Phoenix Thunderbolt Coming Down This Wednesday

[CDV777-1]

That blower is identical to the old blowers that Valley View has except the frame has those extra pieces where the motor bolts on and the blower cover box is different. I thought there might be more of a difference because the blower box is so much different. The RCM looks just like the 1959 RCM I got from the Dallas fire station. Except it's 3 phase and mine is single.

That's a pretty unique siren as far as thunderbolts go. Please keep it in as original condition as possible. If it were me I would problably just do a thorough cleaning on it to start with and see how it looks after cleaning. I would really be tempted to leave it as is. That's just me though.

[Westgate Thunderbolt]

I thought about keeping it as is. The only reason I am swayed against it is the crappy off white paint they used on the blower cover when they repainted the school.

Everything about the blower is huge. After doing a side-by-side comparison, this blower is at least three and probably almost four times larger than a C Series. The cover is over 1-1/2 times larger.

[Westgate Thunderbolt]

Today I was cleaning off some dirt off of the blower frame. To my Surprise I uncovered a Federal Enterprises, Inc. ID plate. http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N ... otostream/ I didn't even know that plate was even under all of that dirt. Since the control cabinet had a Federal Sign and Signal Corporation plate I assumed the rest of the components had the same.

There are some things on the plate that don't make sense to me. Why did they put the type as a 2000 and the voltage as 12DC? Wasn't the 2000 the blower that ran off of a gasoline engine?

Here is another picture of the blower: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N ... otostream/

[Allertor113]

Thats wierd, Maybe the old motor broke down and they ordered a eletric motor replacement for it?

[erik92da]

What a nicely preserved example! I doubt there are many (any?) jailbar models in that good of condition.

The model 2000 mark is pretty interesting. Chances are, 12VDC would have been the electrical rating of the gasoline starter. Maybe it was a gasoline engine model. Are there any odd bolt holes in the blower frame?

If it were up to me, I would leave the siren original, except for the unoriginal paint on the blower as you said.

[holler]

That's what I was wondering, because it has the gas motor blower box. One identical to yours was found in Las Vegas (I think) that still has the gas engine on it. Does yours still have the exhaust pipe hole in the blower box?

[Westgate Thunderbolt]

I have a real sneaky suspicion that this Thunderbolt installation originally had a gasoline engine for the blower. Things are just starting to add up.

First there are the motor mounting stand off brackets. I have been looking at those brackets, and something about them just didn't seem right to me. They for some reason just seem out of place with the rest of the frame. I couldn't figure out why the brackets were even there when they could have just mounted the motor down on the frame where the elongated mounting holes and pusher bolts are at for belt tension adjustment. Then Eric says that the blowers in Valley View, TX are identical to mine except for those stand off brackets.

Then there is the data plate. Type 2000 and Volts 12DC data stampings would make sense for a gasoline engine. The Thunderbolt 2000 was the Thunderbolt with the gasoline engine, hence the Type 2000. The Volts 12DC would make sense for the 12 volt battery power to start the engine. I originally thought they might have accidently put a police/fire siren plate on the blower frame with the 12DC stamping that was on it, but then that Type 2000 finally clicked in my head.

The last piece of the puzzle for me was the blower cover. After finding that data plate, I was up last night trying to research a little further. I was searching around the board for the pictures of the Thunderbolt 2000 blower in San Dimas, CA. I found them here: http://airraidsirens.com/forums/viewtop ... 0&start=15 . My blower box is identical to this one except it isn't split in half. It has the louvered vents on both sides. This is the final piece that convinced me, and to answer Jeb's question. It even has about an 1-1/4" hole in the same location where the exhaust pipe is coming out of the one pictured in San Dimas.

All of this has convinced me that this blower I have originally was run with a gasoline engine.

I have yet to take a close look at the data plate on the rotator box. I don't know what it may reveal. I may take a look at it today if I can dig around to get it out. It is kind of surrounded with Thunderbolt components right now.

Justin

[CDV777-1]

Wow! It definitely was a gas version. That explains the extra brackets under the blower motor and the box. It makes it frustrating too because now you now that it was a 2000 originally. Now I'm wondering what happened to the gas motor. It would probably be almost impossible to find out what kind of motor it had originally.
Seeing the better pic of the blower you posted it does appear that the blower is the same except the motor brackets and the pulley on the blower is even larger than the pulleys on the big blowers I have seen.

Looking at those San Dimas pics again I think that blower box might have been modified. Looks kind of like it was cut in half and the extra hole was added in the side of the box. Sure would be nice to see some pics of that blower box completely removed. Wonder if that siren is still there.

[holler]

Charles said in the first page that the one in San Dumas was gone in 2010.

[Westgate Thunderbolt]

Well, I took a look at the data plate on the rotator box earlier today. This is what I found: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N ... hotostream TYPE: 2000, H.P.: 10.1, SERIAL NO.: GT-50, VOLTS: 12DC and nothing for CYCLES, PHASE or AMPS. It is the same as the data plate on the blower frame. The only difference is the serial number. The blower serial number is GT-54 and the serial number on the siren head is GT-50. While the data plate on the rotator box is painted over, I am positive it is also Federal Enterprises, Inc. It seem now the only things not matching in the installation are the early Federal Sign and Signal Corporation control cabinet and blower motor.

There was a date stamp on one of the service disconnect boxes of August, 1994. I now wonder if the siren was converted around 1994. The control cabinet and the service disconnect boxes were all installed with the same concrete rivets. There was new wire going to the control cabinet and even all plastic flex conduit. I don't think they had all plastic flex conduit in the early 1950s. The control cabinet had open holes in it that had no conduit going to them. I think the county just pulled a used control cabinet off the shelf to use for the conversion. There was also old conduit coming from the ground just below the control cabinet that was cut off above ground level. Was this from the original install? Who knows.

It is a little disheartening knowing that this siren was originally a gasoline powered Thunderbolt 2000 that was converted to all electric, but I am still very happy to have it. The chances of finding not only the replacement engine, but also the appropriate motor control for a 2000 it is close to none. Is there one in some dark county warehouse, out in a field surrounded in six foot tall grass or rusting away in some town somewhere? Probably. Even if I did find one, that is only half the battle. I would probably have to pry it from some EMA's grip as well. It does help me feel better knowing that it is a very early Federal Enterprises, Inc. Thunderbolt though.

In the end, it is what it is. It is a very nice old Thunderbolt 2000 in excellent condition for its age that just so happened to be converted to all electric.