in the 1940s or 1950s (the school was opened back in 1896!) . In 1979, the school was renovated, and the school bells were taken out and they just had a tone sound over the PA system for class change (they installed outdoor PA speakers and disconnected the Adaptabel too), I have heard the tone a few times from outside before. Their current fire alarm system is a Simplex 4208 installed in 1979, similar to the one at the Davis, but they still have the original Simplex annunciator there, though it doesn’t seem to work anymore, and the 4050-80 light plates have “FIRE” on the lens. And all the pull stations are just 4251-30s, instead of having a few 270-SPOs in the mix like the Davis does. Also, instead of Chemtronics heat detectors, they have Edwards heat detectors there (Simplex used to use Edwards products quite a bit in the 60s and 70s). Outside there used to be an SAE horn/light of some kind (it had a red lens and “FIRE” lettering on it), but recently it was replaced with a Wheelock A-MT horn/strobe. The old Simplex horn/lights and pulls are still in the school today.

As for the South Junior High School, built in 1954 they used to have an old Edwards system (I don’t know what the panel was, probably a Custom 6500 or something like that) that had 360-L flush-mount Fire Horns, and 270-SPO pulls. They also had 6-inch IBM school bells inside, and on the outside there were 10-inch IBM bells with cages over them. The clocks were probably mainly IBM clocks (and at least one Simplex clock from the 1970s) I’m not sure what heat detectors they had. In 2003 the school was renovated, the IBM bells were taken out, and they installed new Simplex clocks and PA speakers and just had a tone sound over the speakers for class change (the outdoor IBM bells are still there, but I don’t know if they still work). Their current fire alarm system is a Simplex 4100U panel with built-in voice-evac, a 4603-9101 annunciator in the main entrance, Simplex TrueAlert speaker/strobes in most places, Wheelock E70 speaker/strobes in the locker rooms, TrueAlarm smoke detectors in various places, TrueAlarm heat sensors in the kitchen, 4099-9003 dual-action pulls (and at least one 4099-9001 single-action pull) with Sigcom covers over them. They told me the system does Slow Whoop and a female voice message.

8

Went back to visit the Davis K-8 school today, and I got even MORE pics!

I hope the member Simplex 4050 is reading this. She had a few questions about the system. And I managed to find out a little more info about it too…


Even though it is hard to see, the 4251-30 DOES have the glass on it! For some reason the lettering often refuses to show up when I do pics like this.


Here’s one of the Simplex 2098-9806 test stations. It has the newer Simplex logo on it, so these were later installations, probably put in when they replaced the old Simplex panel some time in the 1980s or early 1990s. I saw in the main office and didn’t find the panel there. I think it’s hidden in an electrical/mechanical closet. But I am still willing to bet it’s either a Simplex 2001 or a Simplex 4002.


The Simplex annunciator. I’ve noticed that for a large school, the system only has four zones! The way it’s installed, it is possible the old annunciator could’ve been a Simplex 4246-1 annunciator that controlled the system! Cause with most of the public schools they install the panel in the main office.


Another Simplex bell and 4051+80 next to each other. They did an overgrown install job, because there is another bell and horn/light only six feet away! And hallways I’ve seen have two to three of them, and each classroom pod has one to two of them! No wonder the loudness of the bells and fire alarms was at thunderclap-level!


This 4251-30 is missing the glass. Also note the “Please DO NOT block alarm” sign above it. None of the others have that. This one is right near the annunciator.


Here’s a better shot of the bad install job I referred to. Not only was the 4051 installed on two backboxes, but the 4050-80 plate was also messed up by sloppy painters! I can’t believe Simplex did an install job like that. They should’ve just put the horn and the light plate on a single large backbox like this…

…which was at NewAgeServer’s middle school. But then again, in that pic the 4051+80s were not the original signals when the school was built, so it makes sense they put that one on a backbox like that. But the 4051+80s at my elementary school ARE the original signals from when they built the school in 1974!

