Make up a system

Fire Alarm General Discussion
1

I know a topic like this went down with the old forum. Here is a school. It was built in 1970. How could the alarm system changed over time?

I’ll start:

The school started out with Simplex 4251 Chevron pulls, an unknown Simplex panel, and a red annunciator by the main entrance. The alarms were Simplex 4051’s on 4050-80 light plates, coded to March Time. The light plates had the word “Fire” on the lenses.

In 1975, a 4050-80 was destroyed by a volleyball in the gym. The replacement alarm was a 4051, with a red light bulb behind a strong metal cage.

In 1980, Simplex had to come and replace a chevron. They put in a new 4251 T-handle pull station.

Later that year, some kid figured out how to open up a Chevron. To his surprise, it did not initiate an alarm. He told someone about it, and he was thanked for telling them, then suspended because he tampered with the pull station. So Simplex had to come AGAIN and replace the pull. They put in another 4251 T-Handle.

Simplex discontinued the annunciator.

In 1987, the annunciator died. Because it could no longer be replaced, the ended up replacing the panel with a 2001 and an annunciator. The 2001 was set to March as well.

In 1988, someone decided to set fire to a piece of paper. The detector above where the fire started did not go off. So a teacher pulled a T-handle. She pulled it so hard, it broke the station, which flipped open and smacked her hand. She grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the fire out. The 2001 panel would not reset for some reason. Simplex came and replaced the broken 4251 with a new 4251, and they put a sign next to it that says, “In case of fire, pull handle gently.”

In 1990, the 4050-80’s were replaced by 2903 strobe plates, and the little red light bulb in the gym got replaced by a 2903-style remote strobe, placed behind a cage.

1991 called for more repairs. A 4051 broke down.

1992 brought a panel upgrade to a 4002 and a new annunciator. The new annunciator was installed NEXT to the old annunciator, which was removed. The hole where the annun was got patched.

TO BE CONTINUED…

2

I think the original system from 1970 was a coded system with coded stations and single-stroke bells. if you look now, I bet they put stainless steel plates over where the coded pull stations and bells used to be.

I bet it was an Autocall coded system, too. I’m that good at guessing. or in this case, BSing.

The 4002 is still in place, but future renovations will put a new 4100U in place, and use the 4002 panel as a transponder or junction box point.

3

Ok. Further investigation has revealed that Dan was right, except the coded system was Simplex 4623-10 pulls.

It may be a 4100U… they are also thinking about switching to Faraday…

4

they might, but now that I know, I’ll get my SimplexGrinnell office’s salesman out there to try to get them into the 4100U system.

or, if it’s a high-rise, a 4120.

5

I don’t think they had Simplex 4050-80s in 1970. And most of the time, 4050-80s are installed with Simplex T-bars.

However, replacing the 4050-80 plates with 2903 plates seems like a neat idea.

6

A 4051 as of today just conked out. It was replaced by a spectralert advance
(The original ones aren’t made anymore) A cheap bg-10 they got off of ebay was installed over a cracked t-bar, only to be smashed by a kid fooling around with a bouncy ball. The bg-10 was replaced with a bg-12

7

But then that same kid decides to drive a hockey stick into it, smashing it.
it is then replaced with a metal Faraday T-Handle.

8

Looks like that kid has a grudge against fire alarms :cry:

9

4050-80 light plates did exsist in 1970. One of the buildings at my old elementary school was built in 1970 and had 4050-80s. An identical building right next to it that was built in 1969 only had 4050’s.

10

Ah. The 4051 horn was probably introduced AFTER the 4050-80 came around, though.

11

OK, here is a different system I made up.

The James Griffin High School, originally built in 1979. It featured a Simplex 4208 panel in a janitor’s closet. There was also an old silver Simplex annunciator in a hallway near the main office. The alarms were Simplex 4051 horns on 4050-80 light plates; most of them were silver, and they all had “FIRE” on their lens. The pull stations were Simplex T-bars, most of them 4251-20s, but a few of them were the break-glass 4251-30s. All of the horns were set onto Continuous tone. Metal Chemtronics heat detectors were installed around the building. Outside there was a Simplex 4051 horn without any lights or strobes or anything.
Similarly, the school bells were Simplex 4090 bells painted red and mounted onto the wall on red semi-flush mount plates next to the fire alarms. The clocks were the square-shaped electric Simplex clocks with black numbers and hands.
Protective metal grilles were installed over the pull stations in the gymnasium, to prevent being hit by things. The 4050-80s did not have protection. In 1991, a pull station got demolished by accident, so it got replaced with new Simplex 2099-9795.
In 2003, a large new addition was added to the high school. The old 4208 panel got disconnected, and so did the annnuciator. The new addition had Simplex TrueAlert speaker/strobes that did a Code03 tone and Voice-Evac message, as well as 4099-9003 T-bar pulls. New TrueAlarm smokes were installed as well, and replaced the old heat detectors in the main section of the building. A new Simplex 4100U panel with Voice-Evac capabilities was added as part of the new wing, and was connected to the old fire alarm system in the old section. A new Simplex 4603-9101 annunciator was also installed near the office. The original panel and annunciator are still up, though they do not work anymore and are long disconnected. The 4050-80s are still intact in the old wing, as are the 4251-20/30 T-bars.

12

:? … Huh? Could you please explain more detail in this topic? Your posts make me think that the schools are real.

13

We are supposed to make up schools or whatever building and its fire alarm systems. It’s meant to be imaginary.

Anyways, on that 1970 School thing NewAgeServer made up, I doubt that March Time was available in 1970, and I doubt 4051 horns were around that year, too. But there WERE 4050-80 retrofit plates around then, I think they were introduced in 1970 or a bit earlier than that. I know an old courthouse in my city that has Simplex 4050-80 light plates (the horns are either 4050s or 4051s) and the pulls are Simplex Chevrons (older-style version). So it might’ve been an early 1970s fire alarm system. When did Simplex release the T-bar pulls anyway? I know my high school was built in 1970, and had a few T-bars, but they might’ve been replacements for broken Edwards 270-SPO pulls (the ones used in the majority of that school). I’m guessing the T-bars came out around the same time as the 4050-80 retrofit plate did, but didn’t become popular until the mid-1970s. Now I seen them in almost every Simplex system, including the ones at my college, the Bat Bus transfer center, the Brockton Public library, the Brockton Hospital, the New England Aquarium, the Showcase Cinemas movie theater, various elementary schools, the newer courthouse, etc.

14

Haha alright. Well at a theater called the “Grand Theater” in Sturgis, MI, there are mixtures of Wheelock AS’s and NS’s with Simplex Dual-Action Pulls.

In a Mariott Residence Inn, there are mixtures of System Sensor Classic Spectras (Code-3), MASSes (800 Continuous), a BRK-MA/SS in an exit corner on the first floor, SpectrAlert Advances in newer parts of the building, which are, 5th Floor (Pentouse), relaxation corridor, and the breakfast/dinner area (they had BRK-MA/SS’s set to Swept Frequency there but the strobes on the units did not work). There are Fire Lite BG-10s, ESL T-Bar Pulls, and Notifier NBG-12LXs.

At a store, there are Wheelock 7002Ts (some of them have trim plates) along with Fire-Lite BG-10s. In the bathrooms, there are Wheelock RSSs.

15

The theater one seems possible, since some Simplex fire alarm systems use Wheelock signals, such as UAlbany.

And no, you can’t make up your own imaginary fire alarm components. Sorry. But you CAN make up unusual combinations for different companies’ parts. In real life there’s an office building I know that has a Kidde system with Wheelock MT-24-LSMs (there’s also an NS and there are RSS strobes in the restrooms), Edwards 270-SPO pulls and System Sensor photoelectric smoke detectors.

16

OK NEW ONE!

A high school was built in 1950.

The original setup is a Gamewell coded system, with Gamewell fire bells.

In 1970, it was upgraded to an Edwards system with older 270-SPO’s with this E logo on them: [E] which means they are non-ada. Alarms are 360 “fire horns” flush mounted. The system was on continuous.

