Thats cool!
Last time I went to Government Center, I noticed the TrueAlerts still had black tape over them. I better go check that out soon to see if they uncovered them. I also saw t-bars with cardboard boxing last time I was there, so I bet those might have been uncovered too.
Also, I swear I thought that park street had BG-12s, maybe I’m wrong, so I will definitely pay attention to that too.
I saw nothing covered up when I was there, and the heat detector in the Dunkin Donuts kiosk was flashing, which meant the system was operational.
[quote] Also, I swear I thought that park street had BG-12s, maybe I'm wrong, so I will definitely pay attention to that too. [/quote]I believe you’re right. As a matter of fact, where my train was supposed to board, there was a stopper cover hanging by the wires with nothing going off. I didn’t bother to get a closer look though.
Today we went to the East Bridgewater Commercial Club to celebrate a friend’s graduation party. They had a rather interesting fire alarm system…
The panel was a Fire-Lite MS-9050UD. The signals were Gentex SHG horn/strobes, and the pulls were BG-12LXs, and they had these System Sensor intelligent smoke detectors. A photograph from the 1980s showed this older ESL/System Sensor smoke detector; so the old system was probably ESL or another Fire-Lite system.
I was at the Showcase Cinemas in Randolph, MA today to see “Toy Story 3” with some friends. I paid a bit more attention to the alarm system when in the lobby, so now I know more about it:
The cinema has a Simplex 4100 voice-evacuation system. The main panel was showing a “SUPERVISORY” condition (they said that they always keep it that way when the theater is open; is this even legal?), and it had an emergency mic and telephone on it. Next to it was a 4100 auxiliary panel.
The signals were Simplex 4903-9168 speaker/strobes (I saw through the grille), and the pull stations were 2099-9761 dual-action T-bars, many of them behind Stopper II covers.
The smoke detectors were Simplex TrueAlarms; many of them were the older version on the smaller base. But there were a handful of newer TrueAlarm smokes as well, and the restrooms had the heat-only version. They were all addressable.
Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, NY has either a Simplex 4100 or 4120. The parking garage is Wheelock weatherproof speaker/strobes and generic dual-action Simplex T-Bars. In the tunnel leading from the garage to the hospital there’s a Wheelock E70 speaker/strobe. On the first floor of the hospital, they have 4903 speaker/strobes and dual-action T-Bars. On the 4th floor, however, they have the 2903 speaker/visuals (located 10 ft apart from each other) and single-action T-Bars. The hospital most likely had an upgrade at some point, as the smokes throughout the whole hospital are the same (1st generation TrueAlarms w/ the small base) and all the pulls are the newer type, which leads me to believe it’s a somewhat-new alarm system. All the system components have their address or NAC circuit labeled on the devices as well.
Heh, that reminds me of Brockton Hospital, which has pretty much the same signals and pulls, but only certain areas of the hospital have addressable devices (4099-9003 dual-action pulls and newer TrueAlarm smokes, with 4903-9150 speaker/strobes), while other areas do not (these generally have 4251-20 single-action pulls and a mix of non-addressable Simplex smokes of old and new, and the signals are generally the 2903 speaker/visuals with a few replacement 4903 speaker alarms.) The panel is probably a Simplex 4120 or 4100U, but it is still identical. As if that weren’t enough, the radiology wing has its OWN system (probably a 4005) with SAE 2DCD+AV32 horn/lights, 2099-9756 and 4251-20 T-bar pulls, and non-addressable TrueAlarms.
On June 19th, my family and I went to see “Toy Story 3”.
The fire alarm system at this theater was posted a long time ago, but I’ll repost it anyway.
Notification Appliances: Wheelock MT-24-LSM’s (some had a Gamewell sticker on the bottom; they can even be found in the restrooms), Wheelock MT-24-LS’s (15cd on all sides) (I think) at the exits (where you would normally enter and exit the theatre).
Pull Stations: Gamewell Century Single-Action Pulls w/ Stopper IIs
The Olive Garden that was within the same area as that one theater (this one was fairly new)
Notification Appliances: White System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes (first time seeing white Advances), SpectrAlert Advance SW remote strobe (also white). They are all set to 75 cd (even the remote strobe).
Pull Stations: ADT BG-12 or BG-12L pulls (I didn’t see a red or green LED flashing, so they aren’t addressable)
Annunciator: ADT Rebranded Fire-Lite ANN-80 (This leads me to believe that the panel is an ADT rebranded Fire-Lite MS-5UD or MS-10UD.
The college where my dad works has a really weird setup. In the old wing, they have a Simplex 4100U, FOS 6120’s; some on Space Age A34’s, some on 2903 strobe plates with their lens flipped, Space Age V33 strobe lights, one SpectrAlert classic strobe, Autocall pull stations, 4251-20’s in one part, and a few Simplex 4251 chevrons. The newer wing, which was completed a few years ago, has another 4100U, a 4003, True Alert speaker/strobes, True Alert strobes, and dual-action 2099’s.
I am taking summer school at a another high school, which is part of our school board. This school has a Simplex system. There is a Simplex 4602 annunciator in the main foyer. The alarms are Simplex 2901-9720 6" bells, pictured below.
The bells have these http://www.schuminweb.com/schumin-web/odds-and-ends/fire-alarms-display.php?id=35 Simplex 4904-9105 remote strobes under them, except the school has the wall mounted version of the strobes. The pulls are these simplex pulls,
which I do not know the model # of them. I know that they do fire drills in summer school, So i’ll try to get a video of the system in action.
