Ah, it’s alarm testing season once again. Simplex is curently going around our building (campus center) testing the pulls and smokes. They do this for all the buildings around this time of year…
Well, I went back to UA today with a friend (also a member of this board) and while showing him around the campus, I discovered a change in the campus center extension! Well, you’ll remember a WHILE back, 3 bell/strobes in the extension had an http://www.dan.calvinet.com/Troubled_Bell-Strobe.JPG orange sticker placed on them. Well, one of those labeled alarms was by the SEFCU bank, and when I went in today, a WHEELOCK bell/strobe had taken its place! Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of it, BUT, there was something odd about the bell - it was http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1278131572.jpg SHINEY! The picture you see was a picture of one I found on Flickr, but it looked exactly the same. It appears that Wheelock has made a bit of a texture change to their bells (http://www.dan.calvinet.com/Wheelock_MB-G10-24.JPG here’s the old style). I wonder if the sound changed…
I’m not that surprised they used a Wheelock bell/strobe, as most of the signal devices on the campus are Wheelock (ESPECIALLY in the Simplex systems.) I’m willing to bet that Simplex installed that bell/strobe.
As for Simplex using bells today, aside from those unknown ones they use in Canada, I know today they use Wheelock and Edwards bells.
I have yet to see any EST products used in modern Simplex installations. As for the bell, they have to use Wheelocks because Faraday (what they usually use) discontinued their own bell series and are now using all Wheelock signals.
I have seen EST Genesis horn/strobes used in a restroom at the South Shore Plaza, which has a Simplex 4120 fire alarm system network (interestingly, the rest of the mall is voice-evac).
As for Simplex having to use Wheelock bells, it most likely isn’t just because of Faraday discontinuing them; Simplex has used Wheelock products on occasion since the early 1990s, but nowadays they seem to rarely use them due to them making their own weatherproof and multi-tone TrueAlerts, etc. Besides, Simplex could also use the Potter bells…
OK, MASSIVE update to the UA portion of my website. I went back and photographed the http://www.dan.calvinet.com/Cafeteria_FA2.JPG new bell/strobe they installed in the extension (http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1279496027.jpg here’s a wider view of it), the http://www.dan.calvinet.com/html/type_4__science_library_.html SpectrAlert Advances in the Science Library, and lo and behold, I FINALLY created the http://www.dan.calvinet.com/html/type_3__sefcu_arena_.html Type 3 Voice Evacuation page!
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get one alarm picture (it was in the weight room, which isn’t exactly a good place to take pictures with people exercising there), but the rest of it is all there! Enjoy!
Pretty cool! The SEFCU arena’s fire alarm system reminds me of something I’d see at Bridgewater State College! As I’ve mentioned, they have a whole variety of Simplex systems from the 1990s and present, as well as a couple from the 1970s.
As for the whole addressable system set up in a non-addressable manner thing, that reminds me of the Rondileau Campus Center at Bridgewater State College. I didn’t see the panel (odds are it’s a Simplex 4100), and despite it being addressable, only a couple of areas have addressable devices! They have a Simplex-rebranded SAE graphic annunciator underneath the 4603-9101 LCD annunciator that shows the zones:
The pulls in most of the building are Simplex 2099-9756 dual-action T-bars, and they have almost NO smoke detectors (some areas do have old Chemtronics heat sensors left over from the old Standard system; not sure if they still work). The signals in most of the building are 4903-9219 horn/strobes. But the cafeteria, the student life office/lounge and the music/theater department has 4099-9003 pull stations and addressable TrueAlarm smokes (the signals are non-addressable TrueAlert horn/strobes in these areas).
BTW, regarding the Science Library, it’s interesting how they obviously had to put in Notifier pulls and smoke detectors so they could be compatible with the existing addressable Notifier panel. I’m also not surprised that they used SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes, as lately (since around maybe 2003-2004), Notifier prefers using the SpectrAlert signals instead of Wheelock. The Notifier system also sticks out, in contrast to how all the other academic-related buildings have Simplex systems.
And another thing about the arena, I suppose if they wanted to make it more up to code, they could simply put Wheelock RSS strobes next to many of the LifeAlarm speakers, and install the same strobes in the gym as well, and in some areas where installing a remote strobe wouldn’t be practical, replace the LifeAlarm with a Wheelock E70 or something. Since the 4903-9101 you mentioned is not ADA-compliant, Simplex would probably put the speaker on a new strobe plate, or replace that alarm altogether.
Interesting to see them use the 4251 pulls in a 1992 installation, as I recall the 2099-series pulls first came out around 1991 (according to a datasheet I found on them). Maybe Simplex had a lot of 4251 pulls left over in stock and decided to put them to use?
