It’s been a while, but here are some more updates to my fire alarm collection…
A Faraday F1G Chevron pull (non-addressable). I only put the break-rod in for the photograph; usually I just store the break rods separately from the pulls. I like how it can be reset using only an Allen screwdriver (albeit being the proper size).
The pull station open. Pretty cool design, actually. It functions kind of similar to a Simplex T-bar (the button part, that is).
The back looks quite different from the old Couch version of the pull station.
Space Age Electronics HA24D horn. This is the same horn as the VA4 horn/strobes my college has.
My Simplex 4051 horn! I found this in a trash box in the Administration building at my college.
Tag info on the 4051 horn. Note the OLD Simplex logo on it.
The 4051 on one of my 2903-9001 light plates. Looks pretty cool this way.
4051 horn on my Simplex 4050-80, pictured with my 4251-30 pull. What you’re seen was a common sight for me as a kid.
The “Faraday/Misc.” stuff in my fire alarm collection so far.
I now have a real Simplex 4050-80 retrofit plate! The 4051 horn you see on it is not new; I’ve had that in my collection for some time now.
Tag on the back. Note how it has a newer Simplex logo on it, unlike other Simplex devices from the 1970s. It also does not have a flashing circuit (as it is a 4050-80 and not a 4050-84.)
Close-up of the lens. There is a light bulb in it too, but I haven’t tested it yet (I may need a good power source to do so.)
Function-wise, the 4050-80 is pretty much similar to the Simplex 2903-9001 light plate (both the 4050-80 and 2903-series had single and dual-bulb versions, 24VDC and 120VAC versions, and versions with flashing circuits!), but it is a bit more cumbersome to work with than the latter. I can see why Simplex discontinued them back in 1980!
Upside-down retrofit plates! Simplex sometimes installed them this way, to my knowledge.
My other new addition is a Simplex 4255-5 heat detector.
Tag close-up. Note the “vintage” Simplex logo on it.
My Simplex 4255-1 heat sensor next to the 4255-5. One big difference is that while the 4255-1 is actually a Chemtronics 500-series heat sensor, the 4255-5 was originally made by Edwards.
The Simplex stuff in my collection (yeah, I have a LOT of 4251-20 pulls!)
Wheelock E50 speaker/strobe. I really like the design of it. I was also able to test it by connecting the speaker part to my stereo system:
Simplex 2901-9838 horn. It is a tad larger than the Vibratones or Faraday’s older 4x4-series horns, and is MUCH thinner.
My 2901-9838 next to one of my Faraday 6020 horns (on the right); from the back they both look pretty much identical. I always figured the 6120-series of Faraday horns (and its rebranded versions) were essentially the 6020 series with a new grille design.
I remember one user posted a picture of a Simplex 2901-9838 horn on a 4050-80 light plate at a J.C. Penny’s store, so here is my recreation of that! It is actually a bit hard to do unless you’re using the backbox.
2901-9838 on one of my Simplex 2903-9001 light plates. It actually looks pretty cool this way, and was a rather common setup in the late 1980s (user TrueAlertSS had these exact same alarms at his elementary school, installed in 1989).
Simplex 2098-9508 ion smoke detector head on one of my 2098-9536 bases. I’m glad I finally have a compatible smoke detector head for these!
Top view. According to a tag on the 2098-9508 head, it was made in 1980.
My alarm collection so far, with a few duplicate items not pictured.
Here is also what I will be getting very soon…
Space Age Electronics VA4 strobe plate (for my HA24D horn)
Simplex 4263 coded pull station
Simplex 2098-9201 smoke detector head
Simplex 2098-9636 smoke detector head
I’m also bidding on an IBM Chevron pull station, a Wheelock AS horn/strobe and a few TrueAlerts.
Pictured with my existing Simplex 2098-9508 smoke detector are three new Simplex smoke detector heads on the 2098-9536 bases: a Simplex 2098-9642 head with a heat sensor, a Simplex 2098-9636 photoelectric head, and a Simplex 2098-9201 photoelectric head.
At last, I finally have a “complete” SAE VA4 horn/strobe! Not sure how to hook up the strobe terminals to the horn, though (tried it with no luck). Is it supposed to be 4-wire operation or something? This one is 15 candelas, while the ones at my college are 30 to 75 candelas (the latter being more common).
Here’s something else interesting: a Simplex 4263-7 coded pull station! It does the coding of 5-1-2, and has the date of May 14, 1973 on it.
The tag to the pull station.
If you look closely, you can see a Couch logo on the bottom! I know Couch was the original maker of these pull stations, but I’m surprised they left their logo intact on it too! (Reminds me of Simplex’s GX-90s.)
Can you show a picture of the terminals on the horn? If there are two (+) and two (-), connect the power source to the first set of (+) and (-), then connect the strobe to the second set. If there are two terminals, connect both the power source and the strobe to the same terminals.
I suppose I could, but I will describe it first: the first set of terminals (+) and (-) say “W1 STROBE”, and the other says “W2 AUDIBLE.” The connectors for the strobe are not spade-type terminal connectors (they aren’t even bare at the end), but faston-blade connectors, which are difficult to try and screw into the terminals. The horn, I DO have the spade-type connector cables, so that makes it easy.
Look to the strobe side of the terminal block. There should be 3 flat pins sticking up from the PCB, labeled WP1 - WP3. Notice that WP2 has a + by it, and WP3 has the -. Hook the wires from the VA4 to those.
OK, I did that, and it does let me run the strobe off the horn if the wires are connected to the “STROBE”-labeled terminals. But not the “AUDIBLE”-labeled ones. Guess if I want to do 4-wire operation I’d need quite a bit of 9-volt batteries (these seem to work for me when I test them.)
But besides that, I got some more new alarm devices:
Here we have an OLD IBM 4251-1 pull station. I think it dates back to the 1950s, as I don’t think IBM began rebranding Couch’s pull stations until then. The lock is broken on the top, so I often have the lever pulled to keep the station in place.
Wheelock AS horn/strobe. This one is the 12VDC version (supports up to around 18VDC, not sure if I want to run it on 24-27VDC). It’s also a two-wire horn/strobe. I currently set the volume jumper to “LOW,” and have it set on Code-3. The strobe is 15/75 candelas.
I also got three of these Simplex TrueAlert horn/strobes. They are 4903-9418s, to be exact. They are also 2-wire horn/strobes, but I do not have a SmartSync module to make the horn sound (I CAN get the strobe to flash, though).
My fourth TrueAlert horn/strobe. Unlike the others, THIS one is white and multi-candela. It is also a two-wire horn/strobe, but I haven’t tested it yet.
The Faraday stuff in my fire alarm collection.
The “Misc. companies” stuff in my collection, including System Sensor (for now), Space Age Electronics and Standard Electric Time.
The Wheelock devices in my collection so far.
All the Simplex devices in my collection. I’ve got a LOT.
It’s been a while but I got some more new devices in my alarm collection now!
Wheelock MT-24-MS horn/strobe. It’s identical to the MT-24-LSM but uses a 30-candela strobe instead of 15/75 candelas.
Fire-Lite BG-6 pull station. This is pretty old, probably from the '60s or '70s. It resets in an interesting manner; you have to unscrew a bolt on top (using a hex key/wrench) and open the pull station, then close it and screw it shut again.
Another shot of the BG-6.
Simplex 2902-9732 LifeAlarm speaker. This dates back to 1983!
Simplex 4901-9805 electromechanical horn. I got six of these. They are from 1994.
Simplex 2099-9756 pull station.
Simplex 2098-9637 2-wire smoke detector base. It is pretty much similar to the 2098-9211.
The same base but with my 2098-9201 photoelectric smoke detector head on it. I usually see them installed this way.
Simplex 4259-35 smoke detector head. This is pretty much an ESL detector rebranded. It also doesn’t have a thermal heat sensor on it like the 4259-36 does. This is probably from the late '70s. Now I just need a base for it (I did try to buy one off eBay, but the seller told me the base was damaged and sent me a full refund.)
Simplex 4098-9601 TrueAlarm photoelectric smoke detector head on the 4098-9788 base.
Fair warning on the BG-6, if you have he style with pigtail leads, they break off easily which ruins the switch. This has happened to both my BG-6 and my BG-10 and I cant find replacements for them anywhere!
Right, I was just refering to it as a switch cause…well it is, just a push button type. I shold have been more specific.
And yes I can find them everywhere but the only ones I can find that have the right button length are N.O. and I need a N.C. switch for them. (AKA when no pressure is applied, switch is closed)
Here are a few more additions to my alarm collection:
Two Simplex “2901-9320” vibrating chime on 2901-9102 strobe plates!
Here is the back of one of them. The chime seems screwed on pretty tight! (I tried unscrewing one but the screw won’t come out.)
The tag info on one of the strobe plates.
Space Age Electronics AV32 strobe plate. Note that even though the lens is red, it is actually a high-intensity strobe!
Tag info. I had no idea the AV32 alarm visual plates were still being manufactured well into 1997! I also have a datasheet that came with it I may scan and upload.
I am also expecting a few more alarm devices from Dan D. sometime soon.
Here’s a new alarm I got from the faculty at South Middle School; they know about my hobby and they recently found some interesting old stuff left in the school’s fallout shelter that was just left on the floor by the construction workers after the renovation.
Simplex 2091-9549 horn. It’s pretty much a 120 VAC version of the 2901-9838, and I believe it has a deeper 4050-sounding buzz. If I’m not mistaken, it looks like this must’ve replaced one of the old Edwards fire horns some time in the 1980s or early 1990s.
I guess Simplex took over with the school’s old Edwards fire alarm system some time in the 1970s or 1980s, and this would explain why their current fire alarm system is a Simplex 4100U.
Here’s my 6" IBM 4015-6A bell I also got from the fallout shelter! It was also pretty dirty, so I cleaned it up and put it back together again. As you may know, these were the school bells originally used throughout the building before the renovation. (They still have 8" IBM bells outside, but they no longer work.)
Sure, I should get to that sometime soon. Keep in mind, this is a more modern manual from 1996-1997, but it should suffice just fine no matter how old your AV32 is (if you have one).
