The La Crescent, MN Hurricane.

[SuperBanshee]

When searching around for ACA Hurricane material, I ran across this city document from last year. It details the replacement of the Hurricane 130 MKII at Abnet Field. Its chopper motor must have failed since the siren already did not rotate or use its blower assembly - certainly a "significant mechanical failure". A new 2001-130 was installed to replace the Hurricane.

http://www.cityoflacrescent-mn.gov/wp-c ... 5-PDF1.pdf

La Crescent, MN used to have at least two Hurricane 130 MKIIs. Neither were in full working order, being relegated to low-volume directional sirens. The other Hurricane at Kistler Park was taken down in 2012 following storm damage.
I did manage to find the Abnet Field siren on Google Maps. It appears the horn turned gray from several years of sun exposure.
The Hurricane horns were slightly tilted to let rain water leak out. Some have a more notable tilt than others. They were never symmetrical like the Federal Thunderbolt.

Old Siren.

LaCrescentMNOld.png (322.81 KiB) Viewed 5528 times

[Jared H]

It was my understanding that this one's blower was in fact functional. The Kistler Park siren was the one who's blower died.
See here: http://youtu.be/w49RFdn68aw (granted, this was as of 2012)

[CycloneFan125]

Speaking of Hurricane, any update on the one in Milwaukee. Apparently sometime ago it was broken once again. See for yourself: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fcOfxarWU2g

[DJ2226]

I think the blower on that one finally seized up and made the heaters on the starter trip out. It was not a happy goer, the blower would slow in speed as it ran.

[JMAN]

I don't understand why La Crescent ever welded the horns to a fixed position in the first place. First, instead of welding them there, why not just somehow disconnect the roator (Im assuming it is just a belt drive)? Another question, were the horns pointing towards the parks they were at? Cause im not sure why you would buy a siren like that and not want it covering the residential neighborhoods. Wouldnt a smaller siren like a banshee or screamer or something have sufficed? (Those arent really small i guess), At least they are going to get a full working siren that should have issues in the future. Sad to see such wonderful, yet neglected sirens go. Maybe someone will try to obtain it? By the way, has a replacement location for the kistler park siren been made, or are they just not going to have a siren in that area?

EDIT: Merging my 3 consecutive posts into one.
I am now looking at google maps and am realizing there isn't a need for a siren in the kistler park location. I'm surprised they put the two hurricanes so close to each other in the first place. Maybe that was a reason for the rotators to not be in use. Seems like with the hurricanes, there is some pretty saturated coverage, the Sentry is really close to the 2001-130, and the kistler park hurricane is just a little over the same distance away from the 2001-130 as the Sentry is. The two hurricanes were practically right down the road from each other.

I'm surprised were just hearing of this now, google street view and aerial view shows the new 2001-130 at the ice arena was there in September when street view rolled through.

[SuperBanshee]

I couldn't hear the blower in the Abnet Field video. La Crescent only cared if the chopper motor was working since this produced the sound - even if it was nowhere near as loud as it should have been. I am certain that neither Hurricane in La Crescent worked properly for very long. The Hurricane 130 MKII was a flawed design on many levels - rotator, chopper, and blower were not as well designed as they could have been, and it didn't help that all three assemblies were prone to mechanical trouble. The biggest snag is that when/if the chopper motor burns out, there's no way to effectively overhaul it. It's an enclosed motor that wasn't meant to be periodically disassembled.

The Milwaukee siren has not been working properly for a long time. They did try to repair it but this didn't do much good. Milwaukee County used to have other Hurricanes which were replaced over the years. Most were replaced with Penetrators or Tempests.

[Jared H]

I couldn't hear the blower in the Abnet Field video. La Crescent only cared if the chopper motor was working since this produced the sound - even if it was nowhere near as loud as it should have been. I am certain that neither Hurricane in La Crescent worked properly for very long. The Hurricane 130 MKII was a flawed design on many levels - rotator, chopper, and blower were not as well designed as they could have been, and it didn't help that all three assemblies were prone to mechanical trouble. The biggest snag is that when/if the chopper motor burns out, there's no way to effectively overhaul it. It's an enclosed motor that wasn't meant to be periodically disassembled.

The Milwaukee siren has not been working properly for a long time. They did try to repair it but this didn't do much good. Milwaukee County used to have other Hurricanes which were replaced over the years. Most were replaced with Penetrators or Tempests.

While I couldn't actually hear the blower, the overall tone quality of the siren sounded like the blower was operating, plus the fact that no other sirens were drowning it out.
So basically the only in-service hurricane that functions properly is Darien, IL?

[Chicagosiren-hunters]

What about the one in Milwaukee? I thought the EMA repaired that one.

[SuperBanshee]

The black Hurricane in Darien, IL on the fire station is still there, however its chopper bearings sound a bit stiff in all the recordings. The rotor fans spin down much faster compared to the other Hurricanes. As there is no way to normally service this assembly, the Hurricane is doomed to fail eventually. They aren't very good for maintenance access compared to the Thunderbolt.

Any other Hurricane siren in Milwaukee would have been replaced by now. I believe there was one along Florist Avenue.
Here is the old photo of Greendale's siren before it was damaged by storms in 2000. They now have a T-128.

Old Siren

Greendale FD.png (158.99 KiB) Viewed 5329 times

So there aren't any more Hurricanes working at 100%. It is now the time to scrape up any photos or recordings of these Hurricane sirens.

[Valra Bellkeys]

The black Hurricane in Darien, IL on the fire station is still there, however its chopper bearings sound a bit stiff in all the recordings. The rotor fans spin down much faster compared to the other Hurricanes. As there is no way to normally service this assembly, the Hurricane is doomed to fail eventually. They aren't very good for maintenance access compared to the Thunderbolt.

Any other Hurricane siren in Milwaukee would have been replaced by now. I believe there was one along Florist Avenue.
Here is the old photo of Greendale's siren before it was damaged by storms in 2000. They now have a T-128.

Greendale FD.png

So there aren't any more Hurricanes working at 100%. It is now the time to scrape up any photos or recordings of these Hurricane sirens.

Videogamer's :hurricane: seems to be in good condition. He tells me though the blower needs a new motor, but other then that his :hurricane: seems fine to him. I just asked him in the IRC chat myself.