oh a japanese smoke, never knew about that
they are not Japanese that is just the brand.
I just went with my sister to take a tour of her new HS and I managed to get some alarm pics:
These are the original alarms installed when the building was built in 1971.
This one is slightly different, it was near some of the shop classes.
The older ones are being replaced though, this one is on it’s way out…
This is what they will all look like.
A Simplex pull near my sister’s locker.
A Simplex pull under the horn/light combo.
The newer addition on the school has these.
The only sprinkler in the entire old section of the school, odd huh?
And, the panel and map of the school, enjoy! 
OMG! Those are Simplex 4041 horns, and the lights above them appear to be the remote light versions of the 4050-80s!
A Simplex 2901-9833 horn. I guess it replaced a broken 4041. I saw one of those on a 4050-80 light plate before.
Looks like some kind of 4903-series Simplex remote horn. It might be an electromechanical one. Simplex probably installed several of those some time in the 1990s. They don’t have the large “S” logo on them anymore, and Simplex only makes the horn/strobe and speaker/strobe versions now, they stopped making the remote horn/speaker versions.
Do all the pulls look like that? If so, then we know that the 4251-20s have been around since 1971.
I guess the new section has voice-evacuation. The hospital in my city has speaker/strobes like that.
That is not the panel; that’s a 4603-9101 annunciator. I’m willing to bet the panel is a Simplex 4100.
Cool pics though!
All the pulls are the same in the older sections of the school, the newer section with speaker/strobes has dual action pulls.
I know it’s not really a panel, I just couldn’t find the panel anywhere, so I just called it that.
The 4903 series remote horns were not put in the school in the '90s, these are currently being installed in place of the 4041s. My friend also goes to this school and is in electrical, so maybe he can get me some of those 4041s or old lights. The light in the pic being removed was actually not attached to the wall anymore, the contractor somply took some string and tied the light to a nail in the wall!
I’m surprised they are keeping the old lights. Usually when Simplex does an upgrade they replace both the old horn and light with a new horn/strobe or speaker/strobe, especially if it involves replacing an old Simplex horn and 4050-80 light plate. I mean, look at NewAgeServer’s middle school!
http://computek272.calvinet.com/index.php?p=ms
All the old 4051+4050-80s got replaced there. Most of them were replaced with 4903-9237s, but three of them were replaced with Wheelock MTs (also installed by Simplex), two of them got replaced with SAE 2DCD horns on V33 light plates, and one was replaced with a TrueAlert. The 2901-9806+2903s in the addition are still intact, he told me.
Maybe the technicians doing the upgrade at that high school are using older discontinued 4903 horns that were left in stock or were saved for spare parts. But I can’t tell if they are either electromechanical or electronic; you can tell if you look closely in the grille.
They are electromechanical horns, behind the grille is the same sort of celanoid/diaphram thingy that a 7002t has. I don’t really get why they keep the old lights, but I think it looks cool.
I’m just glad I don’t go to this HS, fire drills must be loud as hell in there.
Maybe they’re going with the electromechanical horns because they would sound somewhat similar to the older horns. But if anything, I’m willing to bet the older horns were louder. The new ones are probably the same kind of horns as in this vid:
If the system’s in 120BPM March Time, and once all the old horns are replaced, it would sound just like the fire alarm system in this clip. And maybe there’s a reason why they are keeping the old lights; since the new horns are electromechanical like the old ones. But at least they’re not installing the new horns behind those grilles; it would look weird like that 2901-9833.
I meant I wouldn’t want to be in the school when the 4041s went off. The 4903 horns wouldn’t exactly be pleasant either though. I’ll ask my friend what the newer ones sound like, but I’m pretty sure they are set to continuous. Keep in mind that part of the school is also installed with voice evac. The 4903 series with the stobe is a speaker strobe. The two “ends” of the building added on as a gymnasium and auditorium have voice evac.
New School that I work at:
Main Building (office, library, cafe’ and some classrooms): Speaker/Strobes by CP and 3 MTs (I think that they are on slow-whoop).
2nd Grade hall: 1 spectralert classic in the middle (I am not sure if it still works) and 2 mircom select-a-horn/strobes.
Everywhere else: EST horns–some integreties, 892s and some other EST horn–they all buzz.
I think in the PE Buildings (Temporary buildings) are spectras. I know the signals in those 2 rooms do code-3 because I had a student imitate it the other day when we were discussing emergency procedures.
***As of today, I have never been on the primary side for a fire drill. I have heard the 4th grade hall with 892s buzzing and a teacher aide told me when I began there what it sounded like in most halls. She said its an annoying buzzing sound.
Now that I am back at Massasoit Community College again for the '08-'09 year, here is a recap of their fire alarms again, updated to include the March and August 2008 upgrades!
STUDENT CENTER:
Unknown panel, Notifier annunciator by main entrance:
It is located next to what appears to be the original system annunciator. This pic was taken in July 2007. That pull station you see is a Standard 200177l. Those were the original pull stations when the building was built back in 1972. Only three of them are left. Since they are mounted high up, they are being replaced with these:
Non-addressable Faraday Chevron pulls on ADA extension adapters.
These were the original signals installed when the building was built in 1972. Standard Electric Time Co. 450 horns on flush-mount light plates. This is the only one left intact; it can be found in an alcove near the printer lab.
Faraday U-HNH-MCS horn/strobe. Note how it was installed right onto the old Standard light plate. This one is in the upper Student Lounge. There is also one of these in the cafeteria, and one in the kitchen (which has a white horn/strobe instead of a red one).
On the ground floor, and in the library, the signals consist of the original Standard 450 horns and retrofit plates, but with Faraday MTL-series remote strobes installed where the old lights originally were.
The computer lab on the ground floor has a System Sensor SpectrAlert horn/strobe.
However in the cafeteria, a Simplex 2901-9833 horn on a 2903-9001 light plate can be found. This was obviously a later installation, replacing an older Standard horn/light.
Most of the original ceiling detectors throughout campus were Chemtronics heat detectors. There are still plenty of them in the Student Center and Field House building. Some newer Chemtronics heats can be found as well.
Also in the library is an older Edwards heat detector.
Near the elevators are Fire-Lite SD-355T smoke detectors.
BUSINESS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BUILDINGS:
While the Science and Technology buildings have Faraday FireFinder II panels, the Business building has a Fire-Lite MS-4424B panel. These were not the original panels.
The signals are Space Age Electronics VA4 electronic horn/strobes (which I have nicknamed “the Screamers”), and the pulls are, again, Faraday Chevrons on extension adapters. That VA4 you see in that pic was half-installed, two weeks after I took this pic they fixed it. Most of them look like this:
The smoke detectors are System Sensor i3s, replacing Chemtronics heat detectors. The Science and Technology buildings have older Notifier heat detectors in the restrooms, and the Technology building also has a System Sensor 2451TH smoke in a janitor’s office.
These were the original signals when these buildings were built in 1972: Standard horns on the old flush-mount light plates. These are no longer in any of these three buildings, and were replaced by the VA4s. Note that the horn in this pic has a different sounder plate than the Standard 450. The horns in the Technology building also had black sounder plates. One of them also looked like this:
Even though this pic was not taken in the Technology building, there was indeed an installation like this in that building as well, with a Faraday strobe installed in place of the old light. The original pulls in these three buildings were Standard 200177s.
LIBERAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES BUILDINGS
The panel is a Faraday MPC-7000, located in the Humanities building, which also controls the Liberal Arts building’s fire alarm system. The signals are once again SAE VA4 horn/strobes, and the pull stations are these:
They are addressable Faraday Chevron pulls, which recently had these dual-action adapters installed over them during the summer. The only pulls without covers over them are in the professors’ office hallways.
The smoke detectors are these newer Faraday smokes, which are also addressable. However, one office in the LA building still has its original Chemtronics heat detector intact.
The original systems when these two buildings were originally built in 1978 were Simplex 4208 systems, the panels located in electrical closets, and the old Simplex annunciators near their entrances were disconnected and dismantled, and they just left the ruins there:
The signals were originally Simplex 4051 horns on 4050-80 light plates, and the pull stations were mainly Simplex 4251-20 T-bars. There was also a Standard pull at one entrance, and most likely a Standard horn/light was there as well. At one point a T-bar was replaced with a non-addressable Faraday pull, and some of the Chemtronics heats were replaced with System Sensor 2451THs…
I think they might’ve retrofitted some of the 4051 horns at one point before the two buildings got renovated.
The terminal cabinet in the Liberal Arts building, which was originally a Simplex 4208 panel.
There was also a 4251-20 pull intact in a lecture hall in the Liberal Arts building when I went there for college orientation in June 2006, but it was removed later that summer. They never bothered to replace that pull station.
FINE ARTS AND FIELD HOUSE BUILDINGS:
Both these buildings have Faraday MPC-2000 panels, but despite these panels being addressable, the systems are set up in non-addressable manners.
The annunciator in the Field House building is a Faraday RDC-700, but the Fine Arts building still has its original Simplex annunciator from 1978 intact!
The panels used to be Simplex 4208s.
By ImageShack - WileE2005's Images wilee2005, shot with http://profile.imageshack.us/camerabuy.php?model=C990Z%2CD490Z&make=OLYMPUS+OPTICAL+CO.%2CLTD C990Z,D490Z at 2008-08-26
Sorry about all those crappy details, but it added them in at the last second when I tried to copy and paste it in! :x
Anyways, the signals in most places in both these buildings are once again SAE VA4 horn/strobes. The original signals were Simplex 4051 horns on 4050-80 light plates:
This one is still intact at one exit in the Fine Arts building. There are now only two of them left in that building. There is only one left intact in the Field House building.
The pull stations in these two buildings are Simplex 4251-20s, left over from the original systems. Several of them had Stopper IIs installed over them (only one of them has a sounder). But one of them in the auditorium was replaced with a non-addressable Faraday Chevron, so was one in the womens’ locker room and the ones in the swimming pool:
The Field House building has Chemtronics heat detectors (both old and new ones), and the Fine Arts building has a few older Chemtronics heats as well. But they also have some System Sensor 2451TH and i3 smoke detectors.
When they began upgrading the smokes, they started out with the 2451THs, but now they switched to the i3s. There is also a Fire-Lite SD-355T smoke in the electrical closet where the main panel is, as well as one near the daycare center…
…which replaced an ESL 425CT, which was installed some time maybe in the 1980s or 1990s to replace an older smoke detector or heat detector.
They’re keeping the old heat detectors in the auditorium, the stage and the TV studios so they don’t accidentally trip the fire alarm system when using fog machines. But at least we don’t use pyrotechnics in our musicals!
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
I don’t know what the current panel is (probably another MPC-2000), but the old 1970s Simplex annunciator is still intact:
The signals are once again VA4 “Screamers,” but one of the signals has a Simplex 4051 horn from the original system installed on a Faraday strobe plate!
There used to be another one like this at an exit, but it was replaced by a VA4 for some weird reason.
The pull stations are Simplex 4251-20s, and all but one of them have Stopper IIs. This building also has a halon system, with a Federal Signal Vibratone 450D with a “HALON” strobe!
There are a couple of old Chemtronics heat detectors still intact, as well as a few System Semsor i3 smokes.
These are replacing a System Sensor 2451TH…
…and an old ESL smoke detector from the original system.
There also used to be a 2451TH near the main entrance, but there was nothing left there initially when they replaced the ceiling, but now they have an i3 there. They replaced those two other smokes when they re-did the ceilings there.
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Today was my first day of school and I have a few updates. There is no bell system whatsoever, even on the PA. Teachers are in charge of class change. The fire alarms are Simplex 4040s with Simplex Chevron pulls. Some of the pulls have break bars, others don’t. In the field house (gym), the pulls might be old Edwards pulls, but they might be Chevrons. I can see a T-Bar in the distance that looks like it’s probably a 4251-20, but I’d have to get closer to see what it actually is. I haven’t seen any newer alarms, but if I do, I will let you all know.
Those grilles on those SHG’s look different than the ones we’re used to seeing.
Also, an update to my high school’s alarms!
[quote] One section of the school has Edwards 692 mini-horn/strobes (It's similar to the Gentex GX90 and Wheelock MIZ horn/strobes for those of you who don't know). They have the 270 pulls there. [/quote]I attend my Spanish class in that section so I will tell you what the alarm in the classroom. The classroom has an Edwards Integrity. I bet all those rooms in that section have Edwards Integrities! I’m willing that these will do temporal code 3 but IDK about the 692’s. BTW, this section was added in 2001 and the school was originally built in 1955.
There is also that same alarm where I have my physical science class. It’s a new classroom, but I’m guessing it got rebuilt just like that science classroom got rebuilt in during the 2005-06 year at my MS.
Also a room (specifically room #123) has a classic SpectrAlert horn/strobe. I didn’t go in there but the door to that room was open an I peaked in there.
