Page 1 of 2
Federal PA-5
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 8:00 pm
by E712
I recently acquired a PA-5 siren and am try to see if it still works or not. Would anybody now how to wire it, also does anybody know where I might find a manual for it?
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:24 am
by MysteryMachine
you're gonna need a siren speaker and a 12v source. The siren should say what wires go to the siren and what ones are power
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:32 pm
by E712
I've got a power source and a speaker. (I should have stated that) On the bottom of theirs a strip with two screws mark speaker, two marked radio and one mark 12+. I haven't been able to find where to put the ground wire.
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 3:25 pm
by MysteryMachine
It might ground through the case then.
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 6:15 pm
by E712
Thanks, I'll give it a try.
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:39 pm
by E712
As it turns out, it does indeed ground to the case. Unfortunately the siren does not work properly, it only makes buzzing sounds that kinda resemble the signal it is set to (wail or yelp).
Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:10 am
by landmobile
E712 wrote:As it turns out, it does indeed ground to the case. Unfortunately the siren does not work properly, it only makes buzzing sounds that kinda resemble the signal it is set to (wail or yelp).
Are you sure that your speaker is good and connected correctly? The buzzing sound you are hearing is coming from the output transformer, and is commonly heard when the siren is functional but connected to an open circuit (i.e. bad speaker or wiring).
Chris
Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:21 am
by MysteryMachine
lol yeah they can do some weird stuff. Our old work ambulance had the siren playing through the radio. It started one night and we were like WTF is that. Found out that the speakers were disconnected at some point, hooked them back up and everything worked great
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 1:00 am
by E712
landmobile wrote:E712 wrote:As it turns out, it does indeed ground to the case. Unfortunately the siren does not work properly, it only makes buzzing sounds that kinda resemble the signal it is set to (wail or yelp).
Are you sure that your speaker is good and connected correctly? The buzzing sound you are hearing is coming from the output transformer, and is commonly heard when the siren is functional but connected to an open circuit (i.e. bad speaker or wiring).
Chris
I have a second speaker that I can hook up, maybe that will make a difference.
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 1:30 am
by landmobile
E712 wrote:I have a second speaker that I can hook up, maybe that will make a difference.
Give that a try.
Also, you can check your speaker with a mulitmeter. Set the meter to read resistance. You should see about 10 ohms from one speaker lead to the other and infinite resistance from either speaker lead to the chassis.
Chris