That’s a cool sign. Let be put up the “stenciled” exit sign version for reference.
See, the signs are manufactured as exit signs but, since a variety of custom messages could require arrows, or in El Chupacabra’s case chevrons, manufacturers reserve a spot on the sides for them.
FUN FACT: The EZ-Snap series is one of the few, if only, exit sign series to feature a removable and portable battery pack, with DC lamps, which one could insert by removing the bottom right tap, as seen in the second photo.
Just a correction to my last post… they’re Siemens systems, not CP. Nearly every building on campus has them! Now a lot of them are replacements to old systems so you do see a lot of the Siemens rebranded ZNS’s in a lot of spaces.
There’s an academic building that has 7001T rebranded horn/strobes on a Siemens system. And another one has a very old Simplex system, with bells and Chevron pulls mounted high.
Another thing is there are exterior horn/strobes. They’re on all buildings but I’m half wondering if they are for waterflow, because they’re always near the sprinkler connections, and I saw a building that had three next to each other that had a description like “North Pipe Tunnel” or something similar to that. I’ll have to get a picture of it sometime. And I’ll have to wait and see if the exterior ones sound upon general alarms.
I’m kinda liking the uniformity, but it does get repetitive and seem boring. I think my school and Siemens have some sort of partnership. Either that or whoever designs the buildings does. I’m going to ask my building coordinator at some point if I can do anything to help out or observe a fire drill, since I’m in a somewhat related program, and I’m not really afraid to say I have an interest in these systems anymore. Besides the worst thing that can happen is he says no. So yeah, just an update. If I come across anymore unique systems I’ll be sure to post about em!
Well this week I started college, at Fanshawe College! It’s a college in my city.
I’m learning alot about the fire alarm system here. Before the summer of 2009, the school had (what I believe) a few different FA systems connected into one. I have seen about 3 gutted out Honeywell panels that look like File:Honeywellfirepanel.JPG - Wikipedia this, and an Edwards 6500, which is shut off, in the library. The fire alarms were bells. There were Edwards 10" Fire Bells, Wheelock 10" Bells, Edwards 6" Adaptabels, and these black bells, one was 6" beside an adaptabel in one of my lecture halls, I saw a few 10" ones in the hallway behind a grille, and there was one 4" one by its lonesome in one hallway. I was thinking it could of been a bell system, for class change, but it could be very unlikely.
The new fire alarm system, is a new 2 stage voice evac Honeywell system. The only other places which have a different system is the residence buildings, which have Spectralert horn/strobes. The panel for the voice evac system is a Notifier NFS2-3030, Except it’s rebranded by Honeywell. They have annunciators basically around every exit, and they look like full size panels. The pulls are rebranded Honeywell T-bars, with dual action (lift cover) and general alarm. The alarms are System Sensor SPSCWV speaker/strobes. These are either ceiling mounted, or wall mounted in some places.
The First stage of the system starts with a slow beeping, and after 20 seconds, this message plays: “Ladies and Gentlemen, your attention please. An alarm has been activated. We are investigating the cause please remain calm and stand by near the speakers for further instructions.” Then, the second stage does code 3, and after 20 seconds this announcement sounds: “Attention. Attention. There has been an emergency reported in the building. Proceed immediately in an orderly manner to the nearest exit and leave the building.” Pretty neat system, can’t wait to actually hear it go off.
This week, I spotted the annunciator for this system and it is indeed for an older Simplex panel. I’m not that great at identifying older Simplex devices so I still can’t tell if the panel is a 4207, a 4208 or a 2001.
http://s804.photobucket.com/user/Chupacabra_1/media/Fire%20Alarms/IMG_3267_zpsfc7fe2e2.jpg.html 
I’ve also visited a few more buildings that I didn’t have the chance to check out initially; here are two of the most interesting systems I saw:
Sports Complex
Panel: Cerberus Pyrotronics MXL with RCC-1F annunciator
Pulls: Addressable Cerberus MS-series stations with bilingual lettering
Signals: U-HNH horn/strobes (some with bilingual lettering); I was quite surprised to see these signals since they are super-rare in my area
Engineering (2)
Panel: Cerberus Pyrotronics MXL(-IQ) with annunciator
Pulls: Mix of older and newer Simplex T-bars with bilingual lettering (some are break-glass versions) along with a few newer GE-branded 270-SPOs with bilingual lettering
Signals: Pyrotronics-branded Amseco motor horns installed next to older grey 4" Simplex bells (most likely for general signaling); these signals are installed behind 10" bell grilles
Smokes: Edwards C2M-PD1s
My school:
Main Notification:
Inside:
Simplex 4903-9101 strobe plates (top strobe) with 2901-9838 Horns
Outside:
Wheelock 7002T
System Sensor Spectralet Classic (7002T died?)
