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RRSPYT
 
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Darley 3v8 or Vertical Champion?

Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:17 am

Hi everybody, I recently purchased an old fire siren from a village near my college. It appears to be an 8 port Darley 3v8, but the metal band/label that came with it says it is a Champion. Here are some pictures of it (sorry if the quality isn't too great on some of them), can anybody identify it for me?

Side View: https://flic.kr/p/2mKFjuu

Top View: https://flic.kr/p/2mKFjK4

Bottom View: https://flic.kr/p/2mKFjvS

Label: https://flic.kr/p/2mKBQKQ
Owner of a MS-590, operator of a Darley 3v8 fire station siren.

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Chicagosiren-hunters
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Re: Darley 3v8 or Vertical Champion?

Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:57 pm

First of all, congratulations on the acquisition! That looks to be an old one; I'd reckon 1930's. Is there any way you could upload a picture of the ID tag on the motor?

That is indeed a Darley Champion. "Champion" was what Darley branded most of their earlier sirens as. These "3V8's" (that name is mainly a misnomer, as the model numbers actually aren't known for these IIRC) came in two variants: a smaller 2.5HP version and a larger 5HP version that shared the same rotors as the 7.5HP dual heads. I could be wrong, but this one looks to be the larger of the two.
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Re: Darley 3v8 or Vertical Champion?

Fri Nov 19, 2021 4:41 pm

Yours definitely looks like the larger 5HP version. I had the smaller 2.5HP version and the chopper ports are much smaller than yours.
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RRSPYT
 
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Re: Darley 3v8 or Vertical Champion?

Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:41 pm

Chicagosiren-hunters wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:57 pm
First of all, congratulations on the acquisition! That looks to be an old one; I'd reckon 1930's. Is there any way you could upload a picture of the ID tag on the motor?

That is indeed a Darley Champion. "Champion" was what Darley branded most of their earlier sirens as. These "3V8's" (that name is mainly a misnomer, as the model numbers actually aren't known for these IIRC) came in two variants: a smaller 2.5HP version and a larger 5HP version that shared the same rotors as the 7.5HP dual heads. I could be wrong, but this one looks to be the larger of the two.
Thanks for the response! I'll try to get a picture of the motor ID tag at some point this weekend.
Owner of a MS-590, operator of a Darley 3v8 fire station siren.

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