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Siren_Dude
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CLM History

Sat Apr 10, 2021 4:49 pm

Canadian Line Materials was located at 3595 St. Clair Avenue East in Scarborough, Ontario, adjacent to the CN railway and midway between Kennedy and Midland. Known as CLM Industries, it was a division of McGraw-Edison ltd. Max McGraw started his company in 1903 and in 1957 bought Thomas Edison Co. forming the McGraw-Edison Co.Ltd. They manufactured electrical equipment and 1950's they were contacted by the Canadian Government to build air raid sirens. Though they might have produced sirens during WW2 but I have yet to fully confirm that. A photo was found of a WW2 British Columbia ARP display that has a siren in it that looks like a CLM. These sirens were adopted from our British cousins sirens during WW2. The sirens had to be dual tone to distinguish the sound from a single tone fire alarm siren which would call firefighters to a station. They were mostly 10/12 port but had other variants like 20/24 and in the 5HP rotational unit, 4/12 . They made various models of sirens, like the 3HP omni directional, 5HP rotational and the 5HP carter look alikes. They came in a number of voltages ranging from single phase 110V to 3 phase 550V. CLM Industries was sold in 1985 to Cooper Industries of Texas and no longer exists. The only thing that remains is the original smoke stack that has CLM imprinted on the side, located at there old facility.
Attachments
7970800668_953ee353f6_z[1].jpg
Style 1 of Controls
7970800668_953ee353f6_z[1].jpg (64.48 KiB) Viewed 4509 times
487415_540445009306273_2005282587_n[1].jpg
Style 2 of Controls
487415_540445009306273_2005282587_n[1].jpg (101.88 KiB) Viewed 4509 times
Warfield BC.jpg
Omni Directional 3HP CLM
Warfield BC.jpg (76.67 KiB) Viewed 4509 times
140810615.EiW2XLXN[1].jpg
Rotational 5HP CLM
140810615.EiW2XLXN[1].jpg (120.03 KiB) Viewed 4509 times
3559cn4_20[1] copy.jpg
Single phase CLM variant
3559cn4_20[1] copy.jpg (111.33 KiB) Viewed 4509 times
1796420_818344734849631_359414128_n copy.jpg
WW2 display
1796420_818344734849631_359414128_n copy.jpg (64.1 KiB) Viewed 4509 times
f1257_s1057_it2228[1] copy.jpg
Original manufacturing
f1257_s1057_it2228[1] copy.jpg (163.35 KiB) Viewed 4509 times
f1257_s1057_it2231[1] copy.jpg
Shows the 10/12 & 20/24 models
f1257_s1057_it2231[1] copy.jpg (130.33 KiB) Viewed 4509 times
Last edited by Siren_Dude on Sun Apr 11, 2021 1:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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ModifiedCyclone125
 
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Re: CLM History

Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:51 pm

Very Nice Information!
Some guy who is interested in Taiwan's siren system as well for a few others,

Have I heard a siren? Yes, The Darley 3V8 In Columbia, CA Doing a noon blast. Do I own a siren? Sort of, A Vixen Horns Hand Crank Siren.

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NottaFoamer
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Re: CLM History

Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:31 pm

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing
I own a model L now cause im cool and epic like that

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CanadianTbolt1003
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Re: CLM History

Thu Apr 15, 2021 6:20 am

Very cool!
Proud owner of:
• Federal Sign & Signal STH-10
• Non-working Federal Enterprises Model 2
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OmniAlert
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Re: CLM History

Sat Feb 05, 2022 11:45 am

Wow, I’ve seen that chimney countless times while riding the GO Train. Amazing that it was part of the CLM factory!

Hippie
 
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Re: CLM History

Sat Feb 18, 2023 1:48 am

Hello all
New guy here, looks like I’m in the right place, I just brought home the fire siren from my local station. Our hall is getting demolished to make way for a new hall. The siren stopped working about a year ago so I’ve put myself in charge of restoring it. I don’t have much history on it yet as most of the crew that installed it in the mid ‘60’s are no longer with us. Siren looks like the single phase CLM variant in your pictures, the horizontal nameplate is still slightly legible, it’s 220v 3hp, the vertical one is missing. The breaker was tripping so I’m guessing the motor has shorted. I think the siren was pulled out of Comox airforce station, still trying to confirm that. Would love to get feedback and information on what I’ve got and proper restoration steps.
Thanks
Hippie

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Ziginox
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Re: CLM History

Sat Feb 18, 2023 3:58 am

Hippie wrote:
Sat Feb 18, 2023 1:48 am
The breaker was tripping so I’m guessing the motor has shorted. I think the siren was pulled out of Comox airforce station, still trying to confirm that. Would love to get feedback and information on what I’ve got and proper restoration steps.
Thanks
Hippie
Welcome to the board! You'll probably want to start a new thread on this, but... In a case like this, where you suspect the motor is shorted, I'd start probing and see if you can confirm or disprove this. You can poke it with a multimeter, but you'll really need a megger to tell if the windings are shorted or not. It may or may not be the issue, but the rest of the project hinges on if the motor is working/repairable. If it is indeed shorted, you'll want to find a motor shop to inspect it. Shorts aren't the only thing that might cause it to pull excessive current, though. Does the siren spin freely by hand? (watch your fingers with those ports!)

Hippie
 
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Re: CLM History

Sat Feb 18, 2023 10:09 pm

Thanks, yes the blades spin freely, not sure what else is in there that might overload it. I'll try posting a new thread like you say and try and add some photos

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