Fire Alarms in Buildings (2.0)

Chase_Reinhardt · October 23, 2018, 9:18pm

Northland Professional Building has a Siemens FireFinder XLS system (replacing either a Simplex 4207 or 4208 at least in 2012), with System Sensor P2R horn/strobes for the most part. Some areas have System Sensor SR strobes set at 15cd. Most horn/strobes are at 15cd, but one is 110cd. Outside, there is a System Sensor SRK strobe. Pulls are Siemens HMS-S/MS-51/ smokes are Siemens FirePrint FP-11.

They replaced the panel and all the pulls and smokes in 2012 or 2013, the original signals were bells, mostly Simplex 4080, but one Edwards 439D-10AWC by the entrance. All the bells were taken down in 2017, and installed the SpectrAlert Advances that year before the L-Series came out, possibly because the system was not loud enough and had no visual signals.

Northland Village Mall has a Siemens FireFinder XLS or similar, installed in 2005 or later, with the main signal Siemens U-MMT-series horn/strobes, they vary in different areas. Some areas have bilingual Siemens U-MMT-MCS horn/strobes, but some are only English lettering. There are some U-MMT-S17 horn/strobes, and some ceiling mount variants on the wall with wall orientated “FIRE” stickers overlapping the ceiling “FIRE” orientation (the same font as the U-HNH-MCS). There are some Siemens HS-MC-R-B or MTH-MC-R-B horn/strobes (rebranded Wheelock MT-24MCW) as replacements. There are a few Siemens ZH-MC-R (rebranded Wheelock ZNS) horn/strobes too. There is a Siemens MBDC-6 (Wheelock MB-G6-24) bell in an enclosed room by the food court. The Walmart has the ceiling mount U-MMT-S17 horn/strobes with the ceiling “FIRE” orientation exposed, but at the area that heads to the ball, there’s one of the U-MMT’s and beside it, an Edwards 882-2B horn not in use anymore. Pulls are mostly Siemens HMS-2S, but in the Walmart there is one Cerberus Pyrotronics MSI-30B pull, smokes are FirePrint FP-11

Fire_alarms_are_cool · November 4, 2018, 12:22am

There is this creepy thrift store inside of a closed shopping mall. They just have a Simplex projector horn with a Gentex strobe. :?:

randomperson · November 4, 2018, 3:03am

The Mall at Rockingham Park - Salem, NH
Pull stations: Simplex 4099-9001’s in common areas, 4099-9003’s in stores.

Detectors: Newer TrueAlarms
Signals: TrueAlert speaker/strobes

Chase_Reinhardt · November 5, 2018, 2:21am

BMO Centre has an EST3 system (panel installed in summer of 2013, due to the flood), with mainly Edwards MB10-24 bells on EST 403-5A-R strobe plates. In the exhibitor areas, they are suspended from the ceiling and are hardly visible. Some of the areas have Edwards 439D-10AWC bells on the EST 403-5A-R strobe plates. By the entrance with the annunciator, there is a newer Edwards (white sticker) 439D-10AWC bell replacing an MB10-24 (the strobe plate is still intact). Pulls are a variety of EST SIGA-270P, some are the older EST versions, some EST/GE, and there are a few newer ones that have the new EST logo. Some areas have Edwards 270-GAO pulls, some original with the OLD Edwards logo from when the convention centre was built in 1981! Smokes are EST SIGA-PS.

Safeway in Dalhousie has an EST 6632 system (installed in 1996 from when the plaza was built) , with the main signal Edwards 439D-10AWC bells on EST 403-5A-R strobe plates, there is even one outside, but it is sheltered. By the floral department, an EST strobe plate broke down and was replaced with a Wheelock RSSP-24MCW strobe plate (the Edwards bell is still intact). On the ceiling, somewhat noticeable are a mix of EST 202-5A-TW and 202-5A-T strobes with the wall “FIRE” orientation lens. Some (at least 5) have quit functioning and were replaced with System Sensor SR strobes. Pulls are Edwards 270-SPO, and smokes are Edwards 6264B. The store is in a rather large plaza and I am not sure if the signals differ in the other stores in it.

wiley209 · November 7, 2018, 8:36pm

During the summer, they built a new boiler room at the Art Center at my friend’s university. I also got a glimpse of inside the electrical room where the fire alarm panel is located, and my hunch was right; they have replaced the Simplex 4002 (beige, single-bay) with a Simplex 4007ES panel! (red version) This is the first 4007ES I have seen in person, and I’m not that surprised that it was at this university that’s keen on using Simplex. The gutted Simplex 4208 cabinet is still there (it became a terminal cabinet when the 4002 was installed in the early 90s.) In the new boiler room, there’s a 4906-9151 TrueAlert horn/strobe installed on its’ own backbox, and there’s also a TrueAlarm smoke detector on a CO base, probably addressable. The rest of the system is pretty much the same from when the Simplex 4007ES was installed, with TrueAlert horn/strobes slapped onto 4050-80 light plates, but I did notice one of the 4251-30 pulls had its’ break-glass mechanism removed and was converted to single-action.

BigKayCea · November 10, 2018, 4:02pm

St. John’s Lutheran Church and School (Taylor) - Another flea market, and another vintage system, including a device I’ve never seen before! This post covers only the school (built in 1956) and not the church, because both are separate structures on the same property, with the flea market being held only in the school building.

Annunciators/panels: Unknown, presumably National Time

Detectors: None

Pull stations:

There are two pull stations here, and it’s where the never-before-seen device comes in. It’s a metal box with a door that encloses the actual pull stations inside. Each box has these (capitalized) words engraved on the front:
Row 1: FIRE SIGNAL
Row 2: OPEN DOOR
Row 3: AND
Row 4: PULL DOWN
Row 5: LEVER

Below the words is the acronym “NATSCO”, which stands for NAtional Time and Signal COrporation. As far as the actual devices go, I’m guessing they were National Time 620M or 620M2X models.

Notification appliances:

The devices are surface-mount National Time 311 horns, which is also one of my alarm collection pieces. They’re similar to the explosion-proof horns Federal Signal still manufactures (and was also the original manufacturer of).
The main hallway has a Wheelock MT4 non-ADA horn/strobe installed just outside of the school’s kitchen, so it’s most likely used as part of a suppression system.
Near the front entrance and boiler room door, there are two Edwards 17 or 55 vibrating bells next to each other! Each one is painted over with white paint, and most likely act as trouble bells for boiler room conditions.
National Time P806 bells are used as the general signaling devices of this school. Interestingly enough, there don’t appear to be any outdoor bells installed.

Fire_alarms_are_cool · November 21, 2018, 1:26am

Our local Goodwill store has a Simplex 4010 panel with trualert horns and strobes. The pulls are Simplex t bars. They have a Potter bell outside near the loading bay.

randomperson · November 21, 2018, 5:25am

[quote=randomperson post_id=79997 time=1523589790 user_id=3878]

Monaco Beach Club Condominiums - Naples, FL
Panel: EST3 (saw the annunciator in the main lobby)
Pull stations: SIGA-278’s in most areas, RSG RMS-1T’s rebranded by GE/Edwards in the parking garage.
Detectors: SIGA heat detectors in condominiums and outdoor hallways. Smoke detectors in enclosed areas.
Signals: Genesis speaker/strobes, strobes, and speakers in common areas.
96X-1A-4RW speakers (round Integrity) in condominiums.
Integrity speakers in the parking garage.
Lastly, there is an Integrity speaker/strobe outside.

[/quote]

Here again, there’s a trouble condition. Typical EST. :roll:

This reminded me of something that happened back in 2016.
It was around noon, and suddenly I heard a https://youtu.be/Jw_qiakZyV0 very familiar (to me) sound (no message, just the tone) come from a nearby residential building. It went on for around 10-15 minutes before it got silenced.

I then tried to figure out where it was coming from.
I ruled out Le Rivage and Bay Shore Place because they have Simplex systems.

After looking on the internet, I came to the conclusion that it was most likely the Park Shore Tower which - sure enough - has a Notifier system with NBG-12LX’s and SpectrAlert Advance speaker/strobes. (I’m guessing the panel is an NFS2-3030.)

randomperson · November 22, 2018, 11:49pm

[quote=randomperson post_id=80916 time=1530413472 user_id=3878] [quote=randomperson post_id=79997 time=1523589790 user_id=3878]

Boston Logan International Airport - Terminal C - Boston, MA
Panel: Simplex 4120 (judging by the annunciators)
Pull stations: 2099-9795’s in older areas, 4099-9003’s in newer areas.
Detectors: Newer TrueAlarms in some areas.
Signals: 4903 speaker/strobes and 4902 speakers in older areas. TrueAlert speaker/strobes (both wall and ceiling) in newer areas. The check-in hall has a few Wheelock E70 speaker/strobes.

[/quote]

There are some recently renovated areas that have 4099-9006’s.

[/quote]

Update to the update…

When passing by an office, I saw a 4251-20! (maybe a new-old-stock addressable version?)

There is also a Wheelock ET-1080 speaker outside by one of the lesser-used entrances.

EpicFireAlarms · November 24, 2018, 12:36am

A medium-sized apartment complex that consists of three buildings was recently built near my house, and when I had the chance to take a quick peak into the lobby a few days ago, I most certainly did, being the weird fire alarm guy that I am . The building actually has a SIMPLEX system, which is pretty unbelievable considering the fact that Simplex is all but extinct in my area and the last new Simplex system 'round here that I can think of was installed in 2014. I’m assuming that each of the buildings were controlled by independent Simplex 4007 panels (not the -ES version), with Simplex TrueAlert horn/strobes in the hallways and I’m assuming TrueAlert sounders in each unit. There were also Simplex TrueAlarm smoke detectors scattered around.

Chase_Reinhardt · November 24, 2018, 10:25pm

Alright everyone, big report.

Fairmont Banff Springs has two different systems. Both are wired to trip each other when one goes into alarm.

The main building has a Simplex 4100+ system (panels installed in 1997 or 1999, when the Stanley Thompson Wing, now known as Gatehouse was added on) set up in a non-addressable manner, with a mixture of Simplex and Wheelock alarms. There are a lot of Wheelock ET-1090-LS-24-VFW speaker/strobes in the main building, except for the hotel room floors, and some of them are mounted on old 8" ceiling grills, possibly from an older system, and some are mounted on the walls and have vertical “FIRE” labels (same font as Gentex SHG strobes) covering the original “FIRE” lettering, and some have been replaced with Wheelock E90-24MCC-FW speaker/strobes, and some of those E90s have been added new this year. Another common alarm in the main building are Simplex 2902-9316 speakers (8", square grill), mostly on the ceiling but on the walls at one point on the 8th floor, the public bathrooms, and the conservatory, and some of them have Simplex 4904-9101 strobes near them, but on the hotel room hallways they have no strobes. Another alarm seen lots are Simplex 2902-9734 speakers, installed in 1988, and some have a Simplex 4904-9101 strobe by them too, but some do not. The fitness centre, pools and spa, have Simplex 2902-9314 speakers (8", round grill) and Wheelock WS1T-24 strobes, installed in 1991. In the rooms in the main building, there is either a Simplex 2902-9310 speaker (4", round grill, and so far, only seen on the 3rd floor), or a Simplex 2902-9734 (all other floors). The hotel’s lobby has Wheelock ET-1070-LSM-24-VFW speaker/strobes. The Gatehouse has Wheelock ET-1070-LSM-24-VFW speaker/strobes, and some Wheelock E90-24MCC-FW speaker/strobes as replacements, but all on the wall and have the horizontal “FIRE” exposed. The rooms have either one of the two speaker/strobes, but there are some renovated rooms that might have new Wheelock E70-24MCW speaker/strobes. In the Vermilion Room, formerly Bow Valley Grill, the renovated part has brand new Wheelock E70-24MCW speaker/strobes! Pulls are either Simplex 4251-40 (4251-20 with general alarm switch), or Simplex 2099-9107 (2099-9754 with general alarm switch), smokes are either Simplex 4098-9601, or System Sensor i3. The alarm tone is the 4100-series chime in 20 bpm march time for presignal (Slow Ringing Tones) and general alarm is the whoop tone (Fast Ringing Tones), according to staff when they had an evacuation yesterday (they said it was very loud) and IDK if it is voice-evac, but it might be.

The Conference Centre has a two-bay Simplex 4002 system (16 zone and installed in 1991 when the expansion was built), with mainly Simplex 2901-9720 bells with Simplex 4904-9101 strobes under them seperately. They’re mounted rather low, at like 5 ft for bell and 4.5 feet for strobe. At least one 2901-9720 bell has no strobe under it. After you go through either passage that has those bell/strobes, there are also Simplex 2901-9722 bells, with no visual signals. In the restrooms there are 2901-9722 bells, even in the small ones! By the D.C. Coleman room, there are two 2901-9722 bells next to each other. The convention facilities and theatre and the theatre hallways have the 2901-9722 bells with rare Simplex 4099-9001 lights. The bowling centre has Simplex 2901-9711 bells, one with a 4904-9001 light under it. Pulls are Simplex 4251-40. Since it says “Fast Ringing Tones” for the general alarm for this centre, my guess is that the bells and 4904-9001 lights do 120bpm march time when in general alarm.

idontwannaknow · November 25, 2018, 1:52am

The Regal Lake Zurich theatre in… well Lake Zurich… has a Simplex 4002 system! All alarms are Simplex 4903-9105 strobe plates housing 2901-9846 horns, installed actually everywhere EVEN IN THE BATHROOMS!!! There are FOUR in the small lobby area and two in each theatre. I swore I saw a Wheelock AS horn/strobe on the farther side of one hall side. Pull stations are Simplex 4099-9001s in Stopper II covers, and smokes are Simplex 2098 series although there is one TrueAlarm in the food area.

Simplex_4051 · November 25, 2018, 6:24am

I’m used to seeing 9846s or 9838s in bathrooms if they are on 4903-9105 strobe plates like its no big deal. The Olive Garden that I go to has 9838s+9105s everywhere. Even in the bathroom. I hope that NOBODY is in there when it goes off.

Chase_Reinhardt · November 25, 2018, 6:38am

[quote="Chase Reinhardt" post_id=82469 time=1543098318 user_id=3744]

Alright everyone, big report.

Fairmont Banff Springs has two different systems. Both are wired to trip each other when one goes into alarm.

The main building has a Simplex 4100+ system (panels installed in 1997 or 1999, when the Stanley Thompson Wing, now known as Gatehouse was added on) set up in a non-addressable manner, with a mixture of Simplex and Wheelock alarms. There are a lot of Wheelock ET-1090-LS-24-VFW speaker/strobes in the main building, except for the hotel room floors, and some of them are mounted on old 8" ceiling grills, possibly from an older system, and some are mounted on the walls and have vertical “FIRE” labels (same font as Gentex SHG strobes) covering the original “FIRE” lettering, and some have been replaced with Wheelock E90-24MCC-FW speaker/strobes, and some of those E90s have been added new this year. Another common alarm in the main building are Simplex 2902-9316 speakers (8", square grill), mostly on the ceiling but on the walls at one point on the 8th floor, the public bathrooms, and the conservatory, and some of them have Simplex 4904-9101 strobes near them, but on the hotel room hallways they have no strobes. Another alarm seen lots are Simplex 2902-9734 speakers, installed in 1988, and some have a Simplex 4904-9101 strobe by them too, but some do not. The fitness centre, pools and spa, have Simplex 2902-9314 speakers (8", round grill) and Wheelock WS1T-24 strobes, installed in 1991. In the rooms in the main building, there is either a Simplex 2902-9310 speaker (4", round grill, and so far, only seen on the 3rd floor), or a Simplex 2902-9734 (all other floors). The hotel’s lobby has Wheelock ET-1070-LSM-24-VFW speaker/strobes. The Gatehouse has Wheelock ET-1070-LSM-24-VFW speaker/strobes, and some Wheelock E90-24MCC-FW speaker/strobes as replacements, but all on the wall and have the horizontal “FIRE” exposed. The rooms have either one of the two speaker/strobes, but there are some renovated rooms that might have new Wheelock E70-24MCW speaker/strobes. In the Vermilion Room, formerly Bow Valley Grill, the renovated part has brand new Wheelock E70-24MCW speaker/strobes! Pulls are either Simplex 4251-40 (4251-20 with general alarm switch), or Simplex 2099-9107 (2099-9754 with general alarm switch), smokes are either Simplex 4098-9601, or System Sensor i3. The alarm tone is the 4100-series chime in 20 bpm march time for presignal (Slow Ringing Tones) and general alarm is the whoop tone (Fast Ringing Tones), according to staff when they had an evacuation yesterday (they said it was very loud) and IDK if it is voice-evac, but it might be.