Well! I went back to UA today for a visit and there were lots of surprises! They have replaced a number of outdooor alarms, all of which used to be http://www.dan.calvinet.com/Weatherproof_MT.JPG MT-24-WMs. A few of them (2 out of 6) have been replaced with new http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1286620576.jpg MTWPs. But the remaining four signals have been replaced with http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1286650467.jpg these! At first I thought they were weatherproof TrueAlerts becaus they were so red, but once I got closer I discovered what they really were.
Finally, I ate lunch there for the first time in a LONG time. On my way out of Sbarros I smelled something burning, but you often do and most of the time nothing comes out of it. This was at about 12:30. I took my lunch upstairs and after eating I visited my office. I leave there around 1:10, and when walking along the side of the building I noticed a decent amount of people standing outside with a fire truck parked behind them with its lights off. Well, I listened real closely and sure enough, I heard bells ringing! Then I saw some firemen in their gear going in and out of the building, so the extension had triggered yet again. IDK if the burning scent I smelled was what set it off, especially since so much time had passed between that and the alarm going off (false alarms usually last around 15 minutes, and I caught the last 5 minutes of it), but just something to mention. I’ll check the police log in the near future and see what happened.
All in all, very active day! 
Well, turns out it wasn’t a false alarm, it was an actual fire! Police Log entry:
[quote] Grease fire occurred in kitchen area. Fire extinguished immediately before any damaged had taken place. [/quote]It doesn’t say what triggered the alarm though. I assume it was the smoke, but you never know. It doesn’t say which kitchen area either, because there’s 8 different fastfood places in the food court. Hopefully more info will be posted at a later date.
Well, I went back to UA today for a visit and again there are more changes! Over the past year, they’ve been working to turn window wells between the Humanities and Education building as well as the Physics and Chemistry buildings into lounge spaces. Well, the process is finally complete and while I was there today I went to check out the new area and sure enough, the alarms have changed a bit (I saw online they were doing alarm work in those areas). Well, in the Physics and Chemistry areas, there used to be one TrueAlert horn/strobe and one TrueAlert remote strobe. Now, there’s two TrueAlert horn/strobes (multi-candela). In between the Humanities and Education areas, there used to be ASs, as evidenced in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_RF6ppPVKM this video. Now, there’s http://www.dan.calvinet.com/Exceder.JPG these! There used to be three ASs in that area (one on each side of the window well), now there’s 4 Exceder horn/strobes. That hallway you see in the vid which previously had nothing now has an Exceder. I checked what classrooms were open and it turns out they left the ASs in those rooms alone. I couldn’t get into room that had the non-working one in it because it was locked.
LC3 also has undergone rennovations and the facilities website did note about alarm testing, but all three of those rooms (3A, 3B, and 3C) were locked as well. The doors did have windows in them, but they were covered, so I couldn’t see inside. Hopefully I’ll get into those areas in the future.
That speaker-grilled alarm is a vibratory horn?
That’s what I said. Here’s a vid of the sound they make:
That sounds like more of an electronic sound.
I haven’t gone back yet, but the other day I read the police log to search for alarm incidents and I came acorss this one for the campus center extension:
[quote] Fire alarm activation. Officer observed flooding condition in bookstore storage area, hallway and lobby. It was determined a water pipe had burst in storage area electrical closet setting off alarm. Environmental Health and Safety along with cleaning staff on scene. [/quote]I guess the cold temps got to the pipes (the high the day before was only 5, and the low was well below zero). What a mess…
Would you happen to have any pics of any of the old edwards systems? I’d like to see them.
I do have a few. http://www.dan.calvinet.com/Edwards_Classic.JPG Here’s a classic Edwards pull station that I found still looming in the campus center. It has since been removed. Most of the old signals were flush-mounted and in the buildings they were single stroke bells (they say single-stroke on the label). Here’s a pic of one http://www.dan.calvinet.com/Old_FA.JPG flush mounted and here’s one that I found http://www.dan.calvinet.com/Old_Fire_Bell.JPG semi-flush mounted. While the academic buildings had bells, the residence halls had old EST triangle horn/strobes. Some were http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1296629577.jpg flush-mounted, others were semi-flush mounted. The smokes were old http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1296658595.jpg EST ones w/ thermal sensors.
That’s all the stuff that was “standard”, but not all the buildings were. A lot of the dorms had real old systems with zone indicators and trouble bells. http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1296649787.jpg Here’s a pic of one that I took while a dorm was in the middle of getting an upgrade. Also, the dining hall dorm on State Quad (Whitman Hall) had those http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1296654091.jpg old standard pulls instead of EST ones. Also, there’s that picture of the horn/strobe on the previous page. That was installed in the Dutch Quad tower (Stuyvesant), while the other towers had the EST triangle alarms (they were horns, because a few had been replaced w/ newer horn/strobes.
That’s all I had of the old stuff. Of course, all the old stuff ceases to exist as the whole campus has now gotten upgrades in all the buildings.
I guess SimplexGrinnell finally discovered that old Edwards pull and removed it to make sure the system in the Campus Center was completely Simplex/Wheelock.
Did they even get rid of the leftover bells in the library building, too?
Regarding that flush-mount Edwards horn/strobe, that was weird! I’m guessing it replaced a bell or something. It’s definitely not a really good install job, because then the strobe is barely visible! Typically if they have to replace an old bell-behind-a-grille setup, they just remove the bell, then install the new horn/strobe in front of the grille!
And as I said before, it’s pretty interesting how the entire campus was Edwards. Usually with some colleges I’ve seen they have a bit more variety in system brands. Massasoit College was initially a mix of Standard and Simplex, but now it’s mostly Fire-Lite and Faraday (there is also a Notifier system in the student center, a Simplex system in the administration building, and the old Standard panel in the maintenance garage!)
Bridgewater State University also initially had a mix of different alarm brands, including Edwards, Gamewell, Standard, Autocall and maybe others, but now all the academic buildings and a couple of the dorms have Simplex systems, and the other dorms have EST systems.
No, all the old bells stayed. They’re only visible in the campus center, library, and PAC. I haven’t seen any in the academic buildings, however I discovered with the LCs that they were installed above the ceiling tiles, so they might be installed in the ceilings of the other buildings.
[quote] Regarding that flush-mount Edwards horn/strobe, that was weird! I'm guessing it replaced a bell or something. It's definitely not a really good install job, because then the strobe is barely visible! Typically if they have to replace an old bell-behind-a-grille setup, they just remove the bell, then install the new horn/strobe in front of the grille! [/quote]No, there never was a bell there. Like I said, all the dorms had the triangle horn/strobes, about 1/2 of which were installed like that. IDK why they did that, but like I said, all the dorms have been upgraded, so it’s all a thing of the past now.
At my old ES, the gym had the fire and school bell flushed mounted with grilles like that. The old system had Edwards 10" bells. When the system got upgraded, since the bell was behind a grille and the new alarms were horn strobes, they simply took out the bell, and somehow they installed the alarm on the grille, and then they installed another grille on the grille to protect the horn strobe. The recess bell in that gym never worked, and i’m guessing because it was too loud in there for it (the bell is 10"). Today, the bell is still there, and it still doesn’t ring.
Well, the lobby of the campus center is back open after undergoing an extensive rennovation. It looks nice and as expected, there are some alarm modifications.
http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1299239612.jpg Pic 1
That’s an overall look. First, you’ll notice in the back by the doors on the 2nd floor there’s a speaker/strobe and a pull station. The pull station was there before, but the speaker/strobe was not. Second, over by the windows, just above the purple balloon, you’ll notice a red box. That it http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1299203847.jpg this. Upon first glance, I thought this was a special ceiling-mount model, but upon closer inspection, you can see an “E” on the lower-right corner of the alarm. Apparently this is a ceiling-mount model speaker/strobe with a wall-mount cover plate.
http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1299183908.jpg Pic 2
Where that cover plate is on the wall, there used to be a speaker/strobe and pull station there.
http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1299221279.jpg Pic 3
As you can see, there are now two pull stations in the entryway where there were previously none. The PAC and the Library have setups like this. However, there’s something odd. You can’t tell by the picture, but the pull station on the right is single-action and the pull staton on the left is DUAL-action! It’s the only dual-action pull in the whole building! The annunciator and the speaker/strobe in the entryway are still there, untouched. Also, that boarded up area you see is where two doors are going to go in the future. Apparently the doors have to be custom made (they’re wider than the other doors) and it’s taking a while to get them delivered and installed.
http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1299211470.jpg Pic 4
http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1299271061.jpg Pic 5
These are the areas adjacent to the lobby. I believe these are separated from the lobby by motorized doors that will close when the alarm goes off. Anyway, in the second picture, there’s a speaker/strobe on the left. That used to be on the right where that small door is. They also moved the double-doors you see over to the left further. In the first picture, there’s a speaker/strobe on the right. There used to be two speaker/strobes in that area, but as you can see, now there’s only one. Also, as you can see, they mounted most of the smoke detectors in these areas on the walls vs. on the ceilings where they used to be. The areas under that low ceiling do have their detectors on the ceiling though.
http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1299185288.jpg Pic 6
Finally in this picture, there’s proof that the doors have moved. That pull station you see used to be right next to the doors and the smoke detector you see used to be right above them. I was a little disappointed that they left that area alone and didn’t modify the system components (move the pull closer to the door, perhaps add a second smoke on the other side of the area, put in an alarm signal), but that may change in the future as the whole building will be undergoing a rennovaton one area at a time. And BTW, there were three old single-stroke bells in the rennovation areas that have been removed completely.
Lots of changes! BTW, if you’d like to see the way things once were, you can watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRDiu4FEHWo this video.