I’m currently typing this from my aunt’s house in Maine. The only fire alarm system I saw on the way was at a rest stop in Maine we stopped at to use the restroom and have lunch at.
If I recall correctly, the panel is a Notifier FireWarden 100-2 system. The signals were Wheelock NS-24-MCW horn/strobes, Wheelock RSS strobes in the restrooms, NBG-12LX pull stations (with red LED), and addressable 2151 smoke detectors.
Kohl’s (Canton Township, MI)
Alarms:
- Ceiling-mount 4903- horn/strobes throughout the store.
- Ceiling-mount 4904-9137 strobes in smaller areas (fitting rooms, for example).
Annunciators:
One Honeywell annunciator at the front of the store, although it likely is used for a security (the device is white).
Pulls:
One 2099-9795 pull station (behind a Stopper II cover) at the front of the store.
Tuesday Morning (Canton Township, MI)
Alarms:
SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes throughout the store.
Annunciators:
One Radionics annunciator next to the main entrance.
Pulls:
- The main entrance to the store had a Radionics t-bar pull station.
- The rest of the pull stations are Bosch-branded Sigcom t-bar pull stations (next to fire exits).
Sally Beauty Supply (Canton Township, MI)
Alarms:
The only alarm-related device I saw was a ceiling-mount strobe in the middle of the store that bears a resemblance to the MASS241575ADA series of horn/strobes.
Designer Shoe Warehouse (Canton Township, MI)
Alarms:
- One AS weatherproof horn/strobe outside the entrance to the store.
- Most of the other alarms are ceiling-mount Wheelock HSRC horn/strobes, throughout the store and strobe models in the restrooms.
- There is one 4" Adaptabel in the checkout area of the store (likely used for general signaling).
Annunciators:
One Fire-Lite annunciator at the front of the store.
Pulls:
One ADT-branded BG-12LX pull station next to a fire exit in the back.
Was back at Stonehill College today, reconsidering for maybe if I choose to go there in the future (unfortunately I won’t; because they do not have an IT degree!) Some things have changed, and some things haven’t. Surprisingly, I found out they still have some Simplex systems left on the campus (remember, the Merkert-Tracy Hall’s old Simplex system with 4051+4050-80s and 4251-30 pulls got the axe and was replaced with garbage labeled “Siemens.”)
They still have the Simplex system in the Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex, which is the original from when the building was built in 1988. (Simplex 4002 system, I think, with 2901-9838 horns on 2903 visual plates and 4251-20 pulls) The building was scheduled to be fully expanded and renovated, but they did not get to it yet this summer. If they add on to it, I’m not sure if they would keep the Simplex system, or they might just replace it with another Siemens system. Besides, it wasn’t like the Merkert-Tracy Hall, which was built back in the 1940s; this is a more modern building.
The Duffy Academic Center had a portion of the building renovated. It has SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes replacing the Wheelock 7002Ts, but they kept many of the System Sensor 2400 smoke detectors and the Edwards 270-SPO pulls. The offices now have i3 smoke detectors. Guess the panel’s a Fire-Lite or Notifier model or something.
The college bookstore is located in the Boland Residence Hall. This building has an FCI FC-72 system (I think), with System Sensor SpectrAlert horn/strobes, some kind of Hochiki smoke detectors, and Edwards 270-SPO pulls.
Benaglia Hall has an FCI fire alarm system with Space Age VA4 horn/strobes and FCI MS-2 pulls.
Two of the Pilgrim Heights residence halls both have Simplex systems (probably 2001s) with SAE annunciators in the main entrance, and 4251-20 pulls and newer Hochiki smoke detectors (obviously replacements.) One has 2901-9806 horns behind 2903 light plates, the other has 2901-9833 horns behind the same light plates (and a -9833 outside on a weatherproof back box.) The third has a Kidde system with Space Age VA4 horn/strobes, Kidde pulls and at least one Edwards 270-SPO.
The Dining Commons, which had a partial renovation last year, has a Simplex system, for a change! When I was approaching it I figured that, given the renovation, it was going to be another Siemens system or something like that. But when I saw an outdoor alarm near the entrance: a 2901-9838 horn on a 4903-9001 light plate (on weatherproof back box), I was pleasantly surprised! Inside, they have a Simplex 4002 fire alarm system, with a 4003 voice-control panel for the renovated basement dining area. Most alarms are Simplex 2901-9838 horns on the 4903-9001 light plates. However, The Hill dining area (in the basement) has Simplex 4903-9150 speaker/strobes, and remote TrueAlert strobes in certain areas (a mens’ room actually had an older remote TrueAlert strobe with the fake horn grille and the old green asterisk symbol for 15 candelas!) Pull stations were mostly break-glass 4251-30s, as well as a couple of Simplex 2099-9756 T-bars (one near the main entrance, another in The Hill.) Smoke detectors, only found at the elevators and in stairwells, are 2098-9201 photoelectric heads on the 2-wire bases.
Just came back yesterday from a hectic mini-vacation Friday night and Saturday in the Cleveland area…
Courtyard Marriott (Independence, OH)
Alarms:
Gamewell branded MT alarms (likely set to some type of voice-evacuation setting) throughout the building; the strange thing about these alarms though, is that all of the speaker outlets have covers over them! I wonder if that is to reduce noise?
Detectors:
- Gamewell XP95-P photoelectric detectors in the hallways.
- Some discontinued Gamewell heat detectors (wall-mount) in the hotel rooms.
- One Gamewell XP95-T thermal detector in a ground-floor kitchen area.
- One First Alert smoke detector above some computers in the lobby area.
Panel:
Some discontinued Gamewell panel (likely voice-evac) at the main entrance, in a private office area.
Pulls:
Gamewell “full moon” pull stations throughout the building.
Christ Child Resale Shop Showcase (Lakewood, OH)
Detectors:
A couple of wall-mount First Alert smoke detectors in this store.
Trinity Lutheran Church (Lakewood, OH)
Pulls:
All I could catch was a Fire-Lite branded NBG-10 at one of the exits.
Dairy Queen (Lakewood, OH)
Detectors:
One i3 series photoelectric detector in the dining area.
And, on an unrelated note…
RadioShack (7 Mile Road, Livonia, MI)
Alarms:
Ceiling-mount SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes throughout the store.
Office Depot (Northville Township, MI)
Alarms:
- GX-90 horn/strobes in some spots of the store, with one at the main entrance.
- Other spots of the retail area have SpectrAlert classic horn/strobes.
- One known office area, however, has a ceiling-mount horn/strobe of the SpectrAlert classic.
Annunciators:
Two Radionics annunciators; one red (fire) and one white (security).
Pulls:
Honeywell S464A pull stations throughout the store.
Chelsea Proving Grounds (Lima Township, MI)
Front Security Office
Alarms:
One 4" double-gong setup outside of the office, with a protective guard around it.
Buildings 103-111
Alarms:
- Wheelock NH horns mounted onto RSSP retrofit plates that can only be found in the huge office area. These particular alarms are mounted quite low…
- Separate RSS strobes scattered throughout the buildings, mostly in restrooms and work areas.
- MT horn/strobes in other parts of the office area, and some in bathrooms! :shock:
- Wheelock HS4 horn/strobes in the work areas.
- NS horn/strobes exclusive to one part of the building, also found in a work area.
- Adaptahorns in the testing laboratories; some of them are connected to two beacon lights; one red (danger), and the other yellow (caution). There is also one mounted onto a gas leak panel.
Detectors:
All I found in this huge building was one wall-mount 2098-9577 smoke detector in the testing laboratories.
Panels:
Several Johnson Controls Metasys series panels located throughout the building.
Pulls:
- Most of the pull stations are Johnson Controls branded NBG-12LX models.
- Some pull stations, however, are Johnson Controls branded NBG-10 models, likely left over from an older system.
The signal codings for all alarms (except maybe the Adaptahorns) are code-3, and the reason I know this is because my father’s ID card has emergency procedures on the back side, which describes what to do in case of fires. There were also numerous emergency shut-off switches for various uses, such as gas leaks, exhaust leaks, etc.
Merri-Seven Trains (Livonia, MI)
Detectors:
A couple of older smoke detectors scattered around; I think they might be ESL detectors but I am not sure.
Just got back from the Foxwoods Casino resort in Mashantucket, CT. It was my first time being there. Too start, it’s a Simplex system (probably networked), most likely a 4100 or 4120. The alarms vary, depending which area of the building you’re in. A lot of the alarms in the older section are Simplex 2902-9711 LifeAlarm speakers on 4903-9105 plates. I did see a couple of 4904-9105 remote strobes as well. There are also a few 4903 speaker/strobes installed, and there’s also a a good number of TrueAlert speaker/strobes too (wall and ceiling-mount). The pulls are dual-action T-bars and the smokes were pretty limited, but they were for the most part first generation TrueAlarms. Some of them have been replaced with the second generation ones, seen today. In the parking garage area, they have MT-WM horn/strobes with single-action T-Bars under stopper covers. On the first level elevator lobby, there’s also an MT-WM horn/strobe, but go to the casino level, and there’s white TrueAlert remote strobes with ceiling-mount round speakers.
As for the oddities, that would lie with the LifeAlarm speaker/strobes. Some of them were mounted http://www.dan.calvinet.com/SA_SpeakerStrobe.JPG horizontally for some reason, and some were actually http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1318270892https://cdn.thefirepanel.com/legacy/3092_6fd21bb48ddcf136c9e6c757ef70e19b.jpg painted white.
All in all, it’s a pretty decent system.
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Pretty cool! It reminds me of the system at the Prudential Center in Boston, MA, but it has 2902-9732 LifeAlarm speakers on the same strobe plates, and everything else is pretty much the same, but with more smokes, and some single-action pulls. It is probably a 4120 network with maybe a 4100U thrown in as well.
Mobil (39425 6 Mile Road, Northville Township, MI)
Alarms:
One of those gray, metallic boxes with an Adaptahorn over a red light, and next to them are a couple of shut-off switches, probably used for a gas leak or something along those lines.
Benihana (Novi, MI)
Alarms:
- Ceiling and wall-mount AS horn/strobes throughout the building, including one in each restroom! :shock:
- Wall-mount HS4 horn/strobes, also scattered throughout the building.
- One 10" bell (probably an outdoor sprinkler bell) that actually went off while we waited to be served! I don’t know the reason behind the activation, though. The signal coding for the bell is continuous.
Annunciators:
One Silent Knight annuciator located at the main entrance.
Misc:
I noticed several circular switches throughout the building, which are likely used as shut-off switches for things such as the grill, etc.
Kennedy Memorial Recreation & Senior Center (Lincoln Park, MI)
Alarms:
The only alarm I found in this building was a MT4 horn/strobe in the kitchen.
Kroger (Clay Township, MI)
Alarms:
- White, wall-mount NS horn/strobes throughout the store. These alarms have yellowed from age and indoor exposure
- White, wall-mount RSS strobes, also throughout the store. These alarms have also yellowed from age and indoor exposure.
- One silver, 2" bell overlooking the check-out area. I don’t what purpose it might serve.
- Near the bell, is a strange-looking and possibly rare alarm device; it is very identical to a Wheelock MIZ horn/strobe, except that it is white, has no company identification, and no labeling whatsoever. I have a feeling it might be used for smoke purposes but I am not sure.
My marching band just took a trip to the BOA Super Regionals at the Alamodome in San Antonio, so naturally I saw a lot of different alarm systems:
Golden Corrall in Lubbock, Texas
Alarms: The FCI equivalent to a Simplex 2901-9838 with strobes attached to them
Pulls: BG-10s, one of which was in the activated position (we went there on two separate occasions, an it was like that both times.)
Red Roof Inn in San Antonio, Texas
Alarms: Gentex GOSs or SHGs with Gentex remote strobes in the hallways, lobby, etc. and Gentex GX-90s in the rooms
Pulls: Siemens or Cereberus Pyrotronics MS-501s
Panel/Annunciator: Siemens/Cereberus Pyrotronics (not sure about model)
Spaghetti Warehouse in San Antonio, Texas
Alarms: Wheelock 7002-Ts
Pulls: ADT 5050-001s
The Alamo Gift Shop in San Antonio, Texas
Alarm: White System Sensor SpecterAlert Advance
Pulls: Fire-Lite BG-12LX
Annunciator: Addressable Fire-Lite (not sure about model number)
Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
Alarms: System Sensor MA/SS (non-ADA) remote strobes
Pulls: Mostly Johnson Controls BG-10s with (at least one) Johnson Controls BG-12s.
RiverCenter Mall in San Antonio, Texas
Alarms: Simplex 2901-9838 / 2903 plates
Pulls: Simplex Break-Glass T-Bars
Ford National Parts Depot (Livonia, MI)
Alarms:
Numerous red sprinkler bells on the exterior of the building; most, if not all of them, are equally separate from each other.
St. Damian Catholic Church and School (Westland, MI)
Alarms:
- One weatherproof MT4 horn/strobe near the front entrance.
- AS horn/strobes throughout the building inside, with protective covers on the ones in the gym.
Class Change Bells:
There was one 10" bell w/ a protective guard I saw next to the school entrance outside.
Pulls:
Gamewell “full moon” pull stations w/ Stopper II covers.
AutoZone (Livonia, MI)
Alarms:
One of those weird Potter horn/strobes (white) with the words “SMOKE” on the alarm, which is ceiling-mount.
Steven R. Gluck, DDS (Livonia, MI)
Alarms:
Only one ceiling-mount Commander 4 series horn/strobe near an exit in the back.
Misc:
A small, metal control device near the reception area, which has a key in a keyhole that is turned to set off the alarm.
AT&T Account Management Center (next door to the dentist office)
Alarms:
One of those Adaptahorns w/ a red, incandescent beacon under it on a metal box that can be found outside.
Edgewood Professional Center (Commerce Township, MI)
Alarms:
Weatherproof SpectrAlert classic horn/strobes that can be found along the exteriors of the buildings. There are no alarms inside the buildings, to my knowledge.
Meijer (Livonia, MI)
Alarms:
- Wall-mount Advance horn/strobes at the entrances and inside enclosed areas (recycling center, for example). I noticed one strobe-only Advance inside the stockroom.
- Ceiling-mount Advance horn/strobes throughout the retail area and other enclosed areas (customer service, for example).
Panel:
Notifier NFS2-3030 (ONYX series) panel in the customer service area.
Well! I swung by the supermarket here in town this evening (Price Chopper) to pick up some cat food and to my surprise, they had a complete system overhaul! The old system was an Edwards with only a few classic pulls (one at the main entrance, and two at each of the emergency exits in the store), EH-ELI-WM-24 horn/strobes and an annunciator in the entryway (very similiar to the one seen http://youtu.be/t4-8tKjw3QU here). Well, when I walked in, I first noticed that the EH-ELI alarm in the entryway had been replaced with an Advanced horn/strobe. I started to wonder if it was just that signal that got replaced or if the whole building got upgraded. After going into the actual store, I noticed the alarms that used to be on the walls were now all gone and there were ceiling-mount Advances EVERYWHERE. If you can picture the typical layout of a supermarket, they installed the Advances over every other isle and the isles that had the horns installed over them had three horns in the isle. That’s a LOT of Advances so I thought maybe some of them were remote strobes, but every one I looked at had a sound output hole in it. Must be loud in there when the alarm goes off. As for the old signals, they didn’t quite remove them fashionably becase the ones not mounted on support poles had trim plates installed with them and when they removed the old signals, they took out the signals, but left the trim plates in place and then put the backbox coverplate on top of the trim plates and now you’ve got these orange and silver squares on the wall, which makes it look very odd. On the way out, I noticed that at the entrance there’s now a BG-12 pull station and a red Ademco LCD keypad above it (along with a white one next to it for security, although the store is open 24/7).
Now, there used to be recycling machines up front by the entrance next to a classic pull station. Well, little kids in the shopping carts used to keep pulling the alarm so eventually the pull station was simply removed. When they renovated the front of the store, they created a separate room only accessible from the outside of the store (as well as behind the customer service desk for employees) specifically for the recycling machines. That room had no alarms in it under the old system, but I didn’t look to see if there was now anything in it, so I’ll have to check that out the next time I’m there. I’ll also have to check out the back of the store more extensively because that houses the seafood section, the bakery, and one of the emergency exits. I noticed they removed the old signal in the seafood department and didn’t replace it, but I don’t know about the bakery or the emergency exit next to the seafood department.
Very interesting upgrade to say the least!
Today, I went to my moms workplace, and I noticed a slight change in the FA system. The system before consisted of these 2 panels:
The Edwards 6500 and the Edwards 6700. The Pulls are Edwards 270-GA0s, which are 2 stage pulls, and there is also a couple of odd end pulls installed, such as a Simplex t-bar. The alarms are a mixture of S.S. Adaptabels, and some vibrating bells of different sorts (Edwards, Mircom, Notifier). There is also speakers installed, for what I assume for the 6700 panel. Today when I waked in though, I found these:
Those panels pictured above were replaced with this/these mircom panel(s). The reason I say that is because I’m not too sure if the panel on the left is actually a panel, or part of the right one. The panel on the right is what I believe to be http://www.mircom.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-FX-2000N.tpl&product_id=2003&category_id=126&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=90 this one. The thing that amazes me though, is that the only thing they replaced were the panels. Everything else stayed the same. I woulda thought they’d replace the single stroke bells with horn/strobes or something. I also have a couple pics from there as well:
-This is in the basement, the ceiling is very low, and I found this Edwards 874-N5. It was at head level with me, and from the floor to ceiling was about 6 feet, 4 inches. Also not pictured is a Mircom 6" bell.
-Here is also in the basement, an Edwards 270-GA0.
In the dorm I lived in at Keene State College, we had Gamewell pulls (“full-moon”) and horns behind Space Age light plates. Same thing in the Student Union building. Same in the gym, except the pulls were the round Standard type (200177).
A lot of the buildings had Edwards 270 pulls and then Morrison Hall got 278s along with Edwards 829 buzzers. Huntress Hall used to have an Autocall system, but it was replaced with Edwards 829s for buzzers. I'm not sure what they did for pull stations.
Randall Hall had Honeywell pulls and Edwards 874 buzzers originally, then they changed the buzzers to either Wheelock 34-24s (with strobe) or 7002s.
The dining commons (now closed in favour of a new one) had round Standard pulls and either Federal Signal or Wheelock buzzers, then they went to the 34-24s (with strobe) or 7002s. They then put in Simplex T-bar pulls. They then put in T-bar pulls with a glass cover and Simplex horns.
Holloway Hall had Edwards 270s for pulls and Edwards 829s for buzzers.
Sincerely,
Downeaster687