What alarm do you have at work/school

gothyoda · August 16, 2010, 11:12pm

Lodi High School, in Lodi, California upgraded their system so that in every classroom, office and restroom, there is a Genesis Horn and Strobe (red ESTs). Seems that Lodi Unified School District is adding these alarms in all of their new schools, since Millswood Middle School has the same alarms. As for both schools, I’m trying to figure out what LUSD chose for the exterior alarms…they’re just big red boxes.

person365 · October 24, 2010, 4:02am

My school has a mix of ceiling and wall mount truealert horn/strobes and strobes. The pulls are simplex T bars, the smokes are simplex truealarms, and the panel is a Simplex 4010.

system · December 31, 2010, 3:24pm

Well, this one’s gonna be a bit of a biggie, so here it goes…

The Livonia Public Schools district exclusively uses National Time & Signal equipment, though there are some odds and ends to the systems I am about to discuss.

Webster Elementary School #2 (formerly Tyler Elementary School)(accidentally posted in the Fire alarms in buildings 2.0 section when it said not to, I apologize for that incident as I cannot edit the post now) The alarms are National Time-branded Faraday horn/strobes and strobes, and the pulls are National Time 641’s.

Former Marshall Elementary School
The alarms are identical to the ones at Webster #2 and almost every other district-owned property.

Stevenson High School
The original system here consisted of a Standard Electric system, with Standard 200177 pulls, some of which were behind Stoppers. The alarms were likely Standard-branded Simplex 40XX horns.

The current system, which was installed in the early 90s, consists of National Time 641’s behind Stoppers (with the exception of a couple of places), and the alarms are National Time-branded Faraday horn/strobes. A majority of the classrooms here do not have strobes, with the exception of the science classrooms, the foods lab, etc. One alarm in the science hall appears to be non-ADA; the others are.

A fieldhouse annex constructed in the early 2000s consists of National Time 641’s and National Time-branded Gentex Commanders. The only detectors I can remember in the school are above an elevator in the fieldhouse, and I believe in the foods lab. There is a large National Time annuciator inside the main office, but I do not know where the panel is. All signals in the school are set to continuous.

Former Dickinson Center (ex-Dickinson Middle School)
The pulls are National Time 641’s (non-ADA compliant), but the alarm set up is interesting; it’s similar to what wiley209 has. The alarms are non flush-mounted 411F’s next to either 4" or 6" bells inside a rectangular grille!

Clay Center (formerly Clay Elementary School)
I can remember the pulls being ancient National Time 620M’s, and the alarms were flush-mounted 411F’s.

Holmes Middle School
The pulls are National Time 641’s, most of which are behind Stoppers, and the alarms are National Time-branded Faraday horn/strobes and strobes. However, some parts of the original system are still intact; there are some surviving non flush-mounted 411F’s, and there is also a red 10" bell near the front of the school, right next to a 411F! I do not know what use this bell had, since I have never heard it go off once.

Cass Elementary School
The pulls are National Time 641’s behind National Time’s version of the Stopper, and the alarms are National Time-branded Faraday horn/strobes and strobes. The old system is still intact as well; flush-mounted 411F’s, one of which was painted white inside the gymnasium!

Buchanan Elementary School
I think I remember seeing a non flush-mount 411F intact while I was there, and a FOS-branded Faraday horn/strobe!

Riley Upper Elementary School (formerly Riley Middle School)
Same deal as all the others, except with some minor differences. The choir room and the North Gym have a surviving Authentic Electric company horn (disconnected); the band room annex has a disconnected 411F (flush-mount), and the South Gym annex has 8 Gentex horn/strobes. It is no joke either; you would NOT want to be here if the alarms were tripped! Lastly, in the back of the stage area in the cafeteria, there is a surviving chevron pull station!

Jackson Center (formerly Jackson Elementary School)
The original system consisted of 641’s and I think a couple of 620M’s. But the alarms in question were interesting; they appeared to be explosion-proof, non flush-mount Standard 30A horns! The system was replaced about 1-2 years ago.

Churchill High School
Same deal as all the rest; 641’s and National Time-branded alarms, with National Time-branded Commanders in a fieldhouse annex.

system · December 31, 2010, 5:11pm

Schoolcraft College (Livonia, MI)

VisTaTech Center - I can recall the alarms there being Wheelock E70’s.

Bookstore/Service Building - The original system consisted of 2nd-generation Spectralerts and a 270-SPO. An upgrade to the system a while back now features ceiling-mounted EST Genesis horn/strobes.

