Meijer (Northville Township) - Only NAs are covered, as they were the only devices I saw.
Notification appliances:
Gentex GX-90S-4 horn/strobes (ADA version) on support pillars throughout the store
One Wheelock NS horn/strobe in the recycling center
One Wheelock AS horn/strobe in a corridor at the front of the building
One SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobe replacing a broken GX-90S-4
Belle Tire (Plymouth Township)
Detectors:
One ESL 400-series smoke detector
One BRK 2800-series photoelectric detector
Chemtronics(?) 600-series heat detectors
Notification appliances:
One Wheelock KS-16301 device used for general signaling in the repair shop; I’m not entirely sure if it’s used for phone calls, notification of service, or both.
One unknown sprinkler bell on the west side of the building
It appears an older simplex system was previously here, judging by the red annunciator thing next to it. That wood frame above it has the system’s zones on it.
Simplex addressable pull station under a Cover. They also have break glass pull stations there, too. The break glass station at the entrance of the lodge is missing its glass.
The alarms are simplex addressable TrueAlert horn strobes. There’s also a few white remote strobes and horn strobes, and a few ceiling mount horn Strobes, not pictured. Also not pictured, there’s a simplex TrueAlert Addressable Controller With a bunch of Mt.Hood and Timberline Lodge related stickers on it.
Judging by the 4009 TAC, the panel must be either a 4010 or a 4010ES of some sort. Also judging by the devices, this system was probably installed in either 2011 or 2012, if anyone actually knows when this system was installed, let me know.
I’m just gonna get all of the elementary schools I’ve been to out of the way.
Smith Elementary was opened in 1972 and when I went there in 2005 there were no visual NA’s (I don’t even remember if there were any pulls in the building other than the 2006 edition and the portables). The fire alarm came from the PA’s, sounding like a security alarm. The 2006 edition had white ceiling mount AS horn strobes and RSSes. The portables had Gentex Commanders and white Spectralert Classics with Gamewell Century pull stations. They also had a couple H12/24’s outside the portables.
Andre Elementary has a Siemens MXL system with FP-11 smokes detectors and Siemens MS-51’s with stopper covers. The main alarms were U-MHU-MCS-W’s and U-MCS-W’s. The front of the school has a U-HN. Most of the portables have U-MHU’s and U-MMT’s, but the portable I had class in has a Wheelock MT-24-LSM (It was wall mounted by the exit but in the middle of school year they placed It on the ceiling in the same spot) and LSM’s in the restrooms.
Warner Elementary opened in 2007 with a Fire Lite System and SD355’s. The school also have Fire Lite BG-12’s. The alarms were System Sensor PC2R’s and SCR’s (The classrooms are open concept, so the horn strobes and strobes are placed in a checkerboard-like pattern). A Spectralert Advance horn can be seen at the front of the school. There are also white wall mount Spectralert Classics mounted on the ceiling in the portables.
So it seems that Greenfield Central Junior High School was caught up in the news for reopening during covid, and oh boy did they have to quarantine because one of the students wasn’t tested… yeah so i think for punishment i’m gonna leak their fire alarm information sorry dudes /j
The school appears to have a Fire-Lite system, with both types of Wheelock MT. Some areas have ZNSes. Smoke detectors are Siemens ILI-1Bs in some hallways, and regular SD-355s in other areas… hinting at an older Cerberus system perhaps. Pulls are BG-12.
I have a new update for Livonia’s Webster Elementary School. It has been about four years since I visited the school, and during that time, the alarm system was replaced as part of the Livonia Public Schools’ 2013 bond proposal.
All of the rebranded Faraday NAs and 641 pull stations from the 1990s are gone, replaced by National Time CXLP speaker/strobes, C2-series strobes, Digicomm smoke detectors, 540-series single-action pull stations behind SigCom Sentry protective covers, and a National Time 902 panel. The old National Time P806 bells inside the school are gone also; either they were plated up, or in the case of the former gym bell, the housing was left exposed. However, the National Time bells outside are still intact, but are most likely disconnected as there are new public address speakers next to them.
With the upgrade, almost all of the LPS buildings have identical systems to the one at Webster, with a few exceptions: The former Cass and Marshall Elementary Schools, which are leased and still use their 1990s National Time systems; and the former Dickinson Junior High School (also leased), which is the sole remaining LPS building to still have its vintage National Time system.
