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San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) former mystery/custom engineered siren FOUND!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 12:18 am
by Duderocks5539
I have got in contact with the designer of these sirens ,his name is John Glenn Powell a retired SONGS employee as an audio engineer ,And he told me that he had an extra siren at his house but didn't have the horns and he said that he'll give it to me. So I told him that I'll come and pick it up. And he didn't charge me anything ,the only thing the siren needs is two motors. The rotor motor needs a 1 HP pool pump type motor. and the blower needs a 5 HP TEFC motor that is signal phase 240 volts. And yes these sirens are pneumatic but that rectangular box that was next to the bottom of the pole was actually a control box. The siren has no diesel compressor ,It is a 5 HP centrifugal blower that is at the top of the siren below the rotor. Also the rotor has 4 ports and the stator has 8 ports. I 'am currently buying both motors for this siren ,and will be here soon. One more thing ,the siren produces 120 db at 100 ft. The spec sheet says 240 and 480 Hz but what that means is it produces 240 Hz with the blower on ,and 480 Hz with the blower off. I 'am not lying about this ,this is really the siren. For proof here are some pictures.


Some pictures are sideways sorry :roll:

Re: SONGS former hand built siren FOUND!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:33 am
by FahmiRBLX
WOAH! That's the MOST PRECIOUS GEM EVER in the Siren World! But, may I know what else did John Powell said about the horns? Is the horns 'accidentally' got scrapped? I guess you could just get 8 Thunderbolt horns for replacement horns. XD But anyways, a great find! So is the siren can just be attached to a Thunderbolt / Hurricane blower? Or it can be just ran without the blower? P/S Can you upload a video on it?

Re: SONGS former hand built siren FOUND!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:44 am
by Duderocks5539
FahmiRBLX wrote:
Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:33 am
WOAH! That's the MOST PRECIOUS GEM EVER in the Siren World! But, may I know what else did John Powell said about the horns? Is the horns 'accidentally' got scrapped? I guess you could just get 8 Thunderbolt horns for replacement horns. XD But anyways, a great find! So is the siren can just be attached to a Thunderbolt / Hurricane blower? Or it can be just ran without the blower? P/S Can you upload a video on it?
He made this one in case San Onofre needed an extra one ,He never got a chance to make horns for this one ,but the blower is a centrifugal blower that has 2 belts and is powered by a 5 HP motor. Me and a friend of mine that is a siren enthusiast are going to make horns that are like the original ones that were made of fiberglass. I still have to work on it ,like getting 2 motors for it and making a mount for it on a cart.

Re: SONGS former hand built siren FOUND!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:58 am
by Someone22
WOW! Congratulations!!

Re: SONGS former hand built siren FOUND!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 2:16 am
by FahmiRBLX
Err, Duderocks, may I know what John Powell siad about its actual name? And did he knew that his siren is called Toshiba siren?

Re: SONGS former hand built siren FOUND!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 2:26 am
by Duderocks5539
FahmiRBLX wrote:
Sun Nov 26, 2017 2:16 am
Err, Duderocks, may I know what John Powell siad about its actual name? And did he knew that his siren is called Toshiba siren?
No he didn't know that's what people were calling them ,but he said he called them the model 120.

Re: SONGS former hand built siren FOUND!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 2:37 am
by Brendan W
This has to easily be the coolest thread I've seen on here in years. Congrats dude!

Re: SONGS former hand built siren FOUND!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 2:44 am
by jgardner48
Maybe you can find a metal fabrication company to build you some new horns, but this is an amazing find, I can't wait to hear it :D

Re: SONGS former hand built siren FOUND!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 3:26 am
by Snowcube
Wow, I thought these had all been scrapped long ago. Is the blower supposed to spin at 3450 RPM or more? I heard that centrifugal blowers aren't very effective for supercharging sirens because they don't force the air through the ports.

Re: SONGS former hand built siren FOUND!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 4:26 am
by FS Rotor
There’s a very high tolerance between the impeller and housing so it will work well. I will be making new fiberglass horns for it and wiring it up.