At my school, we have an unknown simplex panel (prob. a 4010 0r 4020) with Truealerts in code 3. The pulls are 4099 t-bars with stopper 2s over them, with one disconnected (and pulled) IBM Chevron in a room behind the stage (according to a friend who was in the play las year). Also there are disconnected 4040s in a hallway off the gym and in the wood shop and a disconnected single-projector 4030 in the autos garage.
I forgot to mention that the clocks at Belmont High are also Simplex. All of them are square and there are two types. The older ones are silver and the newer ones are white. They all have a second hands. Thank god they don’t make the annoying click every minute like the ones at middle school did. Those look like the ones at the high school except without a second hand and made the click every minute. You won’t notice the click if you’re paying attention to something else, but if you do notice it, it can get annoying. Anyone ever been around those clocks?
Oh man… in my ES and MS, we had old Standard clocks that clicked backward 2 seconds before it clicked forward to the current time. Man was that ever annoying. There were also really rough AC buzzers behind each clock, and they were a bit loud. The click gave me a bit of warning…
Here’s what they looked like:
Do the clocks by chance happen to look like THIS?
I know those Simplex clocks VERY well. I’ve seen them at practically every school I’ve attended, except for my junior high school, which had these older unknown clocks (probably IBM or National Time, the school bells were 6-inch Edwards Adaptabels and these unknown single-stroke chimes, and the time control panel was a Simplex model installed after they renovated the wood shop class in the early 1990s). But both my elementary schools and my high school had these clocks (they still do; some of them don’t work).
As far as the clocks making noise go, at the school I attended for grades 1-6, a few of them had really soft buzzers in them for class-change (the regular bells didn’t work), and it was interesting how the clock system was Simplex, yet the fire alarm system was Gamewell (older Flexalarm panel with Fire-Lite 450 horns). The K-8 school where I had kindergarten as well as summer camp back in 2000 had these clocks too, but they didn’t make any sound, since the bells (6-inch Simplex bells) were loud enough that putting buzzers or whatever in the clocks was completely unneccesary.
At my high school, a couple of the clocks acted a little screwey. In the room where my brother and friends and I had our social skills class, sometimes the clock would start making this weird humming/buzzing sound, and would sometimes go for a minute before stopping. Since it didn’t sound for three seconds, it surely wasn’t a class-change buzzer (we had a tone on the PA system that took care of that). And in another classroom where I sometimes had study hall, as well as for an after-school mentoring program on some days, their clock was REALLY bizzare. Not only were the hands painted red and green, but usually when the minute hand would reach the “6” during the half-hour point, then the clock would get stuck. On top of the hour, the clock would then fix itself (it would start moving 30 seconds before the hour would strike, then when the minute hand would reach “12,” it would click and then go back to normal position). At these three schools, a few of the clocks don’t work anymore, but others still do. And only some of them had second hands, while others didn’t.
I’ve also seen these clocks at the elementary school a few of our friends went to. There was also one in the main lobby at South Junior High School (obviously a later installation, the rest of the clocks were older IBM models, the bell system was IBM and the fire alarm system was Edwards). But that’s gone now, it was replaced with a newer Simplex clock and PA speaker combo (they’ve since replaced the old IBM clocks and bells with a new Simplex clock system with a tone sounding on the PA system for class change, and the old Edwards fire alarm system got replaced with a Simplex 4100U voice-evac fire alarm system).
The college I attend originally had those Simplex clocks in the buildings that were originally built in 1978 (the Liberal Arts, Humanities, Fine Arts, Field House and Administration buildings). However, most of them are now gone. In most cases they left nothing there (usually they plate over the holes, but in some the holes and wiring are still there!), but a few other places on campus had battery-operated clocks put in place of the old Simplex clocks. They told me that the clocks were taken out years ago for two reasons:
- There was a thunderstorm years ago where lightning struck the school, causing a power surge and causing all the clocks to permanently stop working.
- The students in the classrooms would often spend more time looking at the clocks instead of listening to the teacher or whatever.
That pic I took is of the non-working Simplex clock in the Little Theater in the Fine Arts building. There is also one in the theater shop in that building, there’s one in the bleacher areas of the gym in the Field House building, one in the swimming pool and another in the mens’ visitors team locker room (both also in the Field House building) and one in the office of one of my teachers in the Liberal Arts building (he put a battery-operated clock underneath it).
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That’s it! They were probably installed when the school was built, in '64.
Did you ever find out what the signals were in the old Simplex system used in your high school before the upgrade?
Sadly… I have no idea. The only system I ever saw in the school was the new NFS-3030. I wish I knew…