Odd Thunderbolt blower

[Fireman61341]

I finally was able to get over to Peru to get a couple pics of the T-bolt by the mall. I've been wondering if this is actually a gas Thunderbolt, it has a ground mounted box that's about 4 times the size of a normal blower box and looks a little like the gas T-bolts I've seen in threads here before. I didn't see an exhaust pipe, but there is a small mesh grate in the front of the box, I looked inside and it looks like there is a normal yellow blower box. There's some other stuff in there too, but it was pretty dark in there and I couldn't tell what it was. I don't see any power going to the pole or the box, but there is a small box with a power switch up about halfway up the pole. All the other pole mounted T-bolts around here have multiple control boxes mounted on the pole but this one only has the box with the power disconnect. I would be surprised if this really is a gas T-bolt, I'm wondering if the big green box is just some kind of security thing. It's been here for at least 25 years and I'm pretty sure it's still active, I heard it go off from about a mile away 6 years ago but I didn't know very much about sirens then. Sorry I only snapped a couple quick pics, it's in a busy area and I felt kinda weird standing there taking pictures of a siren. After I got home and looked at them I realized I really didn't capture much detail. Anyone have any opinions?

Update Almost a year after this thread and I was finally able to get back here for a test..... It's a 1000T!!..... Sorry I'm a little too exited, but I've never heard one in person, all the other T-bolts around here are 1000s. Sounds pretty healthy and is about chopper level 5 or 6.



Sorry about the large pics.......

[r4tbolts]

Looks like a security box over the blower box and actually not a bad idea to discourage vandals since it is on the ground. I would think any gas powered unit would need an exaust pipe otherwise the exaust in an enclosed space would displace the oxygen need for combustion and the gas engine would fail. Nice pic.

[EL1998P71]

any more pic's? It's hard to tell cause you were not really close and you only got the one side of it.

[holler]

Wow, now I feel really bad, I went by that mall when I stopped in IL on the way back from WI. The only siren I found in town was a silver Model 5 on a radio tower.

It must have ducked when it saw me coming.

[Fireman61341]

any more pic's? It's hard to tell cause you were not really close and you only got the one side of it.

Nothing up close, I didn't have a lot of time and some of the looks I was getting from people kinda freaked me out. I wish I would have taken a little more time to look at it now. This was the first time I've ever taken a siren pic, guess I need a little more practice. It looks about the same on the other sides except the front where it has a grill that's about 1ft by 2ft. Like I said, I could see a yellow blower box inside but it was too dark in there to see what anything else was. I'm leaning towards what r4tbolts said, that it's for security. If they were worried about vandals why didn't they mount it half way up the pole like all the others around here?

[Fireman61341]

Wow, now I feel really bad, I went by that mall when I stopped in IL on the way back from WI. The only siren I found in town was a silver Model 5 on a radio tower.

It must have ducked when it saw me coming.

There's a lot of signs and light poles around there. If you don't know it's there, it kinda blends in with the scenery.

[kx250rider]

I can't tell... If the case splits in half lengthwise, as opposed to being a one piece tilt-off housing, it might be a gas one. The exhaust pipe is very small; maybe only a 3/4" straight plumbing pipe. The San Dimas, CA Gas T-Bolt has a lot more louvred vents than this one appears to have.

Charles

[tboltkid520]

The box could be there to protect the blower box inside from damages, like a car running into it (since I see it is situated in a parking lot).

[Fireman61341]

^Yeah I think that's probably what it is. The box is all one piece and the silver "handle" towards the front says "cap. 150 lbs" on it. Now that I think about it, that Subway hasn't always been there. I don't remember if that was a vacant lot, or part of the mall lot but the box might have been added later on for protection. It just seemed weird that there are no other boxes mounted to the pole. There is no power meter either but after I thought about that a little I remembered that the city of Peru has their own power co-op, and a city owned siren probably wouldn't have a meter. Dang! I was hoping it would turn out to be a gasser. Oh well.

[carexpertandy]

I don't know why it's green, but it's rusty!