The 2010s generation of fire alarms.

This is the thread to discuss and post pictures of fire alarm devices that came out in the 2010s.

Favorite alarms of the 2010s are the following:

Wheelock Exeeder
System Sensor L series
_('')__/ I don’t have any other favorite signals

I love Wheelock Exceders. The built-in covers are so cool.

In my area, the 2010s brought about a ton of changes with fire alarm signaling. At the very beginning of the decade, my school district replaced the aging fire alarm systems at 20+ schools with new addressable Siemens FireFinder-series systems and either Z-series or Exceder-series notification appliances (it varied). Most of these systems were previously Simplex systems from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. This project began in 2010 and ended in 2013 or 2014. A second project in 2017 upgraded the remaining 1980s and 90s-era Simplex systems at about 5 elementary schools, this time utilizing Notifier equipment and System Sensor L-series notification appliances. There is now one Simplex system left in a school district that at the beginning of the decade had over 20.
On the company side of things, there was a very noticeable decline in new SimplexGrinnell equipment in my area that began in the late 2000s and continues to this day. In the end, the local SimplexGrinnell branch closed in 2016, likely because they were unable to compete with the cheaper Notifier and Siemens equipment distributers. Speaking of Siemens, they were virtually nonexistent 'round here at the beginning of the decade, but are now pretty much deadlocked with Notifier for new system representation. In other words, at the beginning of the decade Simplex was by far the most popular brand in my area, but just ten years later Simplex has not only lost ground but ended operations here almost entirely. The last new Simplex system that I saw installed in my area was a 4006 system in 2016. It’ll be interesting to see what companies the 2020s bring to my area.

On equipment itself, the Exceder-series release at the beginning of the decade must have set something off in my area. For a good chunk of the decade the xenon Exceder was the go-to for any new fire alarm system in my area. The SpectrAlert Advance, Siemens ZH, and EST Genesis, the next most popular notification appliances in my area, were common to see in new installations but not nearly on the level of the Exceder. Towards the end of the decade, interestingly enough, the System Sensor L-series grew heavily in popularity around here, and I’d say it’s beginning to replace (not literally of course) the Exceder in new installations around here.

Other major changes in my area that pretty much reflected the trends nationwide included increased installation (almost exclusively) of addressable systems, the first systems utilizing LED strobes, the introduction of the low-frequency sounder, an increase in fire alarm signaling used for general purposes (e.g lockdown alarms in schools), and an almost exponential increase in voice-evacuation systems. Voice-evac in my area was pretty much reserved for malls, hospitals, auditoriums, and universities at the beginning of the decade, but has now found its way into retail, government, and K-12 education settings. Low frequency sounders have slowly been replacing mini horns in hotels and apartment complexes around here since they appeared in the NFPA code around 2016ish.

[quote=Housedays post_id=85874 time=1578668532 user_id=2894]

I love Wheelock Exceders. The built-in covers are so cool.

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I’ll also comment that they tend to attract critters that get stuck forever and die, leaving a odd looking corpse in the covers… hahaha

Wow just putting it like that when you think of the alarms makes me think that it is kind of morbid. I hope Wheelock realizes that it has that issue because the corpses of bugs won’t necessarily look good.

The 2010’s was memorable for me, of course, learning more about fire alarm systems and my collection getting bigger and bigger. Perhaps what was notable for me was always seeing devices installed in a system I have previously learned about in person for the first time (not counting obtaining one in my collection). For older horn/strobes, the first few examples that come to mind include but are not limited to an Edwards 892, Simplex 4050-80 with the “FIRE” lettering, FCI strobe with the “bubble” near the strobe tube, and even a Simplex 4048 (yeah, you read right).

For devices that were either released this decade or started to become more popular, this of course marked my first exposure to some newer devices. Most notably, these include the System Sensor L-Series (already, these are starting to become pretty popular, just like its predecessor, the Advance), the Wheelock Exceder (though I can only count on one hand how many systems I have seen with these devices), and even a system with some Simplex TrueAlert ES’s in some parts.

Of course, there’s some sad memories as well, such as saying goodbye to older systems I thought were cool (hey, the first time I saw an L-Series devices was actually a device retrofitted where a Simplex 2903 formerly was, so that was pretty cool for me), and even not-so-pleasant memories, such as being right underneath a SpectrAlert Advance right when the system activated! :shock:

[quote=EpicFireAlarms post_id=85894 time=1578754745 user_id=3400]

“Other major changes in my area that pretty much reflected the trends nationwide included increased installation (almost exclusively) of addressable systems, the first systems utilizing LED strobes”

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Probably my favorite thing to come out of the 2010’s decade is are LED fire alarm strobes (Horn/Strobe, Strobes, and even Speaker Strobes). We first saw this with Wheelock, then Kidde, Simplex, and even Mircom have made their own variant. It’s interesting to see fire alarm technology go back to the “blinking light” for visual notification (I remember the earlier LED’s having a fade in/out kind of reminiscent of the Incandescent lights), however, with improvements to get them up to par with traditional Xenon strobes (sufficient candela, appropriate light output, etc). I’ve only seen one system so far with LED strobes (and it was only installed last year), so I am hoping in the 2020’s, we can see more LED strobes installed in buildings. These are cool, and should allow for life safety systems to become more efficient.

[quote=EpicFireAlarms post_id=85894 time=1578754745 user_id=3400]

“an increase in fire alarm signaling used for general purposes (e.g lockdown alarms in schools), and an almost exponential increase in voice-evacuation systems. Voice-evac in my area was pretty much reserved for malls, hospitals, auditoriums, and universities at the beginning of the decade, but has now found its way into retail, government, and K-12 education settings.”

[/quote]

This is another thing that has come out of the 2010’s that I really think is interesting as well; these systems being used for more life safety purposes other than just fire safety. I’m hoping to see more of these systems installed in more buildings in the future, they are really beneficial (definitely the first decade I’ve seen a few of these systems, evident with a Speaker/Strobe with “ALERT” labeled on it or a Speaker/Strobe with an Amber strobe attached)!

[quote=DownsLife+Safety post_id=85902 time=1578797985 user_id=4181]

I’ll also comment that they tend to attract critters that get stuck forever and die, leaving a odd looking corpse in the covers… hahaha

[/quote]

Thankfully, the Exceders I have seen have not trapped any critters in them…yet. :stuck_out_tongue:

Here’s to the 2020’s, hoping to see some cool stuff roll out this decade too!

Give it time. I’m sure that they will. LOL