Sterling Siren Fire Alarm, Rochester NY

[Daniel]

Given your knowledge, I would like to ask a somewhat off-topic Sterling question. This is a VFD siren in Pine Meadow, CT, a part of the town of New Hartford. We presume it's a Sterling...can you shed any light on it?

We have some of those in Oregon (Merrill, Keno, Oakridge). I thought those were Sterling 2V8 sirens.

[CTsirenhunter]

We have some of those in Oregon (Merrill, Keno, Oakridge). I thought those were Sterling 2V8 sirens.

Ok, thanks. Sorry to ask twice.

[Daniel]

We have some of those in Oregon (Merrill, Keno, Oakridge). I thought those were Sterling 2V8 sirens.

Ok, thanks. Sorry to ask twice.

Actually, I'm not quite sure. I thought Franz might know. The 2V8 came in several forms, and since Franz maintains that Sterling's only vertical sirens were fractional horsepower, this might be something else.

[holler]

Hey Franz what about this siren? It has about 8 or 9 ports. Is this a larger vertical Sterling?

[Franz?]

Those verticals were NOT made by Sterling Siren Fire Alarm in Rochester based on my knowledge. Rochester NEVER made verticals larger than fractional horsepower with a housing that resembled a bullet about 8" diameter and 18" long.

The reason verticals weren't made by Sterling Siren Fire Alarm in Rochester was very simple, BEARINGS. From the earliest days of manufacture, Sterling horizontals used Howell RedBand motors. Those motors had bronze oil lubricated bearings, and those bearings could NOT carry the weight in a vertical orientation. When the switch was made to GE motors with ball bearings, it might have been possible to build a vertical BUT, when test machines were built it was determined the existing clipper casting cracked from the stress of starting. Given the market, the company decided there simply wasn't any reason to make vertical sirens.

Federal was building a vertical House Siren in the mid 50s called the Sound Barrier, available in single or stacked rotor configuration, and it quickly became aparent the machines froze in ice storms and after serious rain storms when temperature dropped. Sterling's attitude was Sterling had a rock solid product in a limited market, why change it.

The vertical machines you guys keep posting pics of may be a product of Sentry. From the pics, it looks like they may have hung a single clipper onto a motor in a vertical orientation. If the machines are staying together they must have cast the clipper with heavier webs than the H models had. Start torque on a 5hp machine is tremendous. I have seen towers with twists in them after vertical sirens were placed on top of the tower that held a horizontal for years.

[hobbeekid]

Franz,

Thanks for joining the board, it's nice to see someone with a genuine background and history on the sterling sirens to set the record straight and offer the true facts about these devices.I also stand corrected on my assumtion about the model M which was probably a model H from my childhood memories, looking at the ad's you've posted.Oh that sound,I remember that sound though,forever burned into my memory!

I at some point hope that some older guys from Federal will find their way onto this board the way you have. 8) Jeff

[pyramid head]

I would feel sorry for a Federal employee, every Tom dick and Jane would be flooding them with Emails and PMs (more than likely just being repeats). Sterling sirens are not loved by nearly as many people, so Franz might be somewhat safe from this (could be wrong). I know that I must irritate people, and I do not even notice until I actually think about it. With all the damn Emails and PMs I have sent to Dave over the corse of a few months...well you get the idea.

[Franz?]

The reality is I am the last man standing from a company that began in 1918, damn near died during the Great Depression, and finally expired in the 70s due to lack of intrest in the product in that decade.

The thought keeps running through my mind; Had I in 1980 told Wild Bill 28 years hence there would be an internet site where people would gather and talk about the products Sterling made, he probably would have tucked me into the back of an ambulance and driven me to the mental ward.

Oh well, somebody ought to write the real story, preferably somebody who actually was hands on with the miserable contraptions in every possible circumstance, from sweating in the sun to knocking ice off a damn windmill tower so I could climb it.

I really can't stand the "make it up" historians who stand in front of a room full of people at the Historical Society and bull about everything from Trolley cars in Rochester to Prohibition, and lie about men I've personally known, so I best get the reality of Sterling in print here forever. Hey, the internet is forever, ain't it?

Hopefully that Moderator fellow can come along and insert some pictures to make the story more interesting. I keep finding pictures.

Side Note: The easiest way to tell an H from an M is endcovers. The original M was built without end covers on the suction snorkel, probably to make it easier for mice and rats to build nests. H models left the factory with end covers that had louvers to control airflow into the machine.

[pyramid head]

You more than likely already said something about this, but can you get some pictures of your H? A true American fire siren just like the Model 5 and 7. I can post your pictures if you want, just Email them to me. Has anybody spoken for it yet? If not, I might have to do some business with you.

[pyramid head]

Here are some of Franz's antiques.