[/quote]

I was walking around the hotel, in the open area where there’s usually weddings and near the elevators, it looks like a Simplex 4251-40 in the main building stopped working, and was replaced with a brand new Simplex 4099-9004CA (two stage version of 4099-9001).

randomperson · November 25, 2018, 4:07pm

[quote=randomperson post_id=79997 time=1523589790 user_id=3878]

Monaco Beach Club Condominiums - Naples, FL
Panel: EST3 (saw the annunciator in the main lobby)
Pull stations: SIGA-278’s in most areas, RSG RMS-1T’s rebranded by GE/Edwards in the parking garage.
Detectors: SIGA heat detectors in condominiums and outdoor hallways. Smoke detectors in enclosed areas.
Signals: Genesis speaker/strobes, strobes, and speakers in common areas.
96X-1A-4RW speakers (round Integrity) in condominiums.
Integrity speakers in the parking garage.
Lastly, there is an Integrity speaker/strobe outside.

[/quote]

And this system just went off!
Video to follow.

randomperson · November 25, 2018, 5:27pm

[quote=randomperson post_id=82479 time=1543162055 user_id=3878] [quote=randomperson post_id=79997 time=1523589790 user_id=3878]

Monaco Beach Club Condominiums - Naples, FL
Panel: EST3 (saw the annunciator in the main lobby)
Pull stations: SIGA-278’s in most areas, RSG RMS-1T’s rebranded by GE/Edwards in the parking garage.
Detectors: SIGA heat detectors in condominiums and outdoor hallways. Smoke detectors in enclosed areas.
Signals: Genesis speaker/strobes, strobes, and speakers in common areas.
96X-1A-4RW speakers (round Integrity) in condominiums.
Integrity speakers in the parking garage.
Lastly, there is an Integrity speaker/strobe outside.

[/quote]

And this system just went off!
Video to follow.

[/quote]

Here’s the video.

idontwannaknow · November 25, 2018, 6:56pm

[quote="Simplex 4051" post_id=82475 time=1543127057 user_id=18]

I’m used to seeing 9846s or 9838s in bathrooms if they are on 4903-9105 strobe plates like its no big deal. The Olive Garden that I go to has 9838s+9105s everywhere. Even in the bathroom. I hope that NOBODY is in there when it goes off.

[/quote]

It’s definitely weirder for me to see this as my experience with -9846s are that they are carefully mounted- with horn/sps in hallways and strobes everywhere else.(this is in my school)

university_student · December 9, 2018, 4:54am

The library at my university has a very strange fire alarm setup. The library has two parts, one from the mid-2000s, and one from this year, both of which replaced a 1960s building in increments, that during construction wasn’t completely demolished and they kept part of - i.e. they added a second floor to the original 1960s building and extensively renovated the first floor.

The mid 2000s section that replaced the original 1960s section has EST Genesis Horn Strobes, 278 pulls, and EST SIGA smoke detectors, and because its a large building I would presume the panel is an EST3. When they built this section they added EST devices to the remaining 1960s section, and replaced whatever system the 1960s building had.

The 2018 section that replaced the remaining 1960s section has Simplex TrueAlert speaker strobes, TrueAlarm Smokes, 4099 pulls, and the panel is a 4100ES.
The sections are connected on both floors, and it looks like one building from the outside and for the most part on the inside, not a bunch of additions slapped together

The weird thing is that in the rooms that are in between the new 2018 section and the mid-2000s section that is part of the original 1960s building that were also extensively renovated before the opening of the 2018 section, the setup is a Simplex/EST combination. There are Genesis horn strobes on the walls in some rooms with TrueAlert Speaker Strobes on the ceiling. There are both TrueAlarm smokes and SIGA smokes on the ceiling just a few feet from each other. They did remove EST pull stations from this section and replaced them with Simplex. I’m surprised that during the extensive renovation they didn’t remove the EST devices from this section, and I thought they would remove them at a later time but its been open for just about 6 months and nothings been touched.

Simplex_4051 · December 9, 2018, 9:53pm

The Chelo’s that is close to my house and the address it has of 505 Silver Spring St, Providence, RI 02904 used to have Space Age Electronics 2DCD horns with AV32 flashers and Simplex T-Bar pulls. When they renovated, the alarms were replaced with NBG-12LX pulls and Wheelock Exceeder horn/strobes.

Gentex_SPK4 · December 11, 2018, 2:33pm

The Port Orange library has a Silent Knight Voice Evacuation System (most likely a 5208XLEVS) replacing a Grinnell Autocall TFX800. Pulls are all Silent Knight SD-500PSs replacing Autocall 5050s, and smokes are SD505Ps replacing Autocall models. Signals are Federal Signal Speaker/Strobes with one Gentex model replacing a broken device.