Rare Smoke Detectors

Fire Alarm General Discussion
221

Wow!! Very interesting. I have seen pictures of the 77AC/DC before alongside the First Alert SA76RS. They seem to have come out around the same time. On the earlier alarms, the first two digits seem to indicate the year the alarm was introduced.

The mid/late 70’s lineup of Pittway alarms features:
The First Alert (then Smoke Alert) SA76RS (1976)
The BRK 77AC/DC (1977)
and the BRK (Smoke Alert labeled) 769AC (1976)

Before the SA76RS was a similar unit with no test button, the BRK SS74R. (1974).

First Alert was the consumer grade DC only alarm company, and BRK was the commercial/contractor grade company. Then System Sensor came in in 1984, and became the commercial fire alarm division. BRK was just the contractor grade division after that (Home wired in alarms).

Interesting factoids about the SA67D! Of course, that alarm probably didn’t come out in 1967. Unless BRK recycled that model number for their alleged first marketed smoke alarms from the late 60’s. I don’t have model numbers for those initial alarms, though. I had no idea the slim 67D came out as early as 1987! I have the thicker older 67D which has manuals dated to 1987. No way of knowing when the detector was made, but it was right when the slim cover was coming in. I also have a bunch of slim 67D’s that my parents put in our house when I was born in '92. Most of them I have either dunked in water, put 50 volts DC through, or Frankensteined them in some odd way. I put a green LED and heat sensor on one.

Ah. Nice fact about the 1839N. Wow! Didn’t know those came with the mechanical horn and off center 86RAC style button. We have a member of this forum who saw one and nobody could figure out what it really was. Looks like life’s mysteries have been solved now haha.

222

So BRK DID make 1839 alarms with mechanical horns! That means my church’s mystery alarm must be an 1839ACI. I wonder what they sound like? Do they sound like most other AC mechanical alarms (low, vibrating tone) or like the SA76RC?

223

They might have picked 67 for symbolic purposes, since that was the year BRK Electronics was incorporated. I also have a theory that the SA67 might have been the legacy model number for one of the first detectors marketed by First Alert.

Unlike BRK, First Alert seemed to recycle product numbers regardless of a change in external appearance or internal guts. Since they were the retail end they might have done this to make restocking less confusing. Model numbers SA67, SA76, SA80, and SA81 were all used for detectors based on both the 79P/79R and 83P/83R internals (and earlier models too, it seems). The ones I have were issued in two versions: with removable covers and large metal ionization chamber and the hinged cover and smaller base and ionization chamber. Before 1987, the model number distinction had to do with the indicator LED. The SA67 and SA81s have white test buttons and no LED (79P/83P innards). SA76 and SA80 always have a clear test button and LED (79R/83R innards). So maybe there was some version of the SA67 around in the 70s alongside the SA76RS, and was simply a variant without an LED.

I also have a few SA67s with the larger diameter hinged cover from around 1987, but at that point they inherited clear test buttons and an LED (even though the box art still shows them with a white test button). Looks like they decided to simplify the product lines around that year, consolidating the four “basic” models into the SA67, shrinking the cover and giving it a clear test button and LED internals of the 83R. The basic smoke detector model was always SA67 from that point forward until the complete product line refresh in 2004.

BRK kept making the 83P in their own product line for a time, and also as the budget Family Gard FG888, but that’s where things start to bounce around. By the 90s, at least some FG888s had the same internals as SA67 and 83R, getting a clear test button and LED. I have one outright labeled as model number 83R. Then the LED was removed again but the clear test button stayed, since BRK started using the cover for the 83R in its final days now relabeled as the 83RN.

224

Yep, that makes since. I hypothesized that as well in my last post. So, before the larger, late 80’s SA67D with the clear test button and the hinged cover, the SA80FD you posted was what they looked like? Also, for the ones with the white domed test button, those had to have the cover that comes completely off, right? The crayon tip clear button is synonymous with a hinged cover, I assume, and the domed, or tiered buttons are synonymous with the snap on cover.

225

SD47 - If you want to get rid of the 77AC/DC I’d like it. Anyways looks like a nice collection you’ve got there. If you have any other interesting smoke alarms, feel free to post them.

226

The 77AC/DC is DEFINITELY a battery-backup version of the SA769AC.

