The Siren Board

So, I got my first siren today at an antiques show in Burlington, KY. It's a Federal Sign and Signal vehicle siren. It looks to me like a Q siren. Anyways, I don't have any idea what way to supply the power and I sort of need help on what to use to restore it. Here it is:

That lug with the cut off wire SHOULD be the positive. If that's the only place on a siren for a wire, then the metal base is your negative (ground). That's how my Federal WG is.

Good luck with it!

-Rick

That's a 6v Federal model 28 siren. It's probably positive ground being that it's 6v, but it's just as possible it's negative ground. It's in rough shape, and i highly doubt it will run in the condition that it is in currently. Good luck restoring it.

That doesn't look anything like a Q. It's a 28 (it even says so on the ID tag), and it definitely needs some fixing up. Congrats on getting your first siren.

Thanks everyone! This siren will almost certainly scream again!

Being a series wound motor, polarity does not make a difference.

That's a Model 28 and those are bloody loud! They are not coaster sirens (no clutch or brake) and draw less current than a Q. If it is a 12 volt siren - some are 6 volts - you can connect it to a car battery with jumper cables and the engine running.

as JasonC said, this one is 6 volts. the tag is pretty corroded but you can barely make out the "6" on the left hand side.