Children’s Dental of Waltham - Waltham, MA Panel: Fire-Lite MS-5UD, at the back entrance. There’s also an ANN-80 annunciator at the front entrance. Pull stations: BG-10’s Detectors: System Sensor 2400’s and i3’s Signals: Wheelock 7002T horn/strobes, and a SpectrAlert Classic and an Advance as replacements.
Boston Logan International Airport - Terminal E - Boston, MA
Panel: Simplex 4120 (not seen, but there are remote annunciators)
Pull stations: 4099-9003’s in most areas, and 4099-9006’s in the 2017 addition.
Detectors: TrueAlarms in most areas, and Bosch beam detectors in areas with high ceilings.
Signals: TrueAlert speaker/strobes
Something like two years ago I speculated what devices my local mall would install as part of an expansion project to convert a defunct Sears store into additional, smaller stores.
To recap, the mall has a c. 2004 Simplex 4100U system with Wheelock E-series speakers and speaker/strobes (mostly E-70s and E-90s, but a few E-50s and E-60s in some newer stores). In any case, the new mall corridor also has Wheelock E-70s, but mounted next to every E-70 is a xenon Exceder-series strobe. The strobes are red and the speaker/strobes are white, but they’re both marked as “fire”.
The speaker/strobes are all mounted on backboxes, so I wonder if there was some sort of construction mix-up and the speakers were added after the Exceders were, or if the E-70s were meant to be spec’d as speakers and not speaker/strobes but someone got the model number wrong.
As for the other stores in the addition, the DSW has Simplex TrueAlertES ceiling-mount speaker/strobes (or possibly horn/strobes, since they look the same). The HomeGoods also has TrueAlert (non-ES) ceiling-mount horn/strobes or speaker/strobes. There are two other stores in the addition that I haven’t had a reason to go to yet so I don’t know what they have, but if I had to wager a guess I’d say TrueAlerts. My assumption is that all of this is tied in with the 4100U, but it’s also possible that the stores have their own systems.
An HEB in Sugarland has a Radionics system with its brand of pull stations. There are Gentex Commander 1 horn strobes by all of the exits and restrooms and a Spectralert Classic at the entrance. In the actual sales floor are mainly ceiling mount Spectralert Classic remote strobes (I only saw one ceiling mount horn strobe ).
The High School I attended in Cypress used a Cerberus Pyrotronics MXL system with MSI pulls+stopper covers. The main hallways have what I guess are the ceiling mount versions of the CP MTL horns on continuous (they look like Wheelock E90’s with the four screws) and CP S17-F strobes. Few of the strobes were replaced with Siemens U-MCS’s and white ceiling ZR’s, but there were also some in the restrooms that were replaced with Siemens U-MMT’s. Wall and ceiling mount CP speakers are in the auditorium and cafeteria and set to slow whoop (no voice). Most of the classrooms have CP branded Wheelock MIZ-LSM’s set on continuous. One of the MIZ’s was replaced with an RSS and another by a Siemens U-MHT. The older gymnasiums and the back exit had ceiling mount MTL horns(?) that were disabled, so they also used U-MHU’s and U-MMT’s. The Arts/Music section and an additional gymnasium had white U-MHU’s and MCS strobes. Some parts of the science wing have Siemens ZR-MC-CW’s near the MTL-C’s with ZH-MC-CW’s by the exits and some classrooms in that section. The outdoor alarms are mostly U-HN horns along with some Wheelock AH-WP’s and a Faraday 6120. I do believe the smoke detectors were CP DI-3’s and FP’s.
The showroom has a Suttle SE-171 telephone ringer bell. Other than that, there are no other active initiating/notification appliances. However, there was a Schwarze bell, an unidentified manual trip bell with a 4" gong, and an old telephone bell (2" gong) mounted on a box with a lightbulb, all of which I believe were sale pieces.
Livonia City Hall (Livonia) - This was an entry I submitted for the old forums prior to them becoming corrupted. Since the last time I visited, the entire system was replaced, and I’m even more surprised with what they went with!
Panel/annunciator:
The original controller was a silver National Time panel/annunciator, most likely from the late 1970s.
The current controller is an addressable Potter RA-series annunciator, mounted on a large, red trim plate where the old controller used to be. It’s surprising that a Potter system would replace the old system considering that the Livonia Senior Center uses a modern National Time system.
Detectors:
The old system had System Sensor 1400-series ionization detectors carried over into the current system. I don’t recall that that were any other old smokes from the original system.
The new system consists of Potter PAD100-series photoelectric detectors throughout the building.
Pull stations:
The old system used National Time 641 models; the current system uses Potter PAD100-PSDA models, which are rebranded RMS pull stations.
Notification appliances:
The original system used National Time 411F horns throughout, including at least one National Time 541 horn in the Annex; the current system uses Potter HS24-series horn/strobes and strobes, which are actually rebranded Gentex Commander units. Some of the devices are mounted on red trim plates where the National Time horns used to be.
From 2013 to 2016, the mall underwent a massive renovation and expansion. The MXLV was expanded to cover the additions, and an RCC-3F annunciator was installed at one of the new entrances. Signals in the new parts are a mix of Siemens-branded E50 and E60 speaker/strobes with bilingual lettering (along with their remote speaker versions) and Siemens-branded ZRS remote strobes. Initiating devices in the new part of the building were FirePrint smoke detectors and two-stage Siemens pull stations with bilingual lettering. The initiating devices and signals in the original part of the building, however, remained untouched.
A few weeks ago, I was at this mall and noticed that the FirePrint detectors (both in the original parts of the mall and in the 2016 additions) had been replaced with OP921 detectors. Additionally, the RCC-3F annunciator in the 2016 addition was gutted. This leads me to believe that the new system is a FireFinder XLSV/Cerberus PRO Modular. The pull stations and speakers in the original part of the mall remain untouched; I wonder if they will be upgraded in the near future.
I’m particularly surprised that the conventional initiating devices were not upgraded in 2016 and that the MXLV was expanded (rather than being replaced) at that time. The MXL product line was already on its way to obsolescence at that point, and it’s surprising that such a large building would retain its original conventional pull stations.
The Henry Ford Museum (Dearborn) - The majority of these devices can be viewed with Google 360 imagery. I was there in person today.
Panels/annunciators:
At least one Notifier NGS(?)-4000 control panel, used as an exhibit detection alarm for unauthorized tampering
Detectors:
EST SIGA-PS photoelectric smoke detectors on trim plates, replacing some of the older Notifier detectors (see below)
Gentex 8000-series smoke detectors above elevators
Notifier FSP-951 smoke detectors left over from an older system
Pull stations:
Notifier BNG-1 models behind glass doors (not the “break glass” variety, but glass doors with knobs to open them)
EST SIGA-270 pull stations
EST SIGA-278 pull stations
Simplex 2099-series dual-action pull stations in the theatre areas (SW corner of building)
Notification appliances:
Red and white EST G1F-series horn/strobes, some of which have trim plates
One EST Integrity horn/strobe at the outside seating area of the Plum Market Cafe
Simplex 4903-series horn/strobes in the theatre areas–interestingly, the Museum Store contains separate Simplex 4903-series horns and Simplex 4904-series strobes, mounted vertically from each other
Two Edwards 874-N5 horns near the limousine exhibits, used as HVAC supervisory/trouble alarms
One Wheelock 7002T horn/strobe on a support pillar, presumably left over from an older system
One System Sensor MA/SS-24 horn/strobe on a support pillar, presumably left over from an older system
Alarm Lock PG21MS exit alarms on several fire exits
Detex EA-500 door alarms (flush-mount) next to some staff entrances
Detex EAX-500 exit alarms inside the Plum Market Cafe
Detex 10-series exit alarm crash bars on some fire exits
One older Detex ECL-230D exit alarm on a fire exit
CVS Pharmacy (Lexington Street) | Waltham, MA Panel: FCI 7100, given the annunciator Pulls: MS-7AF’s Detectors: ATD-RL2 heat detectors (and at least one ASD-PL smoke detector) Signals: SpectrAlert Classic horn/strobes and remote strobes
[quote="El Chupacabra" post_id=87773 time=1602433359 user_id=2572]
This leads me to believe that the new system is a FireFinder XLSV/Cerberus PRO Modular. The pull stations and speakers in the original part of the mall remain untouched; I wonder if they will be upgraded in the near future.
I’m particularly surprised that the conventional initiating devices were not upgraded in 2016
[/quote]
FireFinder XLS and Cerberus Pro Modular are 100% identical except for the yellow color scheme. The name change was made in 2016, so if the mall was just upgraded, the new system is a Cerberus Pro Modular. Migration kits are available to install Cerberus Pro Modular equipment into an existing MXL cabinet.
