Very cool! Interesting on the Probe how the LED isn’t under the test button, but mounted separately.
There actually is an LED under the test button. The separate one lights up to show which unit triggered the alarm. I have no clue why there had to be a separate LED for that, as most alarms don’t.
Wow, I didn’t know about the Cerberus units, but I totally forgot about the Gateway models. They came out in about 1980 though. Before that, as far as I know, all the Sears alarms had squealers.
Cool… That’s a nice feature. Especially when you have 2 or 3 mechanical AC squealers all going off at once in continuous, it can be hard to locate the source. Very, very cool alarm!
It’s kind of the opposite of what similar alarms of the time did- as far as I know, the old BRK’s and Firex FX1020/FXW-1A smoke alarms red LED extinguished when they were the source of the alarm signal.
Simplex4Life, do you have any plans of videoing the Probe 202 or the BRK? Those are super rare alarms and it would be awesome if we could see them functioning. Thanks!
There was a version of the Probe 202 that just had the usual one LED under the test button. It also had an external plug and socket. Here’s a pic of this version that Fire Alarm Fan found and posted awhile back. I had this version in my first house.
Yes, I do plan on making videos of both alarms shortly. Stay tuned!
So there was a version of the Probe with pigtails and the single LED, and the version with a quick connect and two LED’s?
Evidently. I wonder if those are two different models. If that’s the case, then my house didn’t have 202’s.
I believe there was a similar case with the Firexes.
The first model was the FX1014, which came out maybe in the early 80’s. I think it was Firex’s first smoke detector…? It had pigtail connections, and no interconnect. It had green text on the rear label.
Then came the FX1020. Probably from '84, '85, something like that. This one had a quick connect plug. It also has the orange interconnect wire.
Later, probably in the late '80s, the FX1020 got a model number change, to FXW-1A. It remained identical as far as I can tell. I think they continued the FXW-1A until they started making the Kidde lookalikes in the early 90’s (Little hockey puck alarms with piezo horns).
I could be off on this timeline, so if anyone knows better, don’t hesitate to step in and correct me.
Yes, the early FireXes did have pigtails. NLind’s FXW-1 does, and, as you said, the FX1014 does too. My last house used to have FX1020’s. That house was built around 1988.
The FX1014 was out as early as 1981, according to a YouTube video I saw of one. Someone who commented on the video though said that their house, which was built in 1979, had them.
I don’t think that any alarms after the late 80’s had the electromechanical horns in them. I could be wrong though.
According to an online source, FireX was first owned by Maple-Chase. When they sold to Kidde, they started using the electronic piezo horns.
Yes, FireX was originally owned by Maple Chase. They started using piezo horns while they were still owned by Maple Chase though. Kidde bought FireX around 2010.
Here’s the official timeline:
http://www.firexsafety.com/homedir/about/
Note Maple Chase was never mentioned here.
Ah I was looking for that page. It mentions Downers Grove, IL. That’s where Maple Chase was. It says so in the manual for my FireX B from 1994.
Here’s a cool and rare smoke alarm. It looks like it uses an Edwards horn:
Wow… That’s a really old alarm. Probably from the mid 70’s, since it lacks a test button. It looks like it uses one of those super rare 12.6 volt batteries, so it wouldn’t be easy to test.
I remember going on Firex’s website when they were still owned by Maple-Chase.
I wonder if Firex had any other models than the FX1020 and alarms just like it back in the 80’s and earlier. I believe my FXW-1A was made in 1987.
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FireX made a hardwired model with battery backup when they were still owned by Maple Chase. It was the FX1218. I think it had a piezo horn.
Also, that Kwikset alarm is VERY rare. Kwikset is known mostly for door hardware, not smoke alarms. I believe that the he edwards horn it uses is the same horn used in my Honeywell TC49A. Also, note that it uses the famous 12.6v mercury battery
According to this website, the FX1218 had the newer 90’s Firex style cover. It does use a piezo horn. I’ve seen these models quite frequently… I’d consider this alarm part of Firex’s new generation of alarms (Post FX1020 era).
What I’m really wondering is if there were any other old generation Firexes before they started using the 90’s modern style cover that the FX1218 uses. Also, around what year they discontinued the electromechanical FXW-1A series of alarms for the new streamlined 90’s generation.
I gotta admit, Firex had some of the smallest and sleekest alarms of the 90’s.
The FX1218 had the '80s housing, like the FX1014, FX1020 and FXW-1A. I don’t think they had a hush button. They did have piezo horns though. I see them every now and then on eBay.
I could have figured as much… Usually electrical supply websites don’t have accurate pictures.
I think I know what you’re talking about though…
This?
That’s the Jameson version, but here’s a video of an FX1218:
Thanks. I meant that they look the same.
According to NLind, there was an FXB-1A, which was the battery version of the FXW-1A. I think that used the same '80s housing.
The FireX 428 manual mentions a model FX1106, of which the 428 (FXW-R) is a direct replacement model for (and for the FX1020, FXW-1A and FX1014). I’ve never seen an FX1106, but I have a feeling that it looks the same too.
Here’s a YouTube vid I found of a Sunbeam smoke alarm that also uses the same design: