Make Up a System (2.0)

After an incident in the 2014-15 school year with a noise-sensitive student, it was replaced with its low-frequency counterpart.

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The Eric R. Brady Middle School was built in 1976. The original system consisted of electromechanical Edwards 892 horn/strobes that sounded like Edwards Adaptahorns. System was naturally in continuous.

9 years later, the system was completely overhauled and the alarms in 1987 were replaced Simplex 9838 horns on Simplex 2903 strobe plates. The only 892s that remained were the ones in the health classroom and the one in the art classroom.

In 1993, a tornado struck the school and the second floor, the wellness center and the media center were damaged so they were replaced with Gentex GMS horns.

In 1995, the 9838 in the lobby died and the classes in the computer lab had a hard time hearing the fire alarm. They each got Simplex 4903-9219 horns.

In 1998, the business classroom received a vertical Wheelock AS that was set to Code-3.

Finally, the technology center had a classic SpectrAlert installed in 2003.

The AS recently decided to crap out, and was replaced with a low frequency LED Exceeder because, reasons?

The Steven E. Johnson High School was built in 1979 and first started off with Edwards 792 horn/strobes with an Edwards system.

In 1987, the alarms in the nurses office and the academic computer lab broke down and were replaced with Space Age Electronic 2DCD horns on AV34 strobe plates.

In 1991, choral, art and the hallway which lead to the media center had horns break down so they were replaced with Simplex 2901-9838s on Simplex 4903-9101 strobe plates.

In 1996, the school switched to Simplex and got a Simplex systems. All 792s except the ones in the health room, the business room and the library had their horns replaced with Simplex 4901-9805s on Simplex 4903-9105 strobe plates.

In 2002, the gymnasium was redone and the horns down there were replaced with Wheelock MT-24-LSM.

Three years later, the auditorium was also redone and the horns were replaced with Classic SpectrAlerts.

There are some continuity issues here… How does a 2901-9838 on a 4903-9101 get installed, 5 years before they even switch to simplex? :lol:

In 1968, the Strawberry Fields Mall was constructed. The mall had 236 stores, and 4 anchor stores, JcPenney’s, Sears, Joslins, and Montgomery Ward. The mall itself had a Simplex Multiplex System.
The stores had:
Simplex 4251-1 Chevr

In Localville Fire Department, there is a Simplex 4100ES system.
[list]

  • Dual Simplex TrueAlertES strobes
    TrueAlert ceiling mount speakers
    Adressable T-Bars
    Addressable TrueAlarms
  • [/list]

    The alert capability is used for fire calls, as this is a full-time FD.

    Well I can’t edit it but can’t some Simplex horns run on an Edwards system? The 9838s were why they switched to Simplex 5 years later.

    Not what I mean. Simplex does not give their devices to other contractors to put on their own systems.

    Here’s a system in a Kentucky rest area on I-65:
    [list]

  • RSG RMS-1T (gen 1) pull stations
    Silent Kinght SK-2 panel (code 3)
    System Sensor MAEH (electromechanical tone) horn onlys
    System Sensor SpectrAlert Classic horn onlys (codeable)
    System Sensor i3 smokes
  • [/list]

    Do Simplex use other horns in their systems then?

    I know that they used to use the MTWP-2475W-FR for outside before they had their weatherproof Truealerts. However, I know they used to mount the 9838’s outside.

    That’s what was done at my elementary school. 2 were replaced with SpectrAlert Classics, one with a SpectrAlert Advance, and when the other Wheelocks die, they probably be replaced by Advances.

    Before Simplex came out with the weatherproof TrueAlerts, they used Wheelock for outdoor warning signals. My high school had a variety of them. There was an ASWP, an MT-24-WM, and a few MT-24MCW-FR’s. The AS was in code 3 and the MT-24-WM was in continuous, and it sounded really cool.

    Simplex uses the ET70WP for outdoor speaker strobes.

    The Vincent R. Hubbard Elementary School was built in 1970 and the alarms that they used initially were Simplex 4040 horns on Space Age Electronics AV32 light plates that blinked on and off.

    In 1973, 3 alarms in the life skills classroom, teacher’s lounge and the general office broke down and they were replaced with Simplex 4051 horns on 4050-85 light plates that also blinked during a fire drill.

    In 1983, 10 years later the art, physical therapy room and three remodeled wings, all above each other had their horns replaced with Faraday 6020 horns with the strobe on the front.

    In 1989, the school was partially remodeled and the new horns that replaced all but one 4040+AV32 were Simplex 2901-9806 horns on 4903-9101 strobe plates. The only 4040+AV32 that remained and wasn’t disconnected was the one in the music room.

    In 1993, the autism classroom and the computer lab had their 2901-9806s+4903-9101s replaced with Simplex 4903-9219 horns.

    And in 2004, the library was redone and the alarm that replaced the 4903-9219 was a Simplex TrueAlert.

    The Foxtrot-Golf Hotel is a small, historic hotel located in Massachusetts. It has a four-zone Spectronics 640 with two NACs.

    • The smoke detectors in the common area are mostly are Pyrotector 3040 4-wire photoelectric units, but some of them have been replaced by various 2098-series detectors (Simplex has been servicing them since the early 1990’s). There is a wiffle ball detector over the front desk, and another one in the laundry room. One of the two detectors in the weight room has been replaced with an older-style TrueAlarm.

    • The suites all have newer-style TrueAlarms. These, along with new signals, were added last year. Prior to that, there were no fire alarms in the individual suites.

    • The kitchen for the Taste of India restaurant has two old Chemtronics heat detectors.

    • The pull stations are Unitec T-bars (unknown model number). A few of the pulls in the hallways were replaced by 2099-9754’s.

    • The main signals are Wheelock 7002-24’s. The one at the rear exit was replaced by a 4903-9252.

    • Juliett’s Snack Bar, a row of vending machines and coffee makers next to the foyer, has a C7001T on the ceiling.

    • The signals in the suites are Simplex 4901-9859 mini-horns next to 4906-9103 strobes, which are set to 110 candela. As I mentioned before, these are brand new.

    • The signal in the Taste of India is a 2901-9838 + 2903-9101 horn/strobe, which I’m guessing is also a replacement, since the restaurant’s restrooms have WS-24 remote strobes.

    • The pool area has two Simplex 4903-9219H’s.

    • On the exterior of the building, there is a 7002, a 43T-G10-115-R sprinkler bell, and a non-operational water motor gong. The two bells are located next to each other near the base of the building. The 7002 is mounted normally.

    When the Paige T. Larson Memorial Middle School was built in 1973, the original signals were Federal Signal 450D horns with VALS strobes attached to the front of them.

    5 years later, the alarm in the drama classroom slowly began to die and finally gave out. The replacement was an Edwards 792 horn/strobe with the old horn being junked. A few months later, the alarm in the art classroom was ruined when two students screwing around splashed paint on in. The replacement was also an Edwards 792 horn/strobe with the old horn being junked.

    Fast-forward 13 years later, and some of the horns ended up dying or dead, so a call was made and SimplexGrinnell came and replaced most of the Federal Signal horns with Simplex 2901-9846 horns on Simplex 4904-9105 strobe plates. Since they didn’t have enough stock, the horns that were working in the OT/PT room and ISS room stayed so two Federal Signal 450D horns with VALS strobe remained.

    3 years later, there was an earthquake and one wing near the gymnasium was damaged the most as well as the horns in the library and the technology lab getting destroyed. Those areas were redone and had Gentex SHGs installed.

    5 years later, the cafeteria was redone and received Simplex 4903-9237 horns inside it.

    And another 4 years, the Simplex 2901-9846+Simplex 4904-9105 in the girl and boys locker rooms were upgraded to Simplex TrueAlerts.

    The time frame is way off.

    • I’m almost certain the VALS series didn’t exist in 1973.

    • 5 years later would be 1978. The 792 wasn’t released until the early 1990’s. The 892, its predecessor, wasn’t even out yet.

    • 13 years after 1978 would be 1991. The 4903-9101 was still in production then.

    Some other problems:

    I don’t think an earthquake would wreck one part of the building and leave another part intact. Perhaps a tornado would make more sense. They cover small areas and can have extremely erratic damage patterns. Some even have multiple small funnels at the base of the main funnel (this is called a multiple-vortex tornado), which causes some areas to be heavily damaged while others remain virtually unscathed.

    Also, if horns ended up dying, and Simplex was out of stock, they would not just leave the dead horns there. Building maintenance often keeps spare signals in storage areas. I’ve even seen one instance where a non-ADA signal was replaced by another non-ADA signal. I would have told the story so they ran out of old horns in the closet, so Simplex replaced the remaining dead signals with the -9846 combos.

    I’m sorry, but is all of the critique really necessary? Who cares if a few dates are off or if every situation in “Make Up a System” is 100% plausible? Out of the entire website, this is the topic that probably needs to be the least accurate or true to life. Most buildings don’t even have complex fire alarm system histories like the ones played out in this topic.

    Let’s be honest, if we stayed completely true to life here, most posts would be something along the lines of “A building was constructed in 2001 with SpectrAlert Horn/Strobes and BG-12 pull stations, and when the west wing was renovated in 2010, SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes were put in.” Not very exciting.

    So please, try not to criticize other users over small factual errors in their made-up systems.