A few comments:
I’ve seen quite a few 4050-80s in person myself. Yes they are becoming rare (they’re usually either replaced by Honeywell-subsidiary or some minor company’s alarms, like SAE, or they are often replaced with new Simplex signals). There are only three Simplex 4051+4050-80s left in my college campus; one in the Field House building and two in the Fine Arts building, both of which originally had Simplex 4208 systems. All the others were replaced with VA4 horn/strobes. BUT… the Davis K-8 school, where I went for kindergarten (and a summer program before I entered junior high), had Simplex 4051+4050-80s, and they still have them today. They have a Simplex 2001 system, replacing an older Simplex 4246 or 4208 system, but all they replaced was the panel, annunciator and they installed new 2098-9806 test stations. Most of the 4051+80s and 4251-30s from the old system are still intact, though a few 4251-30s died and were replaced with 270-SPOs, and a couple of 4050-80 plates died, so they put the old 4051 horns on SAE AV32 light plates. I’ve also seen them at the Huntington Elementary School, the Eldon B. Keith pre-K school, the Howard pre-K school and the David E. Crosby administration building all have 4050-80s (Simplex 4208 systems from when the buildings were renovated in the late 1970s, I believe they all use Simplex 4051 horns), and I’ve also seen them at the Superior Courthouse (very old early 1970s Simplex system, the horns are either 4050s or 4051s, and the pulls are Simplex 4251-113 Chevrons!), and they used to have them at the New England Aquarium (they also had 4030s and I think a few other older Simplex alarms too), but now they have some newer Simplex voice-evac system. And I can tell that the Brockton Day Nursery used to have 4050-80s too. They have Simplex TrueAlert horn/strobes on metal plates the size of 4050-80s, but I found a wing (from when the building was added onto in the 1980s) that has TrueAlerts on larger red plates, probably covering up 2903 light plates. I saw a couple of Simplex 2001 annunciators; since I don’t think the Simplex 2001 panel was out yet back in 1978 (when the building was first built), I think the 2001 panel was put in when they added onto the building with the 2903 alarms in the new wing. The pull stations are 4251-30s in the 1978 wing, and 4251-20s in the newer wing, and the smokes I saw were Simplex 2098-9201 smoke detectors, obviously installed during the upgrade. I don’t know what their current panel is, but I highly doubt they still have a Simplex 2001 panel (they probably have a Simplex 4004 or 4005).
Elementary:
Panel- Two Firelite MS-9200UDs that are slaved to each other.
Signals- Simplex bell strobe, Simplex 4051s with dual projector covers (no screw!), Radiotronics (wheelock) MIZ horn strobes, and some unknown alarm.
Pulls- Notifier NBG-1s, Simplex 4251-111 (?) (new style chevron), FCI MS-2, and a Couch Local
fire alarm cheveron.
Smokes and heats- Heats in all the classrooms (edwards rate of rise), and smokes (EST of some sort) in the MP room.
Middle School:
Panel- FCI 7200 or a simplex panel (not sure)
Signals- Simplex 4041 with dual projector, that unknown alarm that was in elementary, Federal Signal GX-90 (?), SAE 2DCD (?), Simplex 4051 with dual projector, Gentex Commander 3, Gentex SHG, Gentex SHG strobe only, Simplex 4051 without the projector (no screw!), National time fire horn dual projector (LOUD!!!), and a MT-24-LSM-VFR that replaced a broken SHG.
Pulls: FCI MS-2, Couch old style chevron, Simplex 4251-20, Simplex 4251-111 (?) (Simplex new style chevron), and a National Time t-bar.
Heats and Smokes- Edwards Rate of Rise heats (everywhere!), Simplex duct detectors (also everywhere!), and some simplex smokes in the MP room.
We also have a sprinkler system in the MP room only, and we have a HUGE Star Sprinkler 12’’ inch flow bell outside the MP room.
What does it look like. Because of the Fire-Lite Panel and Notifier NBG-1s, I have a question. Did it look like the wedge alarms I’ve described that apparently might have been made by Fire-Lite? I believe you were the one who saw one at a pool with BG-6s and NBG-1s, this means, you probably would know if they were those or not.
is the 4251-113 the local fire alarm one?
no, these are different, i belive they are made by edwards or simplex. they have no light or strobe. I will post a sketch of one soon (WARNING: I suck at drawing so don’t expect anything good!)
That would be the Gentex GXS.
I was back in the gym today, the alarm that looked like a 4050 is indeed a 4040 that fell into the wall. I can see into the flush mount grille that to actual 4040 detached from the grille and is further under the flush mount grille. Under the actual grille of the 4040 is a round sounder plate. Also to th3sp0rk, the 4251-113 is the local fire alarm one. Here is a picture from Dan M’s site.
