The Siren Board

Hello, I have a question about a Allertor. There is one that is in my neighborhood and it has been there for about 10 years. However I believe it is wired backwards and is not achieving full output. Is there a way to tell if it is wired backwards? It rotates clockwise, and I remember reading somewhere that it is supposed to rotate counter-clockwise. The siren runs on 240v AC 3 phase and is controlled by a federal signal FC controller and a federal signal motor starter. It is in a system consisting of a Thunderbolt and a STL-10 in a small town. My Father is an alderman so he can talk to the city about having it fixed.

If it is rotating clockwise, you are correct about it running backwards. The rotors in ACA sirens are designed to run counter-clockwise to achieve full output, and on sirens like the Penetrator 10 and 15 as well as the Allertor where the rotation drive is driven off of the same motor as the chopper, the siren itself should also rotate counter-clockwise. They're still loud running the incorrect direction, but nowhere near as loud as they should be. If someone from the city is willing to go out and take a look at it, all that needs to be done is swap around two of the three wires on the bottom of the motor starter and the siren's motor will reverse direction.

Actually if i remember correctly, standing at the bottom of pole and looking up at the siren the head assembly will rotate clockwise but looking into the motor impeller it will be turning counter-clockwise.

I also think the siren output is de-rated by 1/3 if running backwards too.

P-50's also are like this as well but can rotate either way since they have an independent rotation motor.

I always wondered as to how ACA cast those angled contours into some of their choppers, particularly those of the Hurricane. Doesn't ASC obtain their choppers from the same supplier as Federal nowadays?

SirenMadness wrote:I always wondered as to how ACA cast those angled contours into some of their choppers, particularly those of the Hurricane. Doesn't ASC obtain their choppers from the same supplier as Federal nowadays?

More Federal uses the same company as ASC. Eclipse=T112, 508=T128.

Thank you for the help! I will talk to the city about it

Sorry for the bump and double-post, but tomorrow I am going out with the city's building inspector to repair the allertor and manually test the other sirens in town. We got some advice from a local electrician on which wires to switch around and will do that tomorrow. Nonetheless I am very exited as this is the first time I have ever set off a full size siren on full power. Videos to come tomorrow night.

stormsetter4 wrote:Sorry for the bump and double-post, but tomorrow I am going out with the city's building inspector to repair the allertor and manually test the other sirens in town. We got some advice from a local electrician on which wires to switch around and will do that tomorrow. Nonetheless I am very exited as this is the first time I have ever set off a full size siren on full power. Videos to come tomorrow night.

nice, are you planning on getting a recording or video?

Good on you for going through official channels to get this taken care of.

Yes, I do plan on getting a video of all the sirens, and thank you for the comment about the official stuff!