Does anyone know what year the mass series was introduced? And does anyone have some in their collection? These are my favorite alarms of all.
According to the instruction manual for the older MASS series, around 1997.
<LINK_TEXT text=“System Sensor | Honeywell Building Technologies … 6-0496.pdf”>System Sensor | Honeywell Building Technologies</LINK_TEXT>
And yes, I have a System Sensor MA.
Can anyone guess what MASS actually means. I know what it means.
Multi-Alert Sounder/Strobe
Not like System Sensor tries to make that some sort of secret, it’s in the manuals 
<LINK_TEXT text=“System Sensor | Honeywell Building Technologies … 6-0496.pdf”>System Sensor | Honeywell Building Technologies</LINK_TEXT>
Does anybody know when they made the switch from break-off tabs to clips? I was pretty surprised when I received mine that it had tabs to break off.
If I had to make a educated guess, I would say between the late 90’s and early 2000’s. (I’m making a educated guess here so don’t quote me if I’m wrong, lol)
Mind sharing the date code of your alarm and the model? 
MA-12/24L. I don’t see a date code. Any idea on where it should be?
I would ask U8oL0 he has one for sale on ebay and I know he owns one. I believe Andrew owns one as well.
1997 seems almost too recent. I feel like I had seen them before that. Early '90s maybe?
You’re probably correct - the copyright date on the document isn’t an indication of when the item was first produced but more likely when the literature was last updated.
Besides, '97 (or around then) was when the ADA requirements for clear strobes came into effect. No way the original MASS with the translucent strobe was introduced then.
Also, here is one of the patents referenced in the previously linked data sheet. Looks like its for the ADA-compliant strobe rather than the “original” strobe. http://bty.link/1i7
I have some original documentation from my MA-12/24L that has a Copyright date of 1990. A looked again for a date code and it appears to be from January 1991.
That sounds more accurate. My guess is the last update to this document was after the new version of the MASS was introduced since the last revision brought about the “Limitations of this Product” clause which acknowledges that it’s strobe doesn’t meet ADA requirements.
So Jared, does that mean that the MASS you sent me is the older, break-tab version, since it’s stuck on Slow Whoop without any clips?
The tone selections actually flip from the Clip version to the break-tab version. Slow whoop has all tabs intact on the device, while it requires all clips to be removed.
Well, now that’s even more confusing, because there aren’t any clips on, and all the tabs seem to be intact, and yet it’s still stuck on Slow Whoop.
I apologize for the confusion, only the designation in the manual changes. The physical tabs/clips being present does not change. If no tabs are broken, the device should be on Slow Whoop. You must have the break-tab version like mine. Here is a comparison of the tone selection charts.
Clips:
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Break-Tab
[attachment=1]IMG_2430.JPG[/attachment]
Notice how the designations of the connections in the manual is flipped, yet the presence of electrical connection remains unchanged for each tone.
Based on what Nick just posted, I’d say yes.
I actually found a Wikipedia of System Sensor and it says they were introduced in 1984. I don’t know how true that is considering the source. I have 3 Brand new system sensor ss24 non Ada strobe with the break off tabs. My manual does say manufactured in 1990. 1984 seems like it was an early year for that type of electronics to be around? By the way slow whoop is the best tone on these in my opinion!!
The citation in the System Sensor Wikipedia article in the sentence that claims the MASS series was introduced in '84 is linked to this page, which says nothing about the MASS. In fact, here’s the history log of the addition of the line that claims the MASS was introduced in 1984, which was inputted by a member of this website who was banned: <LINK_TEXT text=“Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia … =571841703”>Error - Wikipedia</LINK_TEXT>
So it looks like the claim on Wikipedia has very questionable accuracy.
Is there any way you could post a copy of the original documentation? I’m curious as to if there is different patent information.