Thanks!
I bought the Probes 
You can be sure testing videos and demos will ensue!
Ok. I will be bidding on the Family Gard FG777 tomorrow. I hope to make a video before next friday .
I lost the FG777 
That sucks. There are more floating around though.
Oh yeah, and about the Probe 101’s I bought… They have packaging dated 1986. So, most likely, they have the piezo horn that does 4/6 or more likely 5/6.
OK, so they are later models. Anyway, I’m gonna buy this Sears “Early One” smoke alarm model 246.57046. I don’t know what type of horn it has, so I should be surprised
I forgot to post the EBay link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sears-EARLY-ONE-Fire-Smoke-Detector-Alarm-Vintage-NIB-New-/271587894335?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f3be6643f
Nice! That is a very early Sears model. I believe it is based on the BRK SS74R platform (Squealer horn, no test button). Circa mid-70’s.
Thanks for the info
The older Family Gard ones seem to show up fairly frequently, I’m sure you’ll get one eventually.
I have the next generation (Family Gard II) with test button:
Family Gard FG888 | smokedetector47 | Flickr 
Family Gard FG777 Internals | smokedetector47 | Flickr 
The one next to it is an early edition of the 83R version, dated 1986. Just like the large cover SA67s I have from the same time period, it also has a functional LED but a white test button.
And some ads for the Family Gard branded Escape Light smoke detector, with Wake n’ Warn style cover:
Family Gard Ad | smokedetector47 | Flickr 
Also found this early 80s BRK AC photoelectric alarm while going through some things, model number 2839ACI. Looks to be a close contemporary of the 1839ACI, complete with mechanical horn.
Nice. I have the Family Gard FG1839N mfg. 1993. On my Youtube page I posted a video of testing it (after unboxing my SA76RS).
Wow!!! That BRK photo alarm with mechanical horn is super rare! I never knew BRK made an alarm with the mechanical horn in that housing! I had the double sensor battery powered model with a Code-3 piezo horn, from around 01-02. That has to be the longest housing in production. And, it still looks pretty good, 30 years later. Same with the FG888D’s housing. It’s also timeless, and doesn’t have a dated look to it.
I didn’t know Family Gard made a version of the SA67 with the white button! That AC photoelectric most likely is the photoelectric counterpart to the 1839ACI, since it has the mechanical horn.
I took a few pictures of the smoke alarms at my church today, but I can’t post them right now. On another topic, I “tested” my Entronic Vigilante Z-700 today:
Ah, nice. I did a very similar “test” to an old Sears SA76RS equivalent. I unsoldered the horn from the board so that there were just 3 leads coming out of it. Two going straight inside the horn, and the third was connected directly to the brass housing. Maybe a “horn chassis ground”. And of course, the volume screw, but on mine it was welded in place.
Anyways, to get it to sound, I’d use a 9V battery and touch one internal horn contact to one terminal, and the chassis ground to another. Somehow, using both internal contacts just made the horn “Click” once, but using the chassis ground made it sound continuously.
For some reason, the horn would sometimes shock me when I did this, so be warned!
I’ve had horns I’ve removed from alarms shock me as well.
Oh yeah… And here’s an interesting hack…
If you have an extra BRK piezo smoke alarm laying around somewhere, and you want to quiet it down for testing… You can do this little trick. Beware: It’s effects are permanent, and it will no longer be loud or usable as a life safety device!
There are 3 pins that go into a BRK smoke alarm’s piezo horn. Positive, negative, and feedback. I could go into a long discussion of how the feedback terminal works, but basically it acts as a tuner for the horn, so that it always hits its resonant frequency, which is earsplitting. For more info, watch this video:
Get your BRK alarm. For this example, I will be using the 83R style circuit board. Note that there are 3 posts coming down from the horn housing, connecting it to the board.
On the upper left hand side of the board is the feedback terminal (Battery terminals on the bottom).
Find a way to cut that pin off the horn. I just use a pair of wire cutters, and cut the whole plastic leg off the horn. It take some elbow grease. Make sure the pin is not touching the connection on the board.
Now, plug your battery in, and the alarm should make a mid toned buzz, not very loud at all. You have successfully done this hack! Now, you can test the alarm with smoke or flame and not have to deal with the loud noise annoying you or anybody around you.
Interesting! I think I accidentally did that to my SA67D once, I just moved the tab a little. As for the Sears on ebay, I made an offer on it (too much $$) so they should get back to me soon. Also, I can’t post those pics from church until my dad gets home (they’re on his phone).
I did find what seems to be a rare listing on eBay though, a NuTone Plug-in AC smoke alarm:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-S-181LV-NuTone-Scovill-SMOKE-Fire-ALARM-Detection-120Vac-PLUG-IN-Convenient-/301302658344?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item462709b528
What year do you think this one is from?
Probably the late 70s I’d say. And IMHO that price is pretty steep for an old alarm that shouldn’t be used for life safety purposes.
Exactly! These alarms are really worth nothing more than a cool piece to a smoke detector collection. And cool they are. I would not pay more than 20 bucks for even a super rare smoke alarm. Come on. I guess some people figure they can charge high prices because they are “collectors items” to some people.
That is a cool NuTone alarm though. Interesting how it says Nutone Scovill! I have an original range hood from the early 70’s with that brand on it. I bet that alarm has a 60Hz buzz, like the old ESL/Gillette alarms did! Kind of looks like an old SmokeGard or something along those lines.
According do wikipedia, NuTone was sold to Scovill Manufacturing co in 1967, so it has to be post-'67.
Here are those pics from church!:
BRK 1839ACI (this is the one that I didn’t know what it was), notice the mechanical horn:
Square D Earli-Gard EGD-5S, the silver thing is the sensor, the horn (piezo) is white and is to the left of the test button:
FireX FX1020, just like the FXW-1A except with the dome test button: