Hey guys I finally found a very short video of the Dicon smoke detector my parents had in their old house several years ago. This person here seems to think smoke detectors last forever. The smoke is nearly 4 times as old as its service life of 10 years. Probably more that that. I hope he sees my youtube post. Yes I was also afraid of this thing as a child as well. I hope the video works.
I found this print add on ebay tonight from 1981. It features a Dicon smoke detector and fire extinguisher. My parents also had this detector in their old house as well and I remember this one having a continuous piezo rather than a squealer horn. This must have been one of the first or earliest detectors to have piezos. They were also much smaller. I guess this could have also been the beginning of the more compact smoke detector era too.
.JPG/450/0)
Link didn’t work, but I think this is the ad:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DICON-Smoke-Detectors-Fire-Extinguishers-Fire-Cloths-Advert-1981-Print-AD-/162412155473?hash=item25d084d251:g:LugAAOSwB-1YtH01
According to your description and going by the image, it’s probably the first generation of their 300.
Thanks for fixing the link FireAlarmFan and yes that was it. Oh okay again it must have been the first compact smoke detector of that era and one of the earliest to use a piezo horn instead of a squealer. The test button also served as a power indicator light.
Hopefully this link will work and my apologies if it doesn’t as Im still new at doing this. I found this other ad on Ebay from 1980. The ad appears to be from Britain and the brand is called Pifco. I haven’t heard much on them but Fire Alarm Fan you probably have. This detector looks just like a rebranded Honeywell from the late 1970’s. So Im going to say it likely had a squealer horn. I don’t think this ad has been posted here before. It is interesting to see all the brands and rebrands of detectors from the past and from other countries. Again I hope the link works.
Found this ad from 1986. I know it is not for a smoke detector but it is for First Alert fire extinguishers. I didn’t know where else to post it so my apologies. There was also a TV commercial at the same time featuring the same people from this ad. I haven’t been able to find it on youtube but I found the commercial to be a bit scary…at the original time at aired.
The top row second pictured by missj_73 on Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 9:33 pm and mis-identified as a variant by Fire Alarm Fan on Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 10:14 pm, is a standard Pyr-A-Larm FB-1. What was mistaken for a test button is actually the visible tip of the red battery holder, which would project about a half inch lower in no battery were installed. I have 2 in CT (redacted) which I would consider parting with.
Oh okay thanks for clearing that one up, Lion. If you are considering parting with those detectors I would gladly take them off your hands for you. Let me know. Thanks. Those are some neat old detectors in that pic. My parents had the old Dicon smoke detector their old house.
Hi Lion, I took a second look at that picture that I posted and you are correct that is not a test button. It is definitely the missing battery indicator. Because the picture is not in colour it does look like a test button but I never remembered the Pyr- A-Larm FB-1 having a test button although in this picture the detector for some reason looks small or smaller that the other detectors pictured here. I have seen several FB-1’s in person and they aren’t that small. But again Im still interested in your detectors if you are willing to part with them as I have an interest in 1970’s smoke detectors especially battery operated units.
I also took a look at the picture more closely and indeed it is the flag, not a button. :oops:
Oh well, can’t get 'em right all the time.
Don’t feel bad Fire Alarm Fan because for the longest time I thought that was a rare Pyr A larm with a test button. It really does look like test button until you look up very close to it.
Hey guys, Google brought me here. I just bought a really old commercial building and am trying to figure out what I need to do to upgrade the smoke detector system. What I would love to do is to find direct replacements for the detectors I have but am afraid that they are too old. Any advice? My detector says:
Chloride Pyroctector, Hingham Mass.
Smoke Detector Model 3041 RC
I’ve posted pictures on my website:
Do you guys collect this kind of thing? Should I put them up on ebay or just toss them in the trash?
Thanks,
Hi there, I saw the pics and even though it is a system smoke I will take it off your hands if you want as it is an older detector. I don’t currently have an ebay account and wouldn’t currently be able to pay you again but if you are willing to let it go for nothing please feel free to private message me here. Yes people do collect these things. There are several on ebay. I am looking mostly for older (1970’s) units with squealer horns. Sorry I can’t help you much when it comes to upgrading the units to a current one though. On system smokes that is. By the way welcome to the board.
All I can say is it is an older Chloride Pyrotector from around 1978 (ish). Nice looking older unit.
There’s was a smoke detector in someone’s house that I saw with a test button that said “push and hold to test weekly”. Just who tests their smoke detector weekly?
Housedays, it was probably an older 1970’s or very early 1980’s unit from what you described. My parents had a Sears Early One, a '70’s unit with a squealer horn and it had the same thing in raised lettering under the test button. This was in their old house. I am guessing way back when in the days when smoke alarms were considered a new device and also the technology definitely wasn’t was like it is now, the manufacturers had to ways to make sure we knew they were in working order. I don’t test mine weekly but my landlord likes it if I just perform a monthly test to make sure mine is working and every year he changes the battery.
I found this ad from 1978. It is a Canadian ad for the Dicon 200. This is the unit my parents had in their old house and yes the source of my childhood nightmares. It appears to be a business type smoke alarm ad but it is the battery operated unit. I do believe there was also an A/C version of this alarm but any I ever came across were battery powered as they had the awful high pitched squeal. As I have also mentioned these units were popular in Canada from about 1976 to 1978. And the Oster unit is a rebrand as it has the same test button and LED light.
http://www.cu80years.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1978-oct-p71.jpg
Wow another ad featuring the same Dicon also from 1978. Looks like these alarms were being distributed to Canadian homeowners in Halifax, Nova Scotia as part of home safety plan at the time.
http://www.cu80years.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1978-sep-p51.jpg