whats your faveroute fire alarm code/tone?

Fire Alarm General Discussion
1

whats your faveroute fire alarm code/tone?

  • continous
  • code 3
  • march time (120 bpm)
  • march time (60 bpm)
  • march time (20 bpm)
  • california code
  • other
0 voters

what is your fav fire alarm code/tone? (continous,code 3 etc.)

my faveroute is continous,i dunno why,i do like older fire alarms though.

2

I think continuous and march time sound great on mechanical horns, but that’s just me.

Temporal code sounds bad on mechanical horns IMO.

3

March time is my favourite, since I grew up with the single stroke bell systems everywhere. I actually hate to see the systems go, love them a lot more than the newer systems. My high schools system may be numbered this year, if the provincial government grants them the $16 Million for upgrades.

4

I’m a code 3 kind of guy I guess. I really like the specatralert classic’s code 3 with the beep before the cycle of code 3 starts.

1 Like
5

I like temporal on newer alarms such as the commander 3 or the spectralert classic. But on older mechanical horns such as the 4093 or 2903-9806 I like march time. But I have lived in buildings build on or after 1996 and I have been exposed to temporal more than others. My new high school was build In N he 70’s and does temporal (but you can tell where the 2903’s were they removed the light left the. Box and where the horn was slapped on a mt pre Ada strobe but the middle school nearby does 60bpm march time and they have old mechanical horns. But meh my hs has MT3’s Non Ada mt’s and some true alerts, 4903’s and commander 3’s. Quite a weird one.

6

Bro, its all about that 120 March Time but not for electronical horns. Mechanical sounds WAY better with March Time. By the way, has anyone ever heard a Spectra Alert Classic set to code 3 but panel coded to march time? SOUNDS BADDD!

7

. Yah it sounds horrible. You put it on continuous then panel code it to march time and it sounds good. I agree march time was made for mechanical horns

8

I’ll agree with the masses - Code 3 for a higher pitched electronic horn (like SpectrAlerts or modern Wheelocks), 120 BPM March Time for a mechanical horn. A lower-pitched electronic horn like the Integrity or TrueAlert could go either way. Continuous is okay on some less loud and obnoxious horns, though I only really like it on a Wheelock 7001 or 7002(T), since the wiring with the strobe causes a “coding” of sorts and makes any type of panel coding sound messed up. Not a fan of slow March Time or California Code at all - a long blast followed by equally long or longer silence is really unnerving for me.

9

code 3 since its required by code pretty much everywhere and has been since the mid 90’s, and had been recommended as the proper one to use since the late 70s/early 80s.

10

I believe you can get it set to a different coding. I think destined mentioned this in my previous post called. “Why is code. 3 the standard? Also list your businesses coding.” Doesn’t this topic fall into my topic?

11

Although it’s required almost everywhere, the AHJ has the final say and may make exceptions for certain situations. A common exception is for facilities that have a pre-existing evacuation scheme. For example, I’ve seen a few hospitals that upgraded to intelligent systems and wished to keep the same coding scheme from a previous system that used coded pulls.

12

Mine is 90 BPM march time :smiley:

13

I have always LOVED code-3 on those Simplex True Alerts. My elementary school had them just like that, and it is a great thing to hear! I have always loved the noise.

14

Yeah. And my school is stuck with TrueAlerts on continuous. Thanks a lot.

15

I prefer Code-3 for testing my systems. It sounds the least urgent or frightening (ironically) so I don’t have to worry about freaking my parents out. However, without those restraints, continuous is my definite choice.

16

I’m Code 3 for all new electronic horns, March Time for older mechanical horns. By the way, has anyone ever heard any real system set to California Code?

17

my old elementary school in California(Duh :lol: ) It had true alerts and a simplex bell.

18

BTW I HATE voice evac, its SO stupid!

19

What’s so wrong with voice evac?

20

I like a few fire alarm coding options though.

This type of coding on a 34T http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7bC-svR14k

Code 3 on a TrueAlert Fun Fact: In Grade 6 we had a bunch of the older models and newer models. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYrVF4tHN08

March Time (Our panel doesn’t like the MT so it sounds like this) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHaBZ6acCJ4