Madonna University (Livonia, MI)

Academic Building - This place has a mix of both old and new. The pull stations are National Time 620M’s, National Time dual-action pulls, and on the top of one stairwell, is a GE-branded 270-SPO, replacing a 620M. The alarms consist of National Time 411F’s (flush-mount), Gentex Commanders, and two Wheelock 7002T-24’s next to each other outside a mechanical room, one of which is National Time branded. Outside of another mechanical room, lies an Edwards Adaptahorn.

In addition, there is also an ancient fire horn that I think I can guarantee NONE of you have seen before. I do not know the manufacturer or model number, but the grille almost reminds me a little bit of a Wheelock 34 horn. It is a little larger than a 411F, flush-mount, and is in the color gray.

system · January 3, 2011, 10:49pm

Former Barnum Middle School (Birmingham, MI) - This school is no longer standing; it has been replaced by a park. Also, it’s another one of those old and new mixes of alarms.

Alarms:

National Time 4" bell at the bottom of a stairwell.
Edwards 892 remote horns; these accounted for most of the alarms here.
What may have been Edwards 6" Adaptabels, but they could have been used for class change. All of these were ceiling-mounted.
One Simplex 4903-9101 with a metal plate where an old alarm used to be; there is an 892 close to this device.

Pulls:

Edwards 270-SPO at one of the entrances.
A National Time 641 underneath the 4" bell I mentioned earlier.
There may have been a National Time 620M somewhere in the school.

The panel was located in a separate room; I found out by looking at a sign mounted on a door.

Dearborn Heights Montessori Center (formerly Fischer Elementary School, Dearborn Heights, MI) Yet another mix of old and new alarms.

Alarms:

Wheelock 7002T horn/strobes in one hallway, the gymnasium, the library, and two classrooms. Some of the 7002T alarms have the backbox sticking out, and the backbox is surrounded by a red plate large enough for a 10" bell, so this is not the original system that was installed here.
Ceiling-mounted Wheelock 34T-24 horns in another hallway, and one wall-mounted 34T-24 inside an office.
One National Time 4" bell in the lobby area; a 7002T is not far from it.
System Sensor MASS horn/strobes in a hallway where the gymnasium entrance is.
One System Sensor MASS24110ADA horn/strobe inside a restroom.
System Sensor Spectralert (2nd generation) horn/strobes in a renovated hallway, and also inside the classrooms for that hallway.
What appeared to be a Faraday horn/strobe inside one classroom.

Pulls:

Edwards 270-SPO pull stations scattered around (one in the lobby, one in the gymnasium, etc.)
National Time 641 pull stations scattered around also (one in the main office, one in the gymnasium and stage area, etc.)

The panel is located inside the main office; I do not know the manufacturer or model number.

system · January 3, 2011, 11:30pm

Pattengill Elementary School (Berkley, MI)

Alarms:
National Time branded Faraday horn/strobes and strobes throughout the school. These signals are coded to continuous.

Pulls:
National Time dual-action pull stations.

Panel:
Unknown manufacturer or model, but located inside the main office.

Macomb Community College - Sports & Expo Center (could count since it is part of a school campus, Warren, MI)

Alarms:
National Time branded Faraday horn/strobes throughout.

Pulls:
Either National Time 641’s or their dual-action pull stations.

Annuciatior:
At one of the entrances, is what looks like a National Time annuciatior.

St. Robert Bellarmie School (Redford Township, MI)

Alarms:
National Time 411F horns (flush mount) throughout the school, but I think one hallway had a non flush mount 411F.

Pulls:
Ancient break-glass pull stations (unknown manufacturer, but could possibly be National Time).

system · January 4, 2011, 11:48pm

Former Steppingstone School for Gifted Education (ex-William Tyndale College, Farmington Hills, MI)

Alarms:

The original system consisted of National Time 411f flush-mount horns throughout the building. What is interesting about these horns is that they are labeled as “Audible Signal Apparatus”, whereas most 411F horns are labeled as “Fire Signal”. Most likely, it is just a different identification plate for it, since the alarms look no different than the others. All the old horns from this system are still intact.
The current system consists of System Sensor Spectralert (2nd generation) horn/strobes and strobes.
Inside the main office, is a 6" bell without any identification on it above what was either an annuciatior or the main panel. This is likely used as the “trouble” bell.

Pulls:
There is no trace of the old pull stations, but the current ones are Fire-Lite BG-8 pull stations.

generalrrsignals · January 5, 2011, 12:47pm

My School has SAE AV/32 light plates(flashing) with 450D Federal Vibratones(not 100% sure) in the original part of the school and there is 1 Av/32 with a continuos NS on the grille. In the “new” addition there are Faraday FOS Horn/strobes and 1 Simplex 2903 strobe plate/9838 in the cafeteria. The pull stations throughout the building are ESL 103 01. Smoke detectors are mostly Fenwal Photoelectric and a couple ionizations, but some other newer ones (FCI, ESL, Notifier, System Sensor)some ESL duct detectors. .Also, there is 1 heat detector in every room(more in bigger rooms like the library or gym., either Simplex or EST, some are button style Chemtronics in the kitchen and locker rooms, I don’t know if they are hooked up or not. There is one pull station in the gym with a STOPPER II without a horn.It is also believed by most students that ink is placed on the handles of the pull stations but no one can confirm that. Panel is a Notifier NFS-320 on continous. I have some pictures, and i will put them up once i figure out how.

U8oL0 · January 5, 2011, 3:02pm

Welcome to the forums, generalrrsignals!

All that you have to do to place photos on here is upload them to a site like Photobucket or Flickr, take the url of that image, and put it between the tags.

LABOhio · January 6, 2011, 4:54am

My comments are more what alarm system I “had” at school, as it goes as far back as the mid 1950’s! I stumbled onto the YouTube fire alarm videos and found them intriguing. I had some knowledge of coded pull operation, but I skipped around the forum looking for “older” systems, as described below. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to photograph any of this equipment. It was removed to places unknown back in the 1980’s. Anyone else ~sixty years or older should remember these “systems”, and might offer more details.

Brass gongs with manual trip levers? The 7-8 grade complex, still standing but renovated ~20 years ago was built in the 1930’s, as my dad attended and graduated in 1941. I was there as well 1963-1966. I was awed by the big brass gongs located above each other on all three floors. About four feet off the floor, a gold handle protruded from the wall through a brass plate which was engraved with red lettering “FIRE - 4 RINGS”. A rod in the wall went to all three floors so any ringing was simultaneous on all three floors. This was the way they tripped for a fire drill. By the time I had arrived, a box had been mounted near the ceiling in the basement above the gong, and a short chain attached to the trip lever activated a switch in the box that then set off an Edwards system with the old round gray fire horns. The standard Edwards pulls were used as well. All of this was retrofit with tan metal wiremold, and extended into the 1900’s attached complex that housed 5-6 grades. I remember the panel in the boiler room was key wound after an alarm, and the trouble bell was best described as “square and pointed”.

The K-4 building (early 1950’s construction) and the 9-12 high school (built 1958) I also attended had Simplex systems with 10-12" single strike gray bells, but both had the brass gong outside the office. These had a red pipe framework attached to the wall that had a brass section that was grasped to move it up and down to activate the electrical system with the same switch attached near the ceiling.

My question is, and has been for fifty years, the ring sequence. All systems, as far as I know, still use the “4 RINGS”. Actually, would it be 4-4 code? What was the origin and/or significance of this code, and what prompted the code 3? These buildings are considered single zone, as any alarm required complete evacuation.

I signed on here to hopefully get input, and did not intend to ramble, but thought this information might be interesting to the younger readers, and evoke memories of the older ones. Any feedback would be appreciated.

weatherdan882002 · January 6, 2011, 7:00pm

Welcome! What you’re describing doesn’t quite sound like code 4-4. http://www.dan.calvinet.com/ES_Fire_Alarm.mp3 Here’s a clip from my elementary school, which had an alarm system that did the 4-4 code. As you can hear, 4-4 is four rings, a short pause, another four rings and a long pause and then repeats. My ES was built around 1910 as a high school, but over the years transitioned to an elementary school. The alarm system probably wasn’t added until they expanded the school in 1950. It was an IBM system with http://www.dan.calvinet.com/IBM_4250_1.JPG IBM break glass stations and http://www.dan.calvinet.com/IBM_4015-6A_13.JPG 6" vibrating bells that did single-stroke for the fire alarm (they rang normally for class bells). There were also 8" single-stroke bells that were presumably soley used for the fire alarm, but when I went there, they only rang once. A lot of buildings used this code so it may have been an official fire signal back mid-century. I really like this code, but I guess due to the long pause between rounds, they got rid of it.

As for code-3, the NFPA wanted a universal evacuation signal in the mid-90s (1997, if I recall) and that’s when code-3 came about. The theory behind it is that the three blasts represented a distress signal and I guess they adopted it and decided to use it as a fire evacuation signal.

Hope this helps!

generalrrsignals · January 6, 2011, 11:45pm

Here are the pictures from my school

This Is 1 of 2 FOS horns in the gym, and this particular one’s horn is on its last legs and sounds awful.

Here’s 1 of 2 ESL station’s in the gym

This is the only simplex Notification appliance in the building(that i am aware of, they’re might be some in the basement)

This Is an AV\32 in the original part of the building.

Fenwal CPD 7021 Ionization (I own 7 of these :mrgreen: )

Pull station in the Library. This one has an intact break rod which is not common to see.
That’s all i have for pictures now, and i will see if i can get more soon!

EdwardsFan · January 7, 2011, 2:30am

None of the pics are working for me…

LABOhio · January 7, 2011, 3:03am

Thanks for the reply. I realize now when I said “4 RINGS”, this is not a code. What you said, 4-4-pause, 4-4-pause, and in the clip is EXACTLY what I was referring to. The old bells that were tripped manually were the “4 RINGS”, and I assume they didn’t expect to hang around to repeat several times. And, am I correct that the entire assembly is a bell, and the round part is the gong? The maintenance men just always referred to them as the fire gongs, and the schedule bells were just bells.

Also, after an alarm, what they had to “rewind” was probably the coding unit?

Thanks, and now I think I will try to find my odd collection of signals. I know I have a 120v 6" continuous Adaptabel, as well as an Adaptahorn. I got them back in the mid 70’s for sound effects for the theatre. I also have a Simplex 6" continuous ring that we ran on a 24v transformer. It came from the old school, and was mounted on a stippled cast plate. Chances are it isn’t any big deal, although it was probably there in the 40’ or 50’s, as I acquired it in the early to mid 60’s. I would attempt to attach a photo later, but this forum differs a little from another I use from the same phpBB format. I don’t see the option to download at the bottom of the post.

Again, thanks for reading my rambles.

U8oL0 · January 7, 2011, 3:04am

Same here.

generalrrsignals · January 7, 2011, 3:18am

Darn… They didn’t work for some reason… Try these… sorry if they are a little screwy…file | a8d97a48449750ade3822394e73583a8 | Flickr
file | a8d97a48449750ade3822394e73583a8 | Flickr file by About a8d97a48449750ade3822394e73583a8 | Flickr a8d97a48449750ade3822394e73583a8, on Flickr

weatherdan882002 · January 7, 2011, 3:30am

The first round of pictures aren’t working because he posted the URL of the page the pictures are located on and not the URL of the pictures themselves.

[quote] am I correct that the entire assembly is a bell, and the round part is the gong? The maintenance men just always referred to them as the fire gongs, and the schedule bells were just bells. [/quote]

Well, yes, but regardless of the style of mechanism (vibrating or single-stroke) I always just call it a bell, as that’s what it is.

[quote] Also, after an alarm, what they had to "rewind" was probably the coding unit? [/quote]

There’s no rewinding needed because the coding is done by electric power. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNI_BfpdCks Here’s a clip that will show you an example of how it works. The wheel on the right is a timer that allows the code wheel to put out 4 rounds of code. If the activated device is reset within that time period, it stops after the 4th round but if not, it does another 4 rounds until the device is reset. As for the code wheel itself, again, it’s on a motor that runs on electrical power, so there’s no need to rewind the wheel after a coding sequence is complete - it just starts up from where it is.

LABOhio · January 7, 2011, 4:51am

Thanks again. It’s been forty years. I can’t remember what it was I had to reset with a key wrench. It was similar to a key for an antique clock.

I’ll keep an eye out here. Ver-r-r-y Interesting!

wiley209 · January 7, 2011, 2:25pm

That looks like a Faraday 6120 horn without the cover on it, with a Simplex 2903 light plate added. I’m guessing that is a replacement signal; they have something like that at my old college’s cafeteria, except it’s a Simplex 2903+2901-9833 horn/light replacing an older Standard Electric Time horn/light (the system used to be Standard, but now it’s a Notifier AFP-200.)

simplex_2901-9833 · January 7, 2011, 5:20pm

That’s exactly what my alarms looked like in my old ES. They were continuous.