As for the old pull stations, they have probably had XTRI-S or HTRI-S addressable modules installed. (and before that, TRI-B6’s.) If they’re mounted at compliant heights and meet code requirements, the pulls don’t need to be replaced.
Are the replaced pulls in the new part HMS-series (which looks identical to the MSI-series that works with the MXL, and uses an Allen key to reset) or the all-new XMS series (which uses a T45 key to reset)?
[quote=randomperson post_id=87890 time=1605540890 user_id=3878]
[quote="El Chupacabra" post_id=87773 time=1602433359 user_id=2572]
This leads me to believe that the new system is a FireFinder XLSV/Cerberus PRO Modular. The pull stations and speakers in the original part of the mall remain untouched; I wonder if they will be upgraded in the near future.
I’m particularly surprised that the conventional initiating devices were not upgraded in 2016
[/quote]
As for the old pull stations, they have probably had XTRI-S or HTRI-S addressable modules installed. (and before that, TRI-B6’s.) If they’re mounted at compliant heights and meet code requirements, the pulls don’t need to be replaced.
Are the replaced pulls in the new part HMS-series (which looks identical to the MSI-series that works with the MXL, and uses an Allen key to reset) or the all-new XMS series (which uses a T45 key to reset)?
[/quote]
Since the pulls in the new part were installed when the MXLV was expanded (around 2016), they’re most likely MSI-30BCs. They’re two-stage models with bilingual lettering, and they feature the Siemens logo at the top.
The old pull stations are likely still compliant. I’m surprised, however, that such a large building would retain conventional devices despite having undergone two system upgrades in the past two decades. It would seem far more practical to have a fully-intelligent setup in this type of installation. If the pull stations were to be upgraded, my guess is that they would be replaced with HMS-2Ss (which, as you mentioned, would look identical to the MSI-30BCs) as I haven’t seen any data sheets mentioning ULC-listed XMS models (or two-stage XMS models).
[quote="El Chupacabra" post_id=87913 time=1605990188 user_id=2572]
[quote=randomperson post_id=87890 time=1605540890 user_id=3878]
[quote="El Chupacabra" post_id=87773 time=1602433359 user_id=2572]
This leads me to believe that the new system is a FireFinder XLSV/Cerberus PRO Modular. The pull stations and speakers in the original part of the mall remain untouched; I wonder if they will be upgraded in the near future.
I’m particularly surprised that the conventional initiating devices were not upgraded in 2016
[/quote]
As for the old pull stations, they have probably had XTRI-S or HTRI-S addressable modules installed. (and before that, TRI-B6’s.) If they’re mounted at compliant heights and meet code requirements, the pulls don’t need to be replaced.
Are the replaced pulls in the new part HMS-series (which looks identical to the MSI-series that works with the MXL, and uses an Allen key to reset) or the all-new XMS series (which uses a T45 key to reset)?
[/quote]
Since the pulls in the new part were installed when the MXLV was expanded (around 2016), they’re most likely MSI-30BCs. They’re two-stage models with bilingual lettering, and they feature the Siemens logo at the top.
If the pull stations were to be upgraded, my guess is that they would be replaced with HMS-2Ss (which, as you mentioned, would look identical to the MSI-30BCs)
[/quote]
Siemens/CP SLC protocols are not backward-compatible. If the detectors were replaced, so were the addressable pulls.
As for the old pulls, they were probably retrofitted with addressable modules. I’ve seen these setups several times, one of these systems (South Station in Boston) even has Electro-Vox pulls! (rebranded by Kidde.)
Siemens/CP SLC protocols are not backward-compatible. If the detectors were replaced, so were the addressable pulls.
As for the old pulls, they were probably retrofitted with addressable modules. I’ve seen these setups several times, one of these systems (South Station in Boston) even has Electro-Vox pulls! (rebranded by Kidde.)
[/quote]
That’s interesting; I wasn’t aware of this lack of compatibility between Siemens protocols. If I understand correctly, it would be possible to retain the FirePrint detectors and MSI-30BC pull stations on the Cerberus PRO Modular with the use of an MLC module, but it would be impossible to mix the new OP921 detectors with the old pull stations (or vice-versa).
While this seems unlikely, another possibility is that conventional pull stations (MS-53Cs) were used in the addition to match the setup in the existing part of the mall.
I have seen those Kidde-branded FM950s at South Station. If I recall correctly, they were paired with older Wheelock ET speaker/strobes (with the 7002-style strobe). Quite an interesting setup!
).