But moving on from that crappy install job…


This is in the small gymnasium (labeled as the “Playroom,” and this is where they are having voting for the primary elections tomorrow). I saw through the grille of the SAE AV32 plate, and the horn is indeed a Simplex 4051. Judging by the way it is installed, it looks like that the old 4050-80 plate broke down and they replaced it with that SAE light plate. I wonder why they went with those. I guess cause it was the only retrofit plate on the market at the time that resembled the old 4050-80s.


One of the Edwards 270-SPOs. I noticed that this one is obviously newer, and probably replaced a 4251-30 that died (in the late 1990s/early 2000s we had EST installers doing the fire alarm work, and installations in new schools).


What the?! There’s an Edwards 270-SPO HERE too! I remember back in 2000 there was a Simplex 4251-30 there, but I guess it broke down (hey, the school is 34 years old!) and it needed to be replaced. Seems kinda odd seeing a newer 270-SPO with an older Simplex alarm like that.


And finally, the SAE AV32 light plate in the main gymnasium. There is also a Simplex 4051 horn behind this one too. And it looks like it replaced another dead 4050-80 light plate. The other two Simplex 4051 horns in the gym still have their original 4050-80 plates.

Any questions/comments would be appreciated, please! :smiley:

9

Interesting system. I think it’s cool how your ES actually replaces older alarms. That hasn’t happened very much at my schools. There is a little verity in some of my schools’ systems.

My ES is mostly Simplex 9806s under 2903 light plates. The pulls are all 4251-30s. I haven’t noticed any newer pulls. The only unique alarm is either a Gentex GMS or Gentex SHG in the music room mounted on a back box. A few of the 9806s under the 2903s are on back boxes. The ones on the wall have the trim brackets on them. I don’t know why the Gentex alarm is in the music room. It would be too small to replace a 2903 plate. Also the alarm is on a back box so there would only be a hole in the wall, the wires are in the wall, the back box is used so they don’t have to carve a hole in the wall. Maybe there used to be a 2903 there on a back box and they replaced it with a GMS or SHG but only a hole remained from the old alarm (sorry if it sounds complicated). Overall, there may not be a big mark from the old alarm. I’m not sure whether the music room is a new addition since there is a classroom with no alarm in it above the music room.

My MS is mostly Federal Signal SelecTones and Simplex 4903 speaker/strobes. The pulls are all 4099-9003s. Outdoor alarms are SAE V33 strobes next to Simplex rebranded Honeywell speakers. Classrooms have ceiling mounted 4904 strobes next to ceiling mounted SelecTone speaker only units. All the alarms are flush mounted, even the outdoor ones. I haven’t seen a single back box in the building. The only changes were a couple of the old SelecTones were removed and replaced with ceiling mounted 4904 strobes with the remainder covered in a wall outlet. One in the middle hallway on the third floor and the other at the bottom of one of the staircases. I’ve passed the alarm at the bottom of the staircase and it can’t be heard well there especially with all the kids talking during fire drills. That is a bad installation job in my opinion. First of all, they could have used wall mounted 4904s so that the “Fire” label wasn’t sideways on the side of the alarms. Second of all, they could have just put Wheelock E70s in for example which are the same size as the SelecTones but are speaker/strobes so that the alarms could be heard better in those locations. The 4904s don’t completely fit on the place where the SelecTones were. That’s why they used outlet covers that had the ends cut off so they could cover the rest of the hole up.

My HS has Simplex 4040s with Simplex 4251-113 chevrons. I haven’t seen any newer alarms. There are a few different pulls though. For some reason they installed a FireLite BG-6 outside of the math department by the staircase. The Field House has Edwards 270-SPOs for it’s pulls. There is a Simpex 4099-9001 probably replacing an old 270-SPO. There also may be another T-Bar in the boys’ pool locker room, but I may be wrong since I haven’t been in there for a long time.

10

You are correct about not the original signals, but you did not know that these ARE the original signals for the addition to the school this alarm was in. This was the only one surface-mounted like this. All the others were flush-mounted on cinder-block walls. This is the only one surface mounted, probably due to the brick wall. When they replaced the alarm with an MT, the old box was removed and they installed a new 4x4 box so the MT is installed correctly. I bet the new MT and the other two were not installed by Simplex because one of the 2DCD+V33 alarms died and got replaced by a TrueAlert (4903-9426, just like mine)

11

The one in the music room? That one was before you graduated. I thought there used to be a 4051+80 there!

And I thought you said that Simplex was still servicing the system, and if a Honeywell company did it they’d do a crappy install job. Besides, Simplex uses Wheelock signals quite a bit these days.

But if they ever replace the whole system at the Davis K-8 school, I hope they would replace it with a Simplex system. If they don’t want to spend a lot of money, they could just replace the Simplex 2001 or whatever with a Simplex 4005 or 4006, the 4051+80s (and 4051+V33s) with TrueAlert horn/strobes (on adapter plates like in that pic), replace the Chemtronics heat detectors with non-addressable TrueAlarm smokes, and reuse the Simplex graphic annunciator, 4251-30s and 270-SPOs and the 2098-9806 test stations. Or if they want to do a complete upgrade and go with voice-evac like the new or renovated schools are, then they could use a Simplex 4100U or maybe a Simplex 4008 or 4010 with a 4003 voice-control panel, and replace the 4051+80s with TrueAlert speaker/strobes (it wouldn’t be too hard to do so when covering up where the old 4050-80s and V33s were), but then they’d have to replace all the old pull stations too (probably with 4099-9003s) and the Chemtronics heats would be replaced with TrueAlarm smokes, and the graphic annunciator would probably have to be replaced, probably with a 4603-9101 annunciator (if it’s a 4100U) or a similar Simplex model (if it’s a 4008 or 4010) on a map of the school, like at TrueAlertSpeakerStrobe’s middle school. I honestly think a voice-evac system would work well, since the school is fairly large and since they installed a lot of 4051+80s there, they could simply put the new speaker/strobes over the existing alarms and not need to install new ones if necessary.

12

Shoot I forgot about the one in the music room! There are now two TrueAlerts in the school. One replacing a 4051+4050-80 and one replacng an SAE AV32+2DCD.

As for the MT’s… truthfully I do not know who put those in. But whoever it was wrote a number on each initiating device, not a zone number but a device number.

13

You gonna update your site saying that one of the AV32+2DCDs was replaced with a TrueAlert? And how were the two other Wheelock MTs installed? Hopefully it wasn’t a crappy install job. And so that now leaves seven fire alarm signals using lights instead of strobes at your old middle school. Before you graduated there were eleven of them. My college only has five fire alarm signals using lights instead of strobes left on the whole campus (one Standard horn/light, one Simplex 2903+2901-9833 and three Simplex 4051+4050-80s).

But I gotta admit that at the Davis, it’s neat to see an SAE AV32 light plate that has a different horn other than an SAE 2DCD or a Wheelock 34 or 34T. Even better, they have Simplex horns in them.

But I still don’t get it why in the gym, they installed 10-inch school bells (three of them!) while the rest of the school has 6-inch bells. Why not just use 6-inch bells in the gym! It’d still be plenty loud enough to hear without having to burst out people’s eardrums!

14

About those simplex bells you have pictured. Do you know if they were ever used in other buildings as the fire alarms. Only wondering because at the Music Building at University Tennessee Knoxville, they have simplex pulls, and these bells are the only viewable notification appliance. They were also accompanied by red “light poles” which were right beside them, which makes me think it may have been a bell/light combination.

15

What do you mean by light poles?

