The Siren Board

Hello I am having problems with a thunderbolt RCM. When I got into the control box everything looked okay. I went to switch on the rotator and nothing happened. Same thing on the chopper and blower. no motor starter click or anything. I checked out the power going into the box and it is fine, but when I click the test switches on the side, nothing happens. It is wired up to a thunderbolt on 3 phase 240 I believe and is in a small town. this siren is pretty essential as it covers a large campground and the city center. I am not a huge electrical expert but I should be able to get it fixed. if it is not fixable, I know a person who has several RCM1A's that are in good condition. I will not be able to get back to the siren until Monday so please keep that in mind. Thanks, Cruz

Fuses blown? Put a volt meter across each of them and test for continuity. Wires disconnected? Maybe try cleaning the contacts in each of the contactors.

Checked fuses but will check again next time I go back to work on it. the contactors don't make any noise when switch the switches. no hum, no click no nothing.
it is really weird. Next time I go back I will go through everything it was 20 degrees outside and the wind was blowing so it wasn't pleasant will try to pick a warmer day because I might have missed something. thanks, Cruz

Tried resetting the heaters?

Sounds like the control fuses might be blown, or one fuse in the three phase disconnect is blown.

Try jumpering across the two control terminals on the RCM. See if it responds when you do that.

Sorry for the big bump, but during the statewide drill today, the siren activated but only the blower and rotator came on. last time I was there we turned it on from the FC box and only the blower and rotator came on also. I need to go up there and get it working, so is there any way to turn on the chopper from the motor starter? I know there are test switches, but for some reason they have been disconnected. I remember seeing somewhere that on the chopper starter there is a manual lever thing on the side that when you push it down the chopper will start. I really need to know how to turn on just the chopper because the people at the library are going to start getting upset every time we try to troubleshoot the chopper. I would like to route it down without turning on the blower and the rotator. Thanks, and any help will be greatly appreciated!
P.S- I have tried resetting the heaters.

stormsetter4 wrote:Sorry for the big bump, but during the statewide drill today, the siren activated but only the blower and rotator came on. last time I was there we turned it on from the FC box and only the blower and rotator came on also. I need to go up there and get it working, so is there any way to turn on the chopper from the motor starter? I know there are test switches, but for some reason they have been disconnected. I remember seeing somewhere that on the chopper starter there is a manual lever thing on the side that when you push it down the chopper will start. I really need to know how to turn on just the chopper because the people at the library are going to start getting upset every time we try to troubleshoot the chopper. I would like to route it down without turning on the blower and the rotator. Thanks, and any help will be greatly appreciated!
P.S- I have tried resetting the heaters.

Yes there is a black lever you can push down on either side of the motor starter but you must push both down at once. Try not to touch any where else on the motor starter because it is live and you might get shocked. Only do this if this is your absolute last option because of the shocking factor.

notice the black things sticking out from the sides of the proctor cover, you push those inward. Then it will send power to the chopper transformer, then to the chopper.

Ok, that is what I thought. Thank you!

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Make sure the overloads for the rotator didn't trip. Push down on the reset button on the heaters and see if it's tripped. If it did I suggest you grease the rotator of that siren and change the rotator belt while you are up there.

No, the siren works almost perfectly now. None of the starters tripped. All that happened is that somebody seems to have bypassed the agastat and the test switches are all messed up and the agastat does not work. Here are a few pictures:

First off, this black wire that goes to the blower starter:


Here it is at the blower starter with a red wire disconnected behind it. It is hooked up to the 4th terminal on the left:


Then it goes to the rotator starter with another red wire disconnected behind it:


Here is a picture of the whole RCM, note the position of the test switches to the right. This is the only way to get the all 3 motors to run: