Hello everyone. I dont put much on here so I figured I would start doing so as im more active on youtube and discord. But i know the forums are full of new enthusiasts I havent had a chance to talk to yet, so here are some of my very rare fire alarm devices as well as my control panels.
White Simplex 4903s: (models from top left to bottom right). Probably my most favorite alarms. The 4903s are very sentimental to me as they are what got me interested in the hobby when i heard them go off in a mall about 12 years ago or so. They also have these at my high school in the older section of the building. The white variants are very hard to come by now so im very fortunate to have these.
Early Generation Space Age Av32 With a Fire Lite HD horn: This particular combo came from the 1970s which is not very common with these devices as most of the models people own are from the 80s and 90s. The texture is different on these with a smooth finish as opposed to the rough finish on the newer ones
Early generation simplex 2901 9833: These came with wire leads on the back unlike most we’ve seen with a terminal block. These also happen to have 2905 9903 trim plates on them.
Ansul 24746 (wheelock 7002): You read that right, this is a 7002 and not a 7002T. As it turns out, the T stands for terminals which this device lacks making it a 7002. This is also a very rare rebrand that also happens to have the rare black sounder plate. Indicative of an earlier model
White Space Age AV32 with Faraday 6030: Managed to score this plate new in box with oddly enough a red 2DCD. I swapped horns and put my rare non-polarized Faraday 6030 which happens to be beige which fits this plate very well.
System Sensor CH24-MCW: The spectralert chime strobes are probably system sensor’s rarest devices aside from the MAEH. Especially the white versions. This was NIB.
Faraday 5506: Who would’ve thought a 6020 with a strobe slapped on top of it would be so hard to get. Found a bunch for sale last summer and bought 2. Paid a lot for them thats for sure.
Simplex early version 4050-80 (40XX-60): These are the precursors to the 4050 80s. They didnt have a model of their own and were labeled by the horn they were mounted with. For example, the top 2 have 4051s on them so they would be 4051-60. If they had a 4040 on them they would be 4040-60. I had 5 originally, 1 was traded and the other is kept for parts as it didnt have a socket.
Simplex 4037: Probably one of the rarest AC horns you can find. Since they’re flush mounted, when the system gets upgraded these are usually left in place as it costs too much to patch the hole from these things.
Thats all for the devices i have to show. I do have a few others I can show pictures of in a later post but thats it for now. Now for my control panels. Some are a work in progress while others work flawlessly.
Simplex 4010: My first FACP. Had it for almost 2 years now. Works great despite the number of times ive shorted something out from being careless.
Simplex 4005: My most recent panel to the collection. Was purchased as non functional. It has been determined that the power supply has blown and needs to be replaced. Everything else seems to be okay so hopefully it will be functional after that.
Simplex 2001: This is the 2001-8023 expanded repack model not many people own. I am in the process of building this thing from spare parts ive located on ebay. All im missing is a set of cards and hopefully we will have a functioning system. Had to fix a blown component on the motherboard but it seems functional now.
Simplex 4305 annunciator: These were made for the 4207/8, 2001 and 4002. This one was made during the 2001 era so i got it to go with the 2001. Honestly this is probably rarer than the 2001 itself as ive never seen this exact anywhere.
Wow, absolutely fantastic collection (slightly jealous of those 4037s haha). I have never seen one of those Atlas Soundolier speaker/strobes before, how old would you say that is? My guess is early 90’s. Also, congrats on getting that 2001, I’m guessing you’re the one who bought the 8023 cabinet/motherboard/cardframe that were listed on eBay for a while. I believe you and I are the only two to own one of those 8023s, I am not aware of anyone else who owns one. If you need help on wiring it and getting in going, do let me know. I pretty much figured out how to wire mine, it’s actually pretty intuitive. Impressive finds though, congrats.
Thanks! I actually got the inspiration to get the 8023 from you. I just plan on getting a main card, 4 dual zone cards with switches (8 zones total for the annunciator), march time and a dual sig card or 2. The only thing ill need help on getting set is the march time card. Everything else seems to be straight forward.
And if youre interested in a 4037, maybe down the road we can work out a trade. I honestly dont need 3 as they are noisy.
Oh wow, haha you’re welcome! Its always refreshing to see other collectors with passion for old Simplex equipment, I think their equipment had some of the most interesting designs back in the day (especially from the 60s to the 90s). I am actually working on helping another collector configure his smaller repack for the marchtime card, and have to take my 8023 apart to trace the jumper wires. When I do so, I’ll send both of you a diagram on where to solder the jumper wires. I’ll try to do that relatively soon.