I think Simplex made a version of those bells to be used as fire alarms, too, except they were red instead of gray. And they’d sometimes mount them behind grilles too. I’ve seen a couple of Edwards Adaptabels mounted behind grilles when I was visiting Canada last month. These bells have no relation to the fire alarm system, and were regular class-change bells. The master clock panel is a Simplex model too, but it looks older (probably from the 1980s, it has the newer Simplex logo on it). They just chose to install the bells and 4051+4050-80s next to each other.

16

The light poles:

There was a curved piece of brown metal that came out from the wall, it came out straight, and then curved downwards. At the end of the metal was a cylindrical red light that pointed downwards. It was probably 2-4 inches in diameter, and around 1 foot in length. The light was dark red, unlit, and was covered by a grey metal mesh, probably so as to protect the light.

17

OK, I just recently heard talk from some of the Brockton Public School members that the Raymond elementary school is due for renovation. I also just found this out from a Raymond student today as well.

For those who don’t know what the Oscar F. Raymond elementary school is (I don’t think I’ve fully mentioned it in this thread yet), it was built in 1974-1975, like the Davis was, and this school uses the exact same floorplan and layout as the Davis school does! The only differences are that the blacktops are located at a different part of the school, they have a nature trail near one of the blacktops, the outside is painted yellow instead of brownish-gray, the roof is colored yellow, blue and green for primary colors instead of tan, blue and red, the insides feature mainly blue carpeting and white tiles where red carpeting and red tiles would normally be, the doors are mostly either green with a red stripe, green with a blue stripe or solid turquoise instead of blue with a red stripe or blue with a turquoise stripe. (You see, they built both of these schools with a retro-1970s paint scheme to them.) And of course, they both have virtually the same kinds of clocks, bells and fire alarms, all made by Simplex. The only differences are that the bells (6-inch Simplex bells behind grilles for most of the school, 10-inch Simplex bells behind grilles for the gym) and fire alarms (Simplex 4051 horns on 4050-80 light plates) are positioned a little differently, the 4051 horns are mounted a bit deeply into the 4050-80 plates for a flush-mounted appearance (the 4051s stick out a bit at the Davis), and I saw a picture of the small gymnasium at one point and I saw they had a 4051+80 in there, while at the Davis, the 4050-80 plate in their small gym broke down and they just slapped an SAE AV32 light plate onto the 4051.

I’m surprised they actually decided to keep the old 4051 horn and put an SAE light plate like that on it, because typically they would just replace the entire alarm.
And in terms of similarity, like the Davis, the Raymond school upgraded their panel and annunciator at one point as well. They have a Simplex graphic annunciator just like the one at the Davis school, in the main lobby, so I’m sure the Raymond school has a Simplex 2001 panel. I’m willing to bet they also installed 2098-9806 test stations during that time as well. As for the horns themselves, I’m willing to bet they are 4051s since the Davis had them as well. And I bet the system at the Raymond is set on 20bpm March Time as well, like the Davis school’s system is.

Anyways, the point of this is that the Raymond might be getting renovated in the future, and this most likely means they will have a fire alarm upgrade too. But then again, the Gilmore school had a minor renovation in 2005 when they changed it from an elementary school to a middle school, but the original fire alarm system is still intact (Simplex horns behind 2903 plates from an upgrade in the 1980s, and the Gamewell Century pulls from the original system). And when the cafeteria in the Student Center building at my college was renovated, the only alarm upgrade that occured was that they replaced the remaining old Standard pull with a new Faraday pull, but they kept the Simplex 2903+9833 above it, and the U-HNH-MCS wasn’t altered/replaced either. But the renovations at the South Junior High School (which occured in 2003) and the Huntington Elementary School (which occured in 1979) were completely major renovations, so they completely upgraded their fire alarm systems there.

As for what alarm companies they go for, the newly-built school buildings that were built since 1998 use EST systems, and for upgrades where they’re just replacing the panel and signals and installing a few new pulls and smokes that is not part of a renovation, they go with Notifier. But for the major renovation for South Junior High School, they installed a Simplex system since everything from the old Edwards system got replaced.

The next time I go into the Davis school for another visit (today I just walked to the playground areas for a little trip down memory lane, perfect for a cloudy Saturday in November), I will ask and see if the Davis school will be renovated as well, since the Raymond might be getting renovated. If they are, and they will be replacing the fire alarm system, I certainly hope they will go with a Simplex system! If they do, I’m pretty sure it’ll be identical to the system at South Junior High School: a Simplex 4100U voice-evac system with TrueAlert speaker/strobes. I think this could work; unlike the old Edwards system at South Junior High (which used AC voltage and only had horns and pulls in hallways and a few larger rooms), the Davis school’s Simplex 2001 system has the old 4051+80s (and those two 4051+SAE AV32s) installed virtually everywhere in the building, including in classroom pods, hallways, four in the cafeteria/main lobby, three or four in the library, three in the main gymnasium, one in each locker room, one in the small gymnasium, and one near each hallway exit. And they installed pull stations in many places too; they have them at nearly each exit, three in the main gymnasium, three in the cafeteria/main lobby, three in the library, and in most hallways. Since the Simplex 4051+80s use DC voltage, instead of having to use a lot of conduit and new wiring and lots of backboxes, they could simply just put the TrueAlert speaker/strobes in the spots where the 4051+80s once were, put 4099-9003 (or maybe even -9002) pulls in place of the old 4251-30s (and four 270-SPOs), install TrueAlarm smokes in place of all the Chemtronics heat detectors, replace the current Simplex annunciator with a 4603-9101 annunciator mounted into a map of the school (like at TSS’s middle school), and maybe even keep the old 2098-9806 test stations since Simplex still makes them, and connect them to the new duct detectors.

Since the principal at South Junior High might be saving the old fallout shelter sign there for me if they take it down, if they do plan on renovating the Davis K-8 school and upgrading the alarm system there, maybe I’ll ask if they could save me some of the old alarm parts. Maybe I could keep a 4051+80 and 4251-30 for myself, and offer a few other 4051+80s to others, since I know Firefly wants one.

18

OK, so two days ago (when the forum wound up being redone), I went back to the Davis K-8 school once again to visit. Aside from new lockers installed in various places, when I entered the building, the Simplex graphic annunciator, 4051+4050-80 and school bell were still there, and at first I didn’t notice the pull there that much, until I noticed from a distance that it looked like it had glass on it (prior to this visit, last time I saw that area in September 2008 I remember the pull was missing its glass). So I got a closer look and found out that it was NOT a 4251-30, but a shiny new Simplex 2099-9103 pull station!

I am pretty sure it’s a 2099-9103, as this is a non-addressable system anyways. I was actually surprised they went with a newer break-glass pull station, because it seems usually Simplex tends to replace older pulls with their dual-action T-bars (like the 2099-9756 and 4099-9003). Also, for once there’s a pull station type here where the Simplex logo matches the same kind used on the annunciator and the test stations!


There was also another 2099-9103 near one of the library entrances, too. The staff told me they had to have two of the pulls replaced, I assume the 4251-30s originally there died or something.


Of course, the Simplex 4051+4050-80s are still intact, and even though several of them have the lens cracked near the screw area, and some of the horns and the light plates are a little scuffed up, they overall appear to be in very good condition. It’s kinda funny because seeing new Simplex signals with old Simplex pulls definitely isn’t new to me, but seeing old Simplex signals with new Simplex pulls looks funny to me! (The 4051+4050-80 in this picture was right above the 2099-9103 pull in the previous pic.)


And many of the other old 4251-30 pulls are still intact as well.


A 4051+4050-80 that obviously must have seen better days.


The Simplex master clock panel. This is in the main office. I can tell it’s obviously a retrofit install job, the way it’s in what appears to be the original clock panel cabinet, and the current one was most likely installed in the 1980s or early 1990s. It controls all the electric clocks and bells throughout the school.

Now, once again I didn’t see the fire alarm control panel (I am pretty sure it’s in an electrical/mechanical room or something), but I’m still willing to bet they still have their Simplex 2001 panel. If not, then they might have a Simplex 4005 now, but for now I’m still pretty sure they have a Simplex 2001, given the annunciator style and the 20bpm March Time the system did when I went here for kindergarten.
I also saw that all the other 2098-9806 test stations I saw had the current Simplex logo on them, like the one I previously snapped a picture of, the one where the “S” graphic is the same size as the bold “Simplex” text is (the annunciator also has that version, as do the two new 2099-9103 pull stations, but I doubt the 2001 panel has that version of the logo on it). So I am now absolutely positive the 2098-9806 test stations were installed AFTER the school was originally built, not just by the new Simplex logo but because all of them are on backboxes, and were most likely put in when the Simplex 2001 panel was installed.
And regarding the 2099-9103s, this isn’t the first time at the Davis K-8 school where old pulls died and needed to be replaced. There are already a few newer-style Edwards 270-SPOs around the school, installed around the 1990s and early 2000s. I am pretty sure the school is now most likely serviced by SimplexGrinnell like South Junior High School is, previously when I was there, a local company named Atlas Alarm. Corp serviced the system, and usually they use EST/Edwards products. It could be possible that both companies service the school, much like South Junior High School does, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the main panel had both Atlas Alarm Corp. and SimplexGrinnell stickers on it, or maybe with both these schools, Atlas Alarm Corp. may contact SimplexGrinnell for a replacement part when working on a Simplex system. Whatever the case, hopefully this may mean that once they decide to upgrade the school’s alarm system (which probably won’t be for a few years), they could put in a Simplex 4100U voice-evac system like South Junior High School has!

As for the Raymond Elementary School (the sister school to the Davis K-8), turns out they AREN’T undergoing a major renovation, but they will be installing lockers in the halls and adding a modular building or two this summer, to prepare it for making it into a K-8 school (the Davis K-8 school still has its modular building from when it was built in 1996, which has Wheelock MT-24-LSM horn/strobes, ESL smokes and most likely RSG T-bars; but the Raymond had one for a while and then removed it, since the modular buildings were meant to originally be temporary.)

Any comments?

Oh, and could the mods change the thread title so instead of the part in parentheses saying (Updated 9/15!), it should say (Updated 4/17!) please?

19

Wow, this thread has been dead for some time. I took more pics of the school last week, but I’ll start off with the alarms in the portable attached to the main school building:


Wheelock MT-24-LSMs. The company that makes the portables also puts in the alarm systems, I presume. The portable also has its own independent panel, probably a small ESL or Silent Knight model of some kind, tied into the Simplex system in the main building.


Pull stations in the portable are RSG T-bars. They do not have a company label on the bottom; I just know RSG is the original makers of them, and that multiple companies have branded this pull (including Radionics, Siemens, Federal Signal, etc.)


Some smoke detector. If I’m mot mistaken, it appears to be a Fire-Lite model.

Now on to the main building…


The school bell (it’s a Simplex model, it might be a 4090) and the 4051+4050-80 that was in my old kindergarten classroom (now a junior high social studies classroom). Note that part of the 4050-80 lens is now cracked off a bit (I guess the teens couldn’t stand the noise the alarm made!) Needless to say, it was NOT like that when I was in kindergarten.


This is in the other classroom in the same pod. Note that poster blocking the 4051+4050-80. Not sure how big a violation it is, since the signal is not ADA-compliant, but then again, part of the 4051 is still visible, and maybe they wanted to block out the noise since those horns were VERY loud (so loud, even when an alarm technician was testing the system he had to block the horn with his clipboard in some areas!) Also note the battery-operated clock hanging on the bell grille. I bet some day that clock is gonna fall off due to the vibrations of that LOUD bell!


Chemtronics 500-series heat detector in the pod. Most of the ceiling-mount sensors are these.


Simplex 2098-9806 test station in the same pod. Seems a little strange to see these in a system with 4051+4050-80s (can these be added onto existing duct detectors, or do those have to be replaced too in order for the test stations to work?)


These are what most of the clocks are in the school. My other elementary school, my high school and my college had these clocks too!


A Simplex 4251-30 pull that is missing both the glass and the hammer! This obviously occured after 2000, because I saw that pull that year with the glass and hammer intact. You can also tell it originally was NOT on a backbox but mounted on the wall. I assume some rewiring occured here when the Simplex 2001 panel was put in…


…which obviously explains why the 4051+4050-80 above it is installed like this. At least the conduit is not blocking the light! I am guessing they found the 4050-80 light plate difficult to remove and put it on a backbox too, so they had to install it like this.


It doesn’t look as noticeable from the front though. My guess is that they use the backboxes meant for 4050-80s only in new installations of the signals. Whatever the case, I have to admit it doesn’t look as bad as I thought it originally does.

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I apologize for the size here, but this is so you can easily read the lettering. This is a close-up of the graphic annunciator in the main lobby. This definitely proves the control panel’s in an electrical/mechanical room. I wonder what each individual LED on the map is for? I assume it is for individual duct detectors or test stations, though it’s not an addressable system (individual zone LEDs can be seen too).


The alarm setup you see among entering the building from the main entrance. For once there’s a pull station that has the same Simplex logo as the test stations and the annunciator! (there used to be a 4251-30 pull there, but early this year it was replaced with the 2099-9103 pull you see there).


And speaking of replacement pulls, here’s the Edwards 270-SPO seen at one of the entrances to the school library. This was obviously installed when the other two 270-SPOs linking from the cafeteria to the exit near the gym were installed, some time during the mid-to-late 1990s (it’s the newer-style kind that is all red and has no Edwards logo), while the one outside the gym was put in earlier this decade (that one has the silver trim and the Edwards logo, yet is still a newer-style version).


Heat detector above a restroom (they are designed uniquely in this wing; sinks are in the same section in an alcove at the hallway, and separate doors lead to the boys’ and girls’ toilets.) I can tell the ceiling was replaced at one point, since the heat detector is on some kind of support (some of the smokes and heats at my college wound up installed like this after they replaced the ceilings last summer).


Here’s a nice-looking 4251-30 pull, with everything still intact and no paint or whatever on the sides. 90% of the 4251-30s in the building are like this.


The 4051+4050-80 in the library that has the lens ripped off of it, exposing the light bulb! It’s been that way since 2000, when a local alarm company was servicing the school. Now that SimplexGrinnell services the school’s alarm system, I hope they’re gonna do something about that (either get a new lens to put on the 4050-80, probably from another 4050-80 or a 4903 light plate, or just replace the retrofit plate or signal altogether.) The lights don’t work on the 4050-80s in the library (but the 4051s do), but still, you’d think they’d have fixed that light problem by now.


Same alarm, but I also included the pull station and test station near it.


A school bell with the grille painted white instead of its original gray. I think they must’ve repainted the wall at one point in that section. The way the grille is painted reminds me of Dan M.'s high school.


Simplex 4251-30s are designed so that the frame and hammer flip downward after you smash the glass. Looks like someone must’ve broken the glass or even pulled the alarm at one point, and they never bothered to put the frame back up into its normal position!

Even though the system does have a few cosmetic blemishes, it’s still in very good condition and works very well (considering the control panel was installed in the 1980s!)

Any questions/comments/replies?

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Cool system.

I am glad they went with 2099s to replace the 4251-30s, as the break glass ones would be similar enough for the building occupants to recognize.

Also, I hope they fix the vandalized 4050-80, maybe since Simplex is servicing the system now, they’ll replace the 4050-80 with another one from an older system.

Also, with that 4251-30 with the open frame, I’m afraid they might leave it since once again, we’re the only people who are noticing it as a problem, but hopefully they’ll put in new glass or remove the frame. I sure hope they don’t tape it up like they did at my ES.