I noticed another annunciator at my HS. It’s located by the main entrance. It’s a red map that says “Fire Alarm Annunciator”. The actual map is the red part. The trim is silver and it looks like it was probably original. Who makes this?
Here’s yet another recap of my college’s fire alarm system, but this time I’m only mentioning their current alarm setups:
The Student Center has some kind of Notifier panel, to my knowledge, since they have a Notifier annunciator at one entrance.
The signals are mostly Standard 450 horns from the original system, on the old flush-mount retrofit plates with Faraday MTL strobes retrofitted where the old “FIRE” lights once were, and in the cafeteria, they have a Faraday U-HNH-MCS horn/strobe and a Simplex 2903+2901-9833 horn/light. The Student Lounge and the kitchen also have U-HNH-MCS horn/strobes as well; the kitchen has the white version. A computer lab downstairs has a U-MMT horn/strobe.
The pull stations are mostly Faraday Chevron pulls (non-addressable) on ADA extension adapters, but three Standard pulls from the old system are still intact.
They have mostly Chemtronics 500-series heat detectors (the metal ones), but a few areas like the restrooms have newer Chemtronics heat detectors, and in the library there is an Edwards heat detector. At the elevator doors they have Fire-Lite SD-355T smoke detectors.
The Business, Science and Technology buildings all have identical systems. The Science and Technology buildings have Faraday FireFinder II panels, but the Business Building has a Fire-Lite MS-4424B panel.
All three of these buildings have Space Age Electronics VA4 horn/strobes.
The pulls in all three are Faraday Chevrons on the ADA extenders.
The smokes are mostly System Sensor i3s, but I also saw a couple of System Sensor 2451THs in the Technology building, and also in the Science and Technology buildings, the restrooms have Notifier heat detectors.
The Liberal Arts and Humanities buildings have a Faraday MPC-7000 system; the panel is located in the Humanities building lobby and powers both buildings’ systems.
Both buildings have SAE VA4 horn/strobes.
The pulls in both of these buildings are once again Faraday Chevrons, but they are addressable, and all but two of them are dual-action (with those Faraday dual-action cover adapters installed onto the pulls).
The smoke detectors are mostly those newer Faraday smokes, and are addressable. I’ve also seen a heat detector version in one area, and an office in the Liberal Arts building still has its old Chemtronics heat detector.
The Fine Arts building has a Faraday MPC-2000 panel, and also has the old Simplex 4208-series annunciator from the original system intact.
The signals are mostly SAE VA4 horn/strobes, but at least two Simplex 4051+4050-80s from the original system are still intact.
The pull stations are mostly Simplex 4251-20s left intact from the old system, and many of them have Stopper IIs over them (only one of them has a sounder). One of the 4251-20s was replaced with a Faraday Chevron (non-addressable).
The smokes are mostly System Sensor i3s and quite a few Fire-Lite SD-355Ts, as well as at least three System Sensor 2451THs, and a few Chemtronics heat detectors from the old system. I also saw an old-looking large flat yellow Simplex smoke detector above the ceiling when they redid it (I wish I snapped a picture of it!) I suppose it’s the 1970s version of duct detectors. The restrooms and one office have the same Notifier heat detectors as the Science and Technology buildings do.
The Field House building has a Faraday MPC-2000 panel, and an RDC-700 annunciator installed over the old Simplex annunciator.
The signals are mostly SAE VA4 horn/strobes, but at least one Simplex 4051+4050-80 left from the old system is still intact.
The pull stations are mostly Simplex 4251-20s from the old system, and several of them have Stopper IIs over them. But in the swimming pool and the girls’ locker room, they have Faraday Chevron pulls (the ones in the pool have Stopper IIs over them).
They also have a mix of the old metal Chemtronics heat detectors and some of the newer ones too. There are no smoke detectors in this building.
The Administration building has an Ansul Autopulse panel, which controls both the main fire alarm system and the halon system, and the old Simplex annunciator from the original system is still intact.
The signals are mainly SAE VA4 horn/strobes, and they also have one of the Simplex 4051 horns from the old system retrofitted onto a Faraday strobe plate. In the computer tech room there is a Faraday U-HNH-MCS horn/strobe.
The pull stations are the original Simplex 4251-20s from the old system, and all but one of them have Stopper IIs over them.
The smoke detectors are mostly System Sensor i3s, but a few areas have the old Chemtronics heat detectors. The computer tech room also has three Simplex “wiffle-ball” smokes from the old system, and another older-style Simplex smoke, the ion kind that looks like a cylindrical TrueAlarm.
The fire suppression system has two Federal Signal Vibratone 450D horns with the wedge-shaped “HALON” strobe on them, and FCI MS-2 pulls rebranded by Ansul and labeled as “FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM RELEASE” where “FIRE ALARM” would normally go.
The Maintenance building has a Standard 450 horn with a Faraday MTL strobe retrofitted onto the old Standard light plate, and at least two old Standard pulls mounted REALLY high up. One of the Standard pulls has a Stopper II over it.
Here is a recap of the smokes at Belmont High School:
Original Smokes: Old ESL smokes, the very common ones.
Here is a picture that is NOT MINE:
The ones at Belmont High are old and tan, but are the overall same shape.
Newer Smokes: Some of the same ESL smokes have been installed as replacements, so a few are nice looking like the one in that pic above. There are also some newer Simplex TrueAlarms installed as replacements. I even saw a TrueAlarm with a square mark around it probably left over from the ESL smoke it replaced.
There is also a mystery smoke. It looks similar to a TrueAlarm, about the same size, but it has a different pattern of holes and has a trim bracket. There is one of those. I saw some of them w/o trim brackets in an ESL system at Dunkin Donuts with ESL t-bars and SpectrAlerts. They could be another type of ESL smoke or a Honeywell smoke. The one at Belmont High was probably put in when the BG-6s were put in. Does anyone know what I am talking about?
Could it be THIS?
It’s not that. It has separate holes and is shorter, I will try to find a pic online since I am guessing it’s an ESL, or one of the Honeywell brands.
I just started health today (It’s the start of the third quarter). OK, the room I was in for health (Room 101A) has a Siemens U-MMT-S17 (Older version of the U-MMT with “FIRE” marked on the sides instead of underneath the grille). So, not only does a portion of my high school have 3 Siemens U-MMT-MCS’s, but possibly all the health rooms have the U-MMT-S17’s.
Wow, your middle and high schools have quite the mix of alarms. With Wheelock 7002Ts, EST 892s/Integrities/Genesises, U-MMTs, etc…
I also noticed that while your middle school originally had an EST/Edwards system but now has a Notifier system, your high school originally had a Fire-Lite/Notifier system but now has an EST system! How ironic is that?
Seeing as how I know more about alarms now than when I joined here and I’ve taken a better look at some stuff in my school, I have some changes.
I now believe only 2 4030s (the disconnected 4040s) were ever replaced before the Truealerts were installed. Taking a look above any of the doors going to the stairwells, round, discolored areas can be seen. This is also visible in some other areas (the room/hall in front of the cafeteria).
Also, I think it’s much more likely that the current system is a 4010. The annunciator doesn’t have a priority 2 LED (meaning the security system is separate). Most of the security keepayds i’ve seen (there aren’t many, BTW) are Radionics, but there is at least one Magnum.
The smokes aren’t Truealarms. They appear to be photo heads on some base (idk if they’re adressable or not) and are only installed by the elevator on each floor and in the gym. Also, the kitchen has an Kidde supression system.
My high school also has a SpectrAlert Classic horn/strobe (the only Spectra classic horn/strobe in the building) in a biology room (rm. 123), and upstairs, they have a Wheelock NS near a corner and an MT4 horn/strobe at another area.
Umm, I don’t think the Notifier system at my MS covers the entire system because the NBG-12LX’s flash somewhat fast and that’s because there are only 4 of them installed. There are still some of those ESL pulls (http://computek272.calvinet.com/index.php?p=eslpull 103-01 and one ESL rebranded RSG Lift & Pull T-Bar) still intact along with the lone 278B-1120 pull near stairwell E upstairs.
OK, I just went there tonight (my brother and I had to come because both of my parents had to come to a parent-teacher conference for my brothers teachers and guidance counselor) and I saw that they got rid of the Notifier system in favor of an EST3 system. They still had the Advances but the Notifier stuff was completely replaced. The panel, I believe, was replaced by and EST3 panel, the NBG-12LX’s were replaced by EST SIGA-278 pulls and the Notifier rebranded LCD-40 annunciator was replaced by an EST3 annunciator.
I was at my old hs not too long ago. They have a notifier panel that looks newer with some notifier pulls and old autocall pulls also. there are some new gentex horn strobes too. not sure when they upgraded.
Heald College of Stockton has some Wheelock AS-24-110 along with some model alarms I don’t know of…
…anyhoo, as I’m two questions away from completing my test in Math today, I see the strobe go off and then hear buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz buzz buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz -_- Don’t get me wrong, fresh air is always a good thing but I wanted to be done with the test. o.O Also the “buzz” pattern that I just posted…oi, never heard it before, but its definitely not the standard California Code 3. Turns out though that the ones who set it off were the people remodeling the campus, the head campus’ engineer went off on them…just as the fire-dept came rolling in :shock: