Fire alarms you do NOT want to collect

I thought that with the fire alarm collection threads as well as another thread on what alarms you want, I was wondering if this thread would be rather interesting. Here are the fire alarms that I do NOT want in my collection…

Simplex 4040 (my high school had these, and were the loudest fire alarm I ever heard in my life; once it got so bad I was once nearly suspended from high school due to screaming in the cafeteria when they went off!)
Federal Vibratone 450 (old version with the 4040-like grille; my elementary school for grades 1-6 had these, and the fire drills here were always unpleasant, combined with our strict teachers that usually were not very good with certain students)
Any 6" Faraday/Simplex bell made since the early 1970s (the school I went to for kindergarten used these as the school bell, and they always bothered me because they were so loud)

Any others?

Maybe just because I’ve been used to it for so long, but I don’t think the Simplex/Faraday bells are all that bad (at least in an open space). They’re loud, as any alarm is supposed to be, but the Edwards bells are worse, IMO. This past year I spoke at my middle school’s career day and on my way to my classroom, I was right in front of an adaptabel when it went off. It did startle me, and it was pretty loud, but I wouldn’t say it was painful.

As for my own dislikes, I don’t want a Wheelock E50 or E60 speaker/strobe. I just don’t like the design, even though they’re popping up in a lot of places (I have yet to see one installed though). The E50 looks like a speaker version of the AS, and the E60 is only slightly different than the E90. The thing about these is that these can mount to a standard 4" backbox as opposed to the E70 or E90 that require an extension ring in order to fit the speaker, so they’re easier and cheaper to install, but I still think the E70 and the E90 are a lot more stylish (as were all the discontinued Wheelock alarms).

Other than that, I don’t have a “dislike” list; if I like an alarm I see, I’ll buy it.

I dont like any of the foreign alarms, they all have wierd designs and annoying sounds, and with the Adaptabels, i don’t mind them anymore, after hearing them for 10 years, plus having them in my collection.

I can’t really say that there would be a type I wouldn’t want. As long as I don’t have it, I want it. At this point I have so damn many of them there aren’t too many I don’t have. I think the last time I picked anything up for my alarm collection was in either August or September.

It’s been a long time for me, mainly due to money issues. The last time I bought anything was in July. In addition to the money issues, nothing is as cheap as it used to be. IDK if there’s a sudden demand or what, but the price of panels, even obsolete non-addressable ones has skyrocketed. I got my 4001 for $31, excluding shipping, and now they’re priced for hundreds of dollars.

I could never understand the reasoning behind the prices I see for used panels. Most of the people that would have any use for them are collectors, maybe a few people looking to use them for their purpose. The other thing I still can’t understand is the reasoning behind the prices on those Street boxes. The way ebay seems to be inundated with those all the time, you would think they wouldn’t be so damn expensive. I would have thought every kid and his sister would have one of those by now.

Street boxes are usually taken out of service and sold to be re built for service. You can get a bit more than what they go for when you sell it back. They are by all accounts for those that want to collect one rare. They are a true collectors item. as is most gamewell products. You are also contending with just about every current and retired fire fighter that wants one. As for panels you are dealing with sellers who learn of the value or know the value of what it costs to buy new. Folks in the alarm business know if you can sell just the guts to a panel you save the customer a pretty penny in ripping out an entire panel and possibly the notification devices as well as possibly the smokes. As I have always said this stuff is not really a hobby. If we saw a real value in this stuff it would not end up in the dumpster. It’s not really worth a guys time who makes 40-100 dollars an hour or more to list fire alarms for a few bucks here and there.

As far as NOT wanting anything… Just because you have it does not mean you have to turn it on. I highly doubt simply seeing the alarm is going to bring back repressed memories i mean really…

I, too really can’t think of any alarms/devices that I wouldn’t want.

Don’t know of any devices that I woulden’t want…

-classic spectr alerts wall or ceiling mount, unless randomly labeled by a company like FCI or something. Seen way too damn many of them in my life, they bore the hell out of me.
-bg-8’s, 10’s, and 12’s by Notifier or Fire-Lite, so cliche.
-bells, unless rare finds, I mean a bell is a bell. Exception: i just bought a notifier bell labeled a “n-co bell”, in my opinion, that’s a rarity.
-simplex true alerts or the model before it, again, seen way too damn many of them

I really wouldn’t want any panel that would take up a ton of space (i.e. Multiplex Simplex systems, Notifier voice panels, Simplex 4207 with multiple bays).

If 4040’s are that loud, it might be interesting to have one at my disposal :twisted: . But seriously, it would be cool just to see how loud they really are.

The E50 series is actually slowly coming around to me. UA actually has one of them installed in the sub-basement of the LCs. I’ve placed a bid on one on eBay, but it’s white, not red, as I think they look better that way. I still dislike the E60 series though.

I don’t like the design either. What I really don’t understand is the S series ceiling speakers. They’re huge (they mount to an 8" by 8" backbox)!

Standard 30A’s - WAAAAAAY too loud for me to handle