Pulls:
Simplex 4099-9003 Break Glass Pulls
Detectors:
Simplex 2098-9201 heads on 2098-9641 bases (Classrooms)
Unknown Simplex Photoelectric Detector (Hallways, Gyms, Cafe, etc.)
Simplex 2098-9202 heat heads on 2098-9641 bases w/ cage (Bathrooms, Furnace room?)
Panel:
Unknown (Addressable, 2 Stage) (4002?)
I’m surprised my district allowed non-ADA alarms because of their other uniform policies (I have gone to 3 of their schools) like how all of the schools have the same projectors, “glass grid” lights, and other things. The other schools (newer) both had TrueAlerts and Push Pull Simplex T-Bars and some detector (I never noticed). BTW my school was built in 1991.
Elementary School Pretty common system for my area, the library and community college both have similar systems
Panel: Some sort of Notifier, possibly a System 500?
Pulls: Notifier Imgur: The magic of the Internet LNG-1R (None of these are my pictures, by the way, so credit where it’s due)
Detectors: Mostly System Sensor 2400 series, some were replaced with newer versions
Signals: Gentex SHGs in the hallways, GX90S’s in the classrooms
Middle School This school was built a few years after my elementary school, and during that time the district switched to EST equipment.
Panel: EST QuickStart with Imgur: The magic of the Internet this annunciator in the front entrance
Pulls: SIGA-278
Detectors: SIGA series detectors, the usual for QuickStart panels
Signals: Integrities in most hallways, Genesises in other hallways and the cafeteria, and Imgur: The magic of the Internet Edwards 2450HS mini-horns in the classrooms. The Integrities and 2450HS’s were in continuous, and the Genesises were in Code-3.
High School I go to a pretty small high school outside the school district, so it’s a smaller system than the last two. Pretty uncommon system for the area, though.
Panel: Siemens Imgur: The magic of the Internet FS-250 with an Imgur: The magic of the Internet FS-RD2 annunciator in the front office
Pulls: Not a single pull in the building that I know of, but if there is I would expect it to be either an MSI-20B or HMS-D, whichever is compatible with the FS-250
Detectors: Siemens FP-11s throughout the building
Signals: Primarily Siemens-branded ZNSs and ZRSs, all synchronized and in Code-3. Interestingly, some classrooms have SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes in them, which is strange for a newer Siemens system. I had a fire drill today and they didn’t sound anywhere close to being in sync with the ZNSs. Also, an interesting fact about Siemens-branded ZNSs is that the strobe actually flashes at the beginning of each horn blast instead of at the end, which is standard for Wheelock devices.
CORRECTIOS:
Simplex Wiffle Ball detectors, not heat heads in bathrooms
ALSO: Simplex 2098-9201 on unknown bases in hallways/large rooms/hallways
At my first elementary school there were system sensor mass set to slow whoop. When I was little I was terrified. No alarms in the classrooms.
Second elementary school: Whellock NS (red) And if you look in the electrical room there was a spectrualert classic (red). Pulls: Simplex Two-Action T-Bar. With Stopper II.
Intimidate School: Wheelock NS(In hall + ALL classrooms), Wheelock RSS (In bathrooms, halls, and emergency exits.) And three Wheelock Exeeders HSR’S in random places.
Panel: IEP-1000 silent knight
Pulls: Silent Knight pulls (no, not the t-bars.)
If you have any questions just let me know!
My High School:
FACP: Linked EST 3’s (6 of them, one in each building)
Pulls: EST SIGA-270’s
Signals: EST HDVM Genesis and EST Integrities.
Work:
FACP: Fire Lite MS-4
Pulls: Generic T Bars
Signals: Wheelock AS’s, Bells, and RSS’s
yet another correction to my post…
This is the Simpelx detector in the bathroom…
It looks like an air freshener to me.
