Those are in mint condition. Congrats on obtaining such rare devices. Whenever you get a chance, could you possibly take photos of the inside of the 2001-8023? I’ve managed to find just about every part i need on ebay to build one of these panels but i am curious as to how you have the internals setup, like the jumper configuration for the march time card and all of that. Seems that with the little documentation on these things, trying to figure these out from the diagrams is a challenge so seeing a live one setup would be very helpful. Thanks.
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I’m currently working on my 2001 “repack”, getting the march time card configured. It’s been a challenge, as the wiring diagrams don’t make as much sense compared to how i’ve seen it wired. Nick is helping me through it in his spare time which is helpful but I’m not quite there yet. I had to make my own jumpers and I currently have all the card out as I await how to configure it properly. I got it to work somewhat by playing around (but it still does a slow pulse when panel is normal so it’s not right) and how I wired it was a lot different from the diagram which was weird.
Simplex old-school fire panels are just SUPER COOOOOL!
comPLEX fire security systems protecting life and property, using SIMple relay or analog logic with nothing computerized! So cool to see the gauges bobbing, lamps flashing and hear the relays clicking while they activate (Only during testing…It’s always a sad thing to see and hear those indicating a real emergency)
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Mhm, definitely fascinating too.
Clever way of interpreting the company name!
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Amazing panels, great job preserving these from the scrapyard! Love anything old school, especially Simplex, as I never see it in my area. I always feel as a fire alarm tech I was born too late for this job lol. I wish to work on systems from the 70s, 80s and 90s. I like the new systems but they don’t have the same personality as these old ones, as newer systems are all 24vdc, older ones could have been 120vac, 6vac, 12vac, etc. & The old ones never have any issues until they die for whatever reason, the newer panels have tons of more issues and die faster. Also with the fact I grew up around old Edward systems, and when I finally get the job, they are all basically gone, and saving them is a huge hassle.
I’m currently trying to save a bunch of old Edwards panels and stuff from an old hospital near my house, but its been super hard cause the owners won’t reply back to me, yet the demolition company and some heritage preservation sites replied to me and said I needed to contact the owner. It’s frustrating cause I know they are sitting in an empty building doing nothing but waiting to be ripped out, and would rather I take it than a dumpster. I also missed out on a lot of buildings older systems in the last decade, due to not even knowing about the upgrades till it was too late. I have the same vision as you basically, to show everyone how the old systems worked back then, and love to learn myself these rare systems.
Over the past few months since the last update, I have managed to acquire a few more devices, as well a new control panel. I’ll start with the devices.
Autocall 4015
Kidde B5
Simplex 4251-111
IBM 4251-111
Simplex 4251-20
Standard Electric Time 200179
ESB Couch F660A
Simplex 2099-9761
Honeywell SC804D1018
Exide Couch 969R
Space Age Electronics AV32 (with Wheelock 34-24)
Standard Electric Time SFA-12-2
Simplex 2901-9833
Simplex 2904-9001
Simplex 4903-9236
Simplex 4098-9701 with 4098-9784
Simplex 2098-9544 with 2098-9736
And lastly, the new control panel…
Simplex 4020-8001
I am always coming across new things for my collection (as much as I don’t need them), so I’ll post updates here every now and then on what I have. Eventually, when I get the time, I plan on putting together a really nice collage of everything I own put together.
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All great acquisitions Nick, congrats!
Is that 4020 in a 4002 can? (looks like it is, I think you’re also the first enthusiast to have a 4020)
Very nice additions. I have to ask, where did you find the standard electric plate, the 2904 and the exide light? Im on ebay 24/7 looking for rarities. My most recent score was 5 early generation 4050-80s with the fully recessed horns but i havent had much luck recently with anything else. Any other places youve had luck finding things?
The 4020 and the 4002 series actually use the exact same cabinets, same part numbers and all. The only difference is the dress panel and the internals, of course. They were available in 2 sizes, a single bay version (like mine) and a 2 bay version (which is slightly more common). I am far from the first to have one of these as well, a few other people had/have a 4020 besides me.
Both the Standard Electric Time light plate and the Simplex remote light came from a private collector in a trade I made with him recently. I believe he had acquired the Simplex light from an old hospital/nursing facility, and the Standard plate from eBay years back. As for the Exide Couch remote light, that was actually an eBay find from nearly two years ago (I purchased it in August of 2020 if I’m remembering correctly). I put it away in storage for quite some time, and I guess I forgot I had it. I recently found it in a box while organizing my storage locker, and brought it home.
Most of my items are eBay finds. Like you, I watch eBay very closely for anything that catches my eye. The other thing I have had luck with is finding old buildings that are being demolished or are set to be demolished, and ask to acquire parts the old fire alarm system. I have acquired a couple things from building demo sites in the past. In addition to that, Facebook Marketplace has also been very helpful, especially for finding some of my control panels I’ve acquired. Both of my 4208s and 2001s were acquired through people on Marketplace.
Also, congratulations on scooping up those 4050-80 light plates. I was wondering who got them. I tried messaging that seller to see if he had any more of those, but sadly, he does not. Those early 70’s 4050-80s are probably the most highly sought after collectors item, and are probably on every collector’s alarm bucket list (including my own). Glad to see those in good hands though and not in the trash like the vast majority of 4050-80s.
Ah, alright. I know the 4100 Classic & the 4100+ also use the same 2-bay cabinet as most versions of the 4020 (most 4020s are the large 2-bay version).
Oh, alright.
Actually, the 4100 Classic and Plus (along with the 4120) use an entirely different back can than the 4020 and 4002 series. The 4100/4120’s back can is about 2x deeper than the 4020/4002 back cans, which is why, for example, a 4100U or 4100ES could be retrofitted directly into legacy 4100 back cans (as long as the door and dress panel are changed out). It’s rather silly how they did this, but I guess that’s how the engineers designing these panels wanted to do it back in the early 90s.
My guess would be that since the 4020 and 4002 are smaller panels and the internals dont take up as much space (depth wise) that to save material costs, they just went with a thinner cabinet.
Also do you plan on getting that 4020 going at some point? I know they require a programmer, but it would be cool to see one in action since not many are seen in the hands of collectors.
Oh, had no idea, the cabinets look the same though (or at least appear to have identical designs).
I’m going to at some point, yes. I’m just not sure when that’ll be, probably not any time soon. I have to order a new I/O board to get it functional first (4020 parts are insanely expensive), and then find someone who has the ability to program it (if at all possible). Since Simplex dropped support for the 4020 years ago, I’ll have to find someone with software/a computer old enough to program it. IIRC, given that we’re talking about technology developed in the late 80’s early 90’s, the panel does not interface directly with a laptop, I believe it is programed directly through its EPROM chip like the 4100 Classic (could be wrong though). So I’d not only have to find someone with software old enough, but someone with a tool such as a Promac to burn EPROM chips.
Since I’ve not posted for a while, I would like to post at this time, but getting that out of the way, I do like your Simplex 2099-9761.