In 1980, the Edwards panel was replaced by a Simplex 2001, but the pulls were replaced with newer ADA Edwards 270-SPO’s, because they looked better on the walls of that particular school. The 360 horns were kept, but in 1990, Wheelock WH (non-ada version of the LSM) remote strobes were installed next to the fire horns.

Two years later, the 2001 shorted and it smoked, and then the circuitry caught fire :o but for the strangest reason, the new NAC extender managed to activate the strobes.

The replacement panel, installed the next day, was a 4002. The horns were replaced with Simplex 9838’s and the strobes remained.

Then some kid broke a pull station, constituting in all the Edwards pulls to be replaced by T-bars. Another kid found a B-key, and activated it once a day! The pulls were then replaced AGAIN by the newly released Edwards 278B pulls. The key version was used.

Finally, the 4002 got replaced by a 4005, which meant they did not need the 4009, and it was put on ebay, and the winner was that buyer who likes to jack up the prices in an attempt to win.

17

Others I had…

A college in Lansing called Lansing Hall has a mixture of Wheelock AS’s and System Sensor Classic Spectras with Fire-Lite BG-12s. Some of the bathrooms have Spectra Strobes, some have RSS’s, and some have literally both. (One Bathroom area has different signals. Ladies Restroom: Spectra Strobe. Mens Restroom: RSS strobe)

A Middle School called Ronald Regan Middle School has Gentex GMS’s with Pyrotronics MS-501 pulls. They have Gentex SHG’s in the classrooms. In the newer corridor and classrooms, EST Genesis’s with the word “FIRE” (code-3) along with EST 278B-1120s.

In another college, there are Edwards 892s with Edwards 270-SPO’s. In a different wing, there are Edwards Integrities set to Code-3, same initiating devices with the exception of only one SIGA278 in that area.

18

I said that it was one of the newer parts of the building. Unfortunately, they had to close down the 4th floor when they added a new floor. They decided that because there were a lot of people (recently before the renovation) making reservations. They have decided to continue with System Sensor notification appliances.

19

New ones:

In a conventional building in Lansing has Edwards 270-SPO’s, Edward’s 892-1Bs, and Wheelock AS’s (code-3). There was a false alarm caused by an unattended kid left behind while his mom kept him occupied, so they installed Stopper II Covers (with sounders) over all the pulls the day after.

A Building called the “Child and Teen Center”, which is a big building for grades 1-12 has Wheelock NS’s in code-3, Fire-Lite BG-10Ls, BG-12s in the gymnasiums, cafeteria, auditoriums, most science classrooms, and computer labs, RSSs in stairwells, bathrooms, small classrooms, and unnecessary areas of the halls that don’t need sound. There are weatherproof ASWP’s (code-3) outside.

Lansing Community Center has a Simplex 4002 system coded to 120 BPM march time with Simplex -9219s, Simplex 4901-9805s on 2903 light plates (horn and strobe synchronized), 2099-9754s, and some 4251-20s.
Pretty weird to have Simplex 4901-9805s on 2903 light plates, huh?

At a Hampton Inn (Detroit) there are System Sensor Classic Spectras with Fire-Lite BG-12s. Also a weatherproof Spectra outside.

A restaurant that has Wheelock MT-24-LSMs, Edwards 270-SPO’s, RSS Strobes in the bathrooms. There is also a weatherproof MT outside. The MT’s inside do slow whoop while the one outside does continuous.

20

Here’s one I want to make. I always wanted to make a system up. From the twisted mind of Roan! XD It’s the Edward C. Smith Elementry School.

  1. The school was built in the 1980s. 9806s scattered in the hallway.

  2. In the bigger rooms, there are Faraday U-HNH or whatever they are called

  3. The gym is very very big and has 9219s and the lecture hall has a a single EST Integrity

  4. The Library has a Gentex SHG

  5. The Itenerent Rooms, have the SAE V33 alarms or whatever they are called

  6. The Cafeteria has CP multi tone alarms with the bubble in the middle

  7. In the bathrooms, Wheelock NS