Sireno's answer to the Q

[Henry455]

Just acquired a NOS Sireno model 40010. It came in the original Sireno box with a foot switch, brake switch, cable lugs, #4 cable, brake wire and instruction manual. The box was stamped March 11, 1976. It is a 12 port coaster siren with a screw type clutch but that 33 year old grease in the bearings must be pretty thick as you will hear in the video below.




One thing odd, at least to me, the stator ports are wider at the front than the back, anyone know the reason for this?





here is a short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXRwpv8y5SM

[zetronist]

Very nice, Henry!

Could it be that Sireno has the widening ports to avoid infringing on Federal Signal's design? Just a guess... That is the first time I ever saw such a design.

I don't think I've ever seen one of these babies in service out here on the Right Coast-- but then again we don't see B&Ms out here either. Too bad!

I always enjoy your videos.

John

[Jim_Ferer]

Very nice, Henry!

Could it be that Sireno has the widening ports to avoid infringing on Federal Signal's design? Just a guess... That is the first time I ever saw such a design.

I don't think I've ever seen one of these babies in service out here on the Right Coast-- but then again we don't see B&Ms out here either. Too bad!

I always enjoy your videos.

John

I'd be a little surprised. Most rotary siren patents expired long ago.

Sirenos were good sirens. My FD had a lot of them and a lot of Sterling 30s (my favorite fire truck siren). Both the 30 and the Sireno weren't as high pitched as the Q, IIRC, and the sound was excellent.

[Skip Goulet]

I had one of the big Sirenos many years ago that I bought from an ambulance supply outfit in St. Louis for $150. That was one of the best deals I ever made. The big Sireno is actually slightly larger than a Q and will out-coast a Q. I was with a small volunteer ambulance service that provided standby service for sporting events back then. One Sunday we had taken our ambulance with the big Sireno on it to the local race track. The track was set up for car races or motorcycle short track, plus they had a small moto-x track in the infield. When they ran the car or short track, we would back the ambulance up the downside of one of the motocross jumps. There we could stand on the hill and see the whole track. One day I was standing on the hill and they had just taken a short break. I heard a funny sound coming from the front of the ambulance and went to investigate. There was a brisk breeze coming from the south, and that old Sireno was rolling all by itself! We actually traded the old siren off sometime later, but now I wish we had kept it!

[Skip Goulet]

Very nice, Henry!

Could it be that Sireno has the widening ports to avoid infringing on Federal Signal's design? Just a guess... That is the first time I ever saw such a design.

I don't think I've ever seen one of these babies in service out here on the Right Coast-- but then again we don't see B&Ms out here either. Too bad!

I always enjoy your videos.

John

I'd be a little surprised. Most rotary siren patents expired long ago.

Sirenos were good sirens. My FD had a lot of them and a lot of Sterling 30s (my favorite fire truck siren). Both the 30 and the Sireno weren't as high pitched as the Q, IIRC, and the sound was excellent.

While a lot of the old patents went out years ago, B&M's didn't. Their plant is still up and running, and they give Federal considerable competition with their big Super Chief siren. It's deep-throated roar will put the Q to shame at a distance because it carries so far. And the prices between the B&M line are competitive with Federal's. Check out their website at: www.siro-driftsirens.com.

[Henry455]

One day I was standing on the hill and they had just taken a short break. I heard a funny sound coming from the front of the ambulance and went to investigate. There was a brisk breeze coming from the south, and that old Sireno was rolling all by itself! We actually traded the old siren off sometime later, but now I wish we had kept it!

With a good broken-in bearing a Q and the B&M will do that. That's why the current B&M's brakes are energized with no power applied. You have to apply power to release the brake to keep them from growling at freeway speeds. When I had Kevin restore my S8, I had him reuse the 40+ year old bearings to keep the long coast. You can see in this video:

http://youtu.be/ab8Wh0gCj5U

[Skip Goulet]

One day I was standing on the hill and they had just taken a short break. I heard a funny sound coming from the front of the ambulance and went to investigate. There was a brisk breeze coming from the south, and that old Sireno was rolling all by itself! We actually traded the old siren off sometime later, but now I wish we had kept it!

With a good broken-in bearing a Q and the B&M will do that. That's why the current B&M's brakes are energized with no power applied. You have to apply power to release the brake to keep them from growling at freeway speeds. When I had Kevin restore my S8, I had him reuse the 40+ year old bearings to keep the long coast. You can see in this video:

http://youtu.be/ab8Wh0gCj5U

You'll get no argument from me on that part of it. But B&M sirens were built to "wind-coast", as they've always called it. That's why B&M went to spring-loaded brakes, initially on the Super Chief, close to 50 years ago. They got complaints about the sirens making too much noise by simply driving down the road. The first ambulance I ever got to work out of had an S8B Siro-Drift siren (the plain-jane looking model with the short nose) fender-mounted. If our boss happened to drive that vehicle,he'd stop and get out put a stick in one of the opening to prevent it from freely spinning. Since Kevin O'Connell took over ownership of B&M in 1998, all B&M sirens now have the spring-loaded brake. The downside to those things are that you have to put juice to the brake to "unlock" it. On the one ambulance we had many years ago that had a Super Chief (with a spring-loaded brake), I was forever forgetting to disarm that silly brake, and with juice going through it to keep the brake released, it would run down the battery!

[Skip Goulet]

Very nice, Henry!

Could it be that Sireno has the widening ports to avoid infringing on Federal Signal's design? Just a guess... That is the first time I ever saw such a design.

I don't think I've ever seen one of these babies in service out here on the Right Coast-- but then again we don't see B&Ms out here either. Too bad!

I always enjoy your videos.

John

I don't know about any infringement by Sireno, since this siren (originally called the ED series before ITT bought out Sireno) is slightly larger than a Q, and will out roll it! We had the chromed version, the ED10, roof-mounted on an ambulance. The siren was very loud and would outroll anything I've seen except on old B&M S8B Siro-Drift that I saw coast for more than 10 minutes one time! This big Sireno was so well-balanced that when we were sitting still at a local MotoX race one time, and had the ambulance slightly backedup the downside of an unused jump, the brisk southerly breeze caught the siren by "surprise" and it started rolling all on its own. Federal Qs and all three B&Ms will "wind coast" with the vehicle in motion...especially if the button has been slightly bumped; but this Sireno had a "mind" of its own!