227

In this Pittway ad from 1978 you will notice, alongside the classic First Alert SA76RS, what looks to be either a BRK 769AC or 77AC/DC, in front of its box.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pittway-First-Alert-Transmitting-Gas-Detector-GA400RF-For-Receiving-Console-NIB-/131291447849?_trksid=p2054897.l5658
And here is a rare and interesting First Alert wireless propane/natural gas detector. It says “For use with First Alert consoles”. It looks to be from the early-mid 80’s, because it advertises the use of the “solid state horn” (The piezo beeper we all know), which started appearing around 1980.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/First-Alert-Pittway-Professional-Smoke-and-Fire-Detector-NIB-/271575745640?_trksid=p2054897.l5659
And finally, the thicker, earlier SA67D with a white crayon test button. A somewhat rare model. Before this, the only models with a white button had the domed button design where the cover came off. EDIT: Interestingly enough, there is an LED on the board, even though the test button is opaque.

228

Another interesting little fact: There were light test detectors with the older thicker SA67D style cover. Pictured here is an Escape Light model with the newer gold test button, but it has the older cover style!

229

Oops, you did! Sorry, didn’t read your post closely enough! Yes, the SA67 had two previous versions: with the cover that came completely off and white test button, as well as a hinged large diameter cover with “crayon tip” white test button. I’ll try to dig these up next time I go through my storage unit.

Thanks! Still need to decide what I’m keeping and what I’m selling, but I’ll be sure to post a listing in the flea market when I figure it out. In the meantime I’ll definitely try to post more pics to the Flickr account as I go through some stuff. Most things I have came with a box and manual, so if anyone has requests for scans or closeups, let me know and I’ll see what I can do!

That’s just like the ones that I have, box art and all! From what I remember the ones I have with the white push button had no LED on the board and were dated 1985 on the manual, but the ones with the clear test button did and were dated 1987. Looks like these were from around that transition era too. Will definitely find out what I can about them.

The Escape Light detectors did keep the larger cover for a long time after being introduced:

IMG_20140909_220751 | smokedetector47 | Flickr

IMG_20140909_224415 | smokedetector47 | Flickr

The SA150LT even had the larger cover after Pittway sold BRK and First Alert, molded in white plastic rather than off-white. Will try to snap some photos of that also. Not sure why they kept using the larger cover for so long, unless they felt that the Escape Light models were the premium version thus should have a bigger box and bigger overall dimensions to emphasize that.

I don’t know if the basic Light Test smoke detector ever had a larger cover. I have a fire safety video produced by First Alert in 1988, shortly after they were introduced, and shows someone testing what appears to be a SA90LT with a large cover, but they may have simply substituted an SA67/SA76 because the SA90 wasn’t available yet. Doesn’t look like the SA88 ever came with a larger cover, as the drawing on the user manual shows the smaller cover:

sa90lt manual | smokedetector47 | Flickr

I also just noticed that the manual makes reference to an SA81LT! So maybe they did continue to use the alternate big cover for the Light Test detectors.

230

Here’s just a few more before bed…

I have a really old and beat up binder with a BRK catalog, an ESL catalog, and a bunch of spec sheets for Pyrotector, spanning 1984 to 1988. The Probe auction willbill808 posted a few pages ago looks a lot like this detector:

7077 | smokedetector47 | Flickr

Anyone know if Pyrotector rebranded the Probe model for their own residential ion detectors, or vice versa?

Pyrotector mostly focused on photoelectric detectors for residential applications. I only have one, the 3077ARF. It’s dated 1980 and is a monster, quite heavy and large compared to BRK/First Alert alarms of the time. I put a 1987 BRK 83R next to it for comparison.

IMG_20140909_230627 | smokedetector47 | Flickr

IMG_20140909_230406 | smokedetector47 | Flickr

It’s interesting because it has a wireless transmitter, probably one of the earliest in a residential smoke.

3077 arf front | smokedetector47 | Flickr

3077 arf back | smokedetector47 | Flickr

There’s a similar one on eBay right now, but it’s the standard non-RF version.

231

That would make sense. The detector you posted looks just like the Probe models I’ve caught glimpses of. Probe smoke detectors were manufactured by Southwest Laboratories.

And no problem. We’re all here to learn!

And of course, there were BRK models labeled Sears from the 70’s to 80’s. They went under the name “Early One”. The BRK SS74R comes to mind.
The Sears version’s cover looks very much like the typical Sears smoke detector cover, and has the BRK’s squealer horn, and, just like the SS74R, has no test button.

Then came the Sears labeled SA76RS. The cover was a little different. The little rows of notches in the front edge of the cover shrunk, and it got a test button. I have a striking suspicion that on these early models, the BRK and Sears covers are interchangeable. So, you could probably fit a Sears cover on a BRK alarm, and vice versa.

Finally, in about 1980 or so, Sears changed manufacturers, and started using alarms from Gateway Scientific. These alarms were sealed, and had a black square base. They also had a solid state piezo horn. The cover looked odd on the square base. The battery compartment was on the back of the base.

I’ve heard that before the Gateway Scientific alarms started phasing in, the last BRK alarms were based on the SA76RC- the solid state piezo horn version. The covers came off on these, just like on the BRK version. I’ve also heard that some of these alarms had escape lights, and were super rare.

And then there’s this… A solid state piezo version with a regular base and battery on the back. Very rare. I don’t know whether this is a BRK or Gateway.

Also, there was an early double sensor model, based on the BRK 3000. Check it out.

232

I never noticed the old cover design on First Alert’s Escape Light Light Test detector! Wow! Also, there’s one of those rectangular Pyrotectors for sale on Ebay right now:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-THE-PYROTECTOR-NON-READIOACTIVE-PHOTOELECTRIC-BATTERY-SMOKE-ALARM-/301303480021?pt=BI_Security_Fire_Protection&hash=item4627163ed5

Super rare, came with 2 different styles of horns. One came with a blue piezo horn and another with the same Black mechanical horn as on later GE home sentry detectors. NLind/FireAlarmFan has one rebranded by HeathKit.
There are probably even more BRK Sears rebrands.
did Sears make a rebrand model with a heat detector mounted on it?

233

I don’t know whether Sears made one with an integral thermal sensor. It would be cool to find one that had it.


Here’s an oldie. Looks like an old Dicon from the 80’s, but with a thermal sensor. It is most likely an AC powered smoke alarm, and the thermal portion is probably connected to a system. The smoke alarm is likely local. Gentex smoke alarms have that isolated thermal feature as well.

234

My grandmas house used to have those big ones, the pyrotech ones in her house. I saved it when it was taken out.

235

Here’s a rare smoke detector that’s on eBay. The seller says it’s from 1975, and it’s a Macolite 2001.

236

The “guts” of that alarm are basically the same as my TRE unit. The manual even looks the same.

MasterGuard also relabeled the Pyrotector alarms, my aunt had several (as part of a whole system) in her old house. And yes, Sears did make one with the heat detector. A Facebook friend of mine has one installed (needs to be replaced). Here’s a couple of pics he sent me:
Photo Storage
Photo Storage
Notice the sensor, some Sears had the BRK cover/base style but used Cerebus alarm PCBs.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

237

Part 2

I have a binder like that (from Fire King) that has alot of the same alarm catalogs, sans the ESL one.
It looks a little different, if you look at the 7077 and Probe side-by-side you’ll notice that the 7077 only has 2 rows of vents. Both were based on the Universal Smoke Signal SS-700:
Photo Storage
Yep, that’s me with an SS-700, my first alarm! That little bell on the counter was my “smoke alarm simulator” since it had a pitch of A7 (basically the highest “A” you could play on a piano/88 note keyboard). I still have it in storage.

Wow! I didn’t think the Light Test alarms with the yellow buttons existed in the wild, I only thought they were some sort of “beta” design that was only used in the promotional media (box art, commercials). That one is definitely rare.

238

Wow! Didn’t know Sears made a model with a heat sensor. And it uses a Cerberus PCB? Interesting. I assume the earlier model with no test button (That I thought was the same as the SS74R) uses a board from Cerberus too, because it appears to have the same round sensor. I could be wrong though.

239

That’s the detector I saw at my aunt’s friend’s house. I knew it had to be a Sears! Next time I go there, I’m gonna ask if I can offer a new one in exchange, since it looks cool and it must be really rare.

240

Really interesting, thanks for the info!

I think I have one that looks very similar to that one, except it has a hinged cover. And I have another Gateway-based one with the square base that appears to have some sort of thermal:

searssd | smokedetector47 | Flickr

The one on the right is the aforementioned dual sensor BRK rebrand. Sorry about the poor image quality, had to dig that out of the archives! Will see if I can find both of them over the weekend. They were salvage jobs from over 20 years ago… sadly I don’t have any manuals or documentation for them.