I absolutely would be interested in a 4037, as that horn in particular is something I’ve been trying to find ever since I started collecting (so well over 10 years now). Just let me know what you are looking for in trade and we can work something out from there.
I have to say that this is the most coolest collection I have seen. I managed to score some rare devices. I have a 9221 (which I had to replace the shell because it broke) and I managed to get a Wheelock EH-DL1-WM-VF-W.
Hello, I subscribed to this forum to help my son locate some fire alarms he’s been searching for. He saw that you had a rare alarm he’s been looking for. The simplex 4903 9102 light plate fire alarm.and he’s looking for simplex 2903 surface mount light plate - He’s 11 and has a pretty good collection right now. If you can give us any tips on where to locate some alarms besides eBay that would be great. Thank you
This technically isn’t the right topic to be asking such a question on, but try local alarm companies: they may be willing to part with what they’ve got. That’s how I got some of my devices.
I’m sorry to say but those alarms can be very hard to find and when they come up, people usually price them for a very expensive price. Just look out for one is my suggestion because sometimes some sellers put them at a cheep price. Me and some other people manage to get a white EH-DL1. NIB for $25. I wish your son luck with his colection
Awesome collection, I’m still on the lookout for Simplex 2001 panel. One of the school we take care of has a few of the old 4037 flush mount horns in it. They’re still in place but have long since been disconnected when the school installed a Simplex 4002 (which it currently has). Also on your 40xx-60 light plates, is that bulb socket original or is it a homemade retrofit, because it looks like a despard bracket with a light socket. I recently finally found a Simplex 4050-80 light plate that didn’t come with a bulb or a socket, so I either need to try to find an original from a 4050-80 light plate, or fabricate my own.
I see, in the early years of the 4050-80 series of light plates Simplex probably used off the shelf components before developing their own light sockets. Now I’ll have to try to find the original light socket, which should be possible since I’ve see a few on Ebay over the years, but never got any since I just recently got one.
I think thats probably how it was done. It was probably easier to get simple hardware store parts rather than have them manufacture a proprietary socket. The assemblies for the older ones fit like their made for a standard single gang electrical box so they were probably generic parts like you said.
Gonna post an update of a few more devices i wanted to share while i was rummaging through my collection. I also go some new devices from ebay and trades recently ill be showing.
Simplex 4041: The light plate has been shown before. But i got the horn recently new in box in a trade i did with @Nicholas super stoked about it. Its got terminals which is interesting but the wiring setup is odd.
Simplex 2903-9102 + 4080-5: This is a pretty rare 2903 combo. Dont often see bells on these plates. Whats also interesting is that this strobe plate is a 2nd generation model which i havent seen anyone else with. It lacks the potentiometer of the 3rd generation my others have and what most people own. Ive got over 10 of these 2903 combos so ill have to share a pic later.
Simplex 4901-9811 + 4903-9101: 2 rare alarms in 1. The 4901 is a rebranded faraday tri tone horn but it only does the horn tone. The 4901 9809 is the tri tone model. The strobe plate is kinda rare since its designed to be mounted horizontally.
Wheelock ES-DL1-WS-24: probably in the top 10 for rarest devices. This is the predecessor to the AES. It sounds slightly different. Its supposed to be tri tone but my model for some reason is only capable of doing the horn tone.
#1 & #2: You’re lucky. #3: I believe I’ve got at least one 2903 strobe plate that doesn’t have a potentiometer on the circuit board (not sure whether it’s a 2nd or 3rd generation version though). #6: Ooh! Most 4903-series audible signals are electronic horns, electromechanical horns, or speakers, but that one is most certainly rare being a “re-shelled” Faraday tri-tone horn. 4903-series strobe plates with vertical strobes are also definitely rare (be interesting to know if they ever made a light plate version, which if they did is probably even rarer than vertical-strobe 4903 plates). #7: ES huh? I know EH, which is a series of electronic single-tone horns & horn/strobes, but not ES. Most interesting…(shame yours apparently can’t do all three tones though) #8: Definitely unique. #9: Interesting: an Integrity with a pre-Integrity horn mechanism, not sure I’ve ever seen one of those.
All in all, very rare & interesting devices!
Show me a pic of your 2903 circuit board. Ill be able to determine what generation it comes from. The wheelock ES is the predecessor to the aes from the 1980s. It sounds a bit different. Youtube user 4050 80 has 3 of the surface mount ones. They look like speaker strobes and 7002ts combines. This is the flush version.
The humpty dumpty alarm. Good to see it in good hands despite being in the rough shape it was in origionally