The Horizon Bay nursing home in Coventry, RI where my grandmother lives has what appears to be a Gamewell-FCI fire alarm system. The building is pretty new, so this means the system is the original to the building. I saw an FCI annunciator in the main entrance, but I didn’t see the panel; it’s probably hidden in an electrical closet. The signals are Wheelock ZNS horn/strobes, and some areas (like the residental bedrooms and bathrooms) have the remote strobe version. Outside, there is a Wheelock ASWP horn/strobe. The smokes are System Sensor 2251s, and the pulls are Gamewell-FCI BG-12LXs.
The Wendy’s nearby we had lunch at has a Simplex 4004 fire alarm system (the panel was located at one of the entrances). The signals were electronic 4903 horn/strobes (probably 4903-9236s; they had 15 candela-strobes), and the pulls were dual-action 2099-9756s, and the smoke detectors were mostly 2098-9209 heads on the 2098-9211 bases, but there was also a TrueAlarm-style heat sensor near the kitchen. The system appeared to be from the mid-to-late 1990s.
Unfortunately, this system is no longer there. I went there today because the building was undergoing a renovation, and found out that the entire Simplex system had been removed and thrown away. 
I was going to try and get some parts from the system, but I was too late. This means there will now only be two Simplex systems left on the campus (I am pretty sure the new system is going to be garbage labeled “Notifier” or “Bosch” or even “Siemens.”)
Are you serious? Notifier and Bosch garbage? How obsessed with Simplex ARE you?
Well, Simplex is pretty popular on this forum. Look at one of the polls for “Favorite fire alarm company,” and Simplex was in first, and if I recall, Wheelock was in a close second.
That has nothing to do with quality…and what makes something “garbage”
I got that term from SimplexTech on YouTube.
Besides, Simplex and Wheelock are my favorite fire alarm companies (no surprise, as you may have seen my collection has a LOT of Simplex stuff, and some Wheelock too)
Funny you guys should call Notifier “garbage”. I know a guy that used to work for Simplex and he called Notifier “Not-A-Fire”. He didn’t get into specifics, but he really disliked it.
Simplex and Notifier are competitors. Simplex has great technology but their business side needs some attention they push untrained people out and they end up doing sloppy work. Sure there are PLENTY of fly by night company’s that use notifier but you will find through research and case study’s that Notifer is a VERY reliable product. Who knows what changes are in the works under Honeywell but I would take a Notifier system installed by a local tech any day over Simplex. You forget my connections to Simplex for me to talk down about them is not an easy thing to do but what I see in the field and what you see as collectors are very different. They are not the same company that they used to be. Interesting tidbit the city of Boston refused to let Simplex work on their own systems for years as they were considering them simply a “manufacture”
Well obviously Simplex technicians are going to be biased. I’m sure many of them have never even touched a Notifier panel. Besides, the rest of the fire alarm industry seems to absolutely HATE Simplex due to their super-proprietary business model. After being locked out of a 4005 panel that I purchased and spending hours on the phone with Simplex only to be told blatant lies then just flat-out refused by one of their techs, I don’t blame 'em…(although I didn’t expect much from their customer support anyway since I’m not a customer. Really my fault for buying a proprietary panel :evil: ).
Notifier panels are good, solid systems. Just take a look at some of the features they’ve got. Can Simplex panels be programmed through an Ethernet web server without installing any software, just like you program a router? Nope. Do they have a solution that can monitor networked fire alarm, security, CCTV, and access control systems across the globe and remotely transmit voice evac messages through a computer workstation? Still no. What about a large color touchscreen annunciator designed to show firefighters exactly where the fire alarm condition is located on a map? Uhhh…nope. Do they even have a solution to monitor the fire alarm system over the Internet? They’re just NOW coming out with that on the 4100ES, and Notifier’s had it for years (along with many other companies). These systems are not garbage. If they (along with Bosch and Siemens) were “garbage”, then why would they be trusted to actively protect millions of citizen’s lives in countless high-rise buildings everyday?
I can understand the appeal that Simplex seems to have to collectors. As a collector and hobbyist, I do like their systems. But rather than just flat-out calling a company “garbage”, take a look at the big picture. Fire alarms are designed to protect people’s lives. Building owners don’t look at the horns or installation jobs. As long as the annunciator at the front door is not beeping 24/7 due to an unfixed trouble, and they aren’t having to pay an exorbitant amount of money for service calls, the building owners are happy. Simplex doesn’t always seem to deliver that. Just because Simplex is the largest fire alarm company in the world really doesn’t mean anything. ADT and Brinks are the largest security companies around, and I don’t even need to begin explaining how much their systems are “garbage”. :lol:
EDIT: Jake, you beat me to it 
In my opinion, I really don’t take the time to compare which systems are garbage and which ones are not. As long as the system gets the job done, that’s the key.
Sure, as a collector there are certain brands, styles, and other factors that me to like different alarms for different reasons. However, I do not let my hobby take control of how I view fire protection systems. The difference between the alarms I own and ones in service is the fact that mine are not in service. I don’t get crazy about what system a building has, as long as it does its job.
You might actually find the printed information somewhat interesting. It’s pretty “boring” but pretty educational and case studys give pretty in depth information as to operation if that’s your thing.