Go to this page to see it http://quickalert.weebly.com/schoolalarms Click
I tried putting it on here as an attachment but it was HUGE and widened the whole page.
These are the fire alarms at the school I’m going to for 8th Grade.
Panel/Annunciators
The school has a two-tier Simplex 4100U panel, oddly located in the gym office. There is an Operator Interface located by the North main entrance (just 20 feet from the panel).
Initiating Devices
I am assuming that the system has been switched to non-addressable, considering some of the devices.
There are a combination of Simplex 4098-9601 TrueAlarm photoelectric detectors and 2098-9110 Ionization detectors throughout the hallways and renovated rooms. In the gym, there are Simplex 4255 heat detectors, and there are various other detectors throughout the school.
For pull stations, there are Simplex 2099-series single action pull stations in renovated, and Simplex MS-301C pulls in the existing areas. In 3 of the 4 portable classrooms, there are unknown Edwards pulls by the classroom door, and Simplex MS-301C pulls by the emergency exits. In the larger portable classroom, there are Edwards 270-SPOs by either exit door.
Notification Appliances
The main signal in the non-renovated areas are Simplex 2901-9724 10 inch motor bells. In the far South end of the school, there are Wheelock MBG-6-24-R bells. There are System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance P2R horns in the change rooms (Yikes!). In the portable classroom hallway, one of the signals is a Simplex 2901-9723 6 inch motor bell. In the larger classroom, there is an Edwards 6-inch Adaptabel.
I haven’t heard the system activate yet, but I would think that the panel is set to Temporal Code-3.
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Based on the description of your system, I assume that you’re from Canada? And when you say “switched to non-addressable,” are you saying that it was addressable at one point or simply just installed as a non-addressable system?
Thanks! I am from Canada, and I believe it was just installed as a non-addressable system, most likely replacing a 4002 that all the schools in my district had installed in the early 1990s.
The Alarms at my School
System Sensor MASS Horn Only
2 Edwards Buzzer Adaptahorn
Edwards Adaptabel next to the Horns
2 Wheelock MT’s on Horn
Pull Stations
Very Old Edwards 270-SPO
And a Notifier
Update: I was right! We had a fire drill today, and the alarm is set to temporal. I also learned that there is a 10 inch Simplex bell on the outside of the school, although it can be heard clearly from most points around the school.
That is DEFINITELY a late 1970s/early 1980s -style annunciator. It is kind of hard to tell what panel it would go to if you don’t know when the building was built. Simplex 4051s were still used on new installation in 1979-1980.
I believe Simplex switched to the more contemporary logo like that on their panels and annunciators around late 1977. The elementary school down the street from where I live has a 4207 system from 1978 with that logo on the panel.
As for honk108’s school, it definitely sounds like the 4100U is replacing a 4002 system or something similar. Sometimes instead of using a 4005, Simplex would go and replace an older conventional panel with a new 4100-series panel, even if it’s set up as conventional! I have seen a few 4100-series Simplex systems set up this way at my friend’s university, though they do have a few renovated areas with addressable devices. If your school renovates an area in the future, addressable devices would probably be installed in that section.
In most jurisdictions, addressable systems are required with new installations.
Well, the school underwent a 5 million dollar renovation from 2005-2009. The renovated areas (including classrooms with a rear door, not the portables) have shiny new Simplex T-bars (excluding 1 4251-20), so they may be addressable. However, all the pulls in the school have stickers on them that have numbers (7, 29,11,21 etc.). Therefore, I think that the system is conventional. Also, the panel probably is replacing a Simplex 4002, since that is the panel almost all other schools in my district have installed.
I’m pretty sure your school is addressable.
On an addressable system, each device is given an address, usually a number. The numbers on the pull stations may identify what device they are on the SLC.
Interesting; this is probably why two years ago when they installed a new fire alarm system at the McDonald’s restaurant near my college (it previously had no alarms), they went with an addressable Fire-Lite system.
On the Simplex side, I imagine all the Simplex 4005 and 4006 panels are good for nowadays is for replacing older conventional Simplex panels if they want the new system to stay conventional (the local YMCA Youth Center gutted their 2001 panel a couple of years ago and installed a Simplex 4006 right into the cabinet!) Though truth be told, the 4005 is still a really good panel, and is especially good at replacing older hard-wired Simplex systems.