The Blue thing on the panel in the post above is a SimplexGrinnel sticker!
Also, yesterday, I went on a tour in a fire station, and there was a pretty cool alarm system.
Pulls were metal RSG T-bars (re-labeled as Grinnel)
Signals were Wheelock ASes.
There were some RSS strobes.
There was smoke/heat detectors, but I didn’t recognize any .
Panel was a Grinnel panel, and it looked addressable.
There was also something that looked like a power supply next to it.
The building was built 7 years ago.
Tonight my family and I went out to eat at the Halfway Cafe in Holbrook, MA. They had System Sensor SpectrAlert horn/strobes, various flat-head Fire-Lite smokes, an ESL smoke in the arcade room, and at the prize desk I saw what looked like a System Sensor smoke of some kind with a black head thingy resembling a System Sensor 2451 head. It was either had the head cover ripped off, or they painted it black. If they did, I said to the lady at the desk that it’s illegal to do something like that! There was also a Fire-Lite BG-12 pull at the main entrance. Overall it’s pretty much a typical restaurant fire alarm system, IMO. (I still think SpectrAlerts are VERY common in restaurants!)
Also, at one point I saw some employees on their way to a party room carrying a birthday cake with lit candles on it. I joked to a waitress, “I hope all those birthday candles don’t set off the fire alarms here!”
I’m actually not sure if its illegal as you so boldly say to paint a smoke detector if you just paint the outer case. That would be up to the local authority I guess. But it could be I have no idea but I have seen a few painted with a fake wood finish in a local historical property that I had done some work on. Of course painting the head while its in place with the screen and electronics could effectively render it useless. Some heads have a black case option, not sure if the System Sensor 2451 did though…
But seriously, since this restaurant was built in 2006, I’m pretty sure it could be the last fire alarm system with SpectrAlert “classics” installed in my state, seeing as the SpectrAlert Advances came out later that year, too.
There could still be new spectralert devices on shelves. Just because they are not made does not mean they are not in stock. I see them mixed in from time to time in my orders. Especially single horns or strobe only units. Not to mention any stock the alarm installer had left over will go up first. You cant assume things like that… not only that but what does it really matter what devices are where or when they were put up.
Today I went to a basketball game. (Go UVa! they beat Clemson!) but I’ve been in this arena many times since it’s been built a few years ago but I looked up and saw something I never seen before. Looking up on the beams close to the ceiling there was some mystery notification appliances and not only did I notice one, but I noticed many of them around the perimeter of the area! They looked like red horns despite the fact the rest of the building is a Siemiens Voice Evac system, but I could swear these were horns because the grille didn’t look anywhere big enough to be a speaker. So yeah I knew there had to be more notification appliances than just strobes in there, so it was an interesting day!
Those are actually the origional Commanders (or Commander 1s).
Anyway, come Friday, my family and I are going back to Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY (out by Syracuse). The main facility consists of a 3-floor hotel connected to a 20-story tower. The facility was origionally just a casino, but in the mid-90s they built the hotel. The tower was built in 2004. The alarm system is pretty unique. Behind the front desk (located in the tower portion) is a 4100U. In the tower portion, the system is pretty uniform with TrueAlert speaker/strobes, dual-action T-bars, and TrueAlarm smokes. The rooms themselves have TrueAlert ceiling speakers and TrueAlarm smokes w/ sounders. The restrooms on the 1st flor near the casino have TrueAlert horn/strobes installed in them.
The hotel portion is kind of complex. There is a variety of signals, the main signals being SAE VA4 speaker/strobes. In areas of the hotel that are being rennovated and need signal/detection coverage, TrueAlert speaker/strobes are being installed w/ TrueAlarm smokes and dual-action pulls. Infact, the dual-action pulls are pretty uniform throughout the building but there are some single-action pulls mixed in as well. The smokes in the hotel portion are 1st generation TrueAlarms. The rooms have 1st generation TrueAlarms w/ sounders and SAE 6 1/2" round ceiling speakers. There are some odd-ball signals installed as well, such as Simplex 4903 speaker/strobes and 4904 remote strobes. Some of the 1st generation TrueAlarms are being replaced w/ 2nd generation TrueAlarms.
In the casino there’s a good mix of alarms too. It contains some VA4 speaker/strobes, some Simplex 4904-9105 remote strobes (15/75 version), some TrueAlert wall-mount speaker/strobes (one is mounted on the ceiling w/o “FIRE” letterning), some TrueAlert ceiling-mount speaker/strobes, and for some reason, there’s also some Wheelock NSs installed as well. Surrounding the entrances to the casino are System Sensor mini-horn/strobes (PA400Rs w/ PS424 strobes - small “FIRE” font) as well as a Gentex GX-90 horn/strobe.
Commander 1s have “FIRE” written on the alarm itself (see above pics), Commander 2s have “FIRE” written on the side cover and are single-candela. Commander 3s are the same as Commander 2s except they’re multi-candela (the way to tell is on the left side of the signal, there’s a candela rating window), and of course Commander 4s are the ceiling-mount multi-candela signals.
A new Target store they recently opened has SpectrAlert Advance ceiling/mount horn/strobes (white ones), Fire-Lite BG-12LX pulls, and SD-355T smokes. The alarms actually went off for a few seconds while we were there!
I was just at a brand new CVS pharmacy in Clinton and it has Fire Lite BG-12 pulls and Wheelock Z series ceiling mount horn/strobes (first time I’ve seen one of these :mrgreen: )
Since they are phasing the Z series out already for the new Exceeder series, it might be one of the last times you see 'em lol seriously though, the Z series was out for like what? 2 years at the most?
This is the place I believe I saw the pulled pull station w/o the alarms going off. The alarms are exactly how I remember them and I sometimes go to this McDonalds.
Alarms are Simplex 9838s on 9101 strobe plates. Pulls are 2099-9754s.
Westin - Waltham MA
I had my Bar Mitzvah party here. I remember the system having Edwards Genesis speaker/strobes and I forgot what pulls there were. The party room used to ceiling mount Wheelock E70s or Edwards Integrities. My sister is having her party in that room and it was recently renovated. Now it has Edwards Genesis speaker/strobes on the wall like the rest of the hotel. Pulls are all 270-SPOs.
Later I was in Harvard square while my dad, mom, and sister got new phones (I got my new phone this past November, so I didn’t get anything this time).
Verizon Store - Harvard Sq Cambridge MA
This is a very recent store. It has SpectrAlert Advances and BG-12s rebranded by some other company.
Pizzeria Uno - Harvard Sq Cambridge MA
This restaurant has no pull stations. There is a SpectrAlert Classic by the front entrance. Also, there was an 8 or 6 inch bell across from where I was eating. I don’t know if it’s intact, but I didn’t see a Spectra any where near it.
Not sure why they decided to go with an entirely new line as opposed to revising the Z series, I kinda liked them but I can tell you the new series has at least one key benefit which is lower current draw at higher candela settings. 15 and 30 CD are fairly similar but once you start going up into 75 or 110CD for example, the current draws are almost cut in half which is a huge factor in system design. The Z series can really put you in a pickle if the AHJ suddenly decides he wants to start cranking up CD settings as generally, a generic NAC circuit puts out, lets say 2.5 amps and a ZNS at 110CD and High DB pulls .244…well, without breaking out the calc…10 X .244 = 2.44 so you can only install 10 ZNS horn strobes on that NAC circuit (not factoring in wire resistance which in the real world would probably put you over spec) whereas you could install about 17 or so of the new series.
sorry, I ramble, I do a lot of system design so I have to know this sort of stuff…
That is interesting that Wheelock would only keep a series for 2 years. Are the ASs, NSs, and MTs going too? The Exceeders look cool, but I hope they don’t sound as bad as SpectrAlert Advances. Also, if the Exceeders are replacing the other series of alarms, will they be making Exceeder speaker/strobes to replace the E70s?
I have seen one ZNS in person, at the Barnes and Noble at the Atrium Mall in Chestnut Hill MA.
No, the speakers and multitone style appliances are completely different and will remain unchanged. The Exceeder is just your basic horn/strobe setup and as such are a valid replacement for Z, AS, NS and RSS model horns, strobes and horn strobes.
As I understood it, the Z series were to supposedly phase out the NS and RSS models, at least that was the thought when they first introduced them but you can still get the NS and RSS from Wheelock if you want and I imagine that will be the case at least for the foreseeable future…not sure how long the Z series will be around though…
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