The Siren Board

I know of a few that are probably from the '50s, and I know they are getting old, but I'd be really sad if they died. How much longer do you think an STH-10 from the 50s will last?

Until they no longer work.

Depends on how often it was used, climate, incoming voltage, many things.

I'd say the ones near you will last another 20 years if the motors don't lock up

Allenorgan42099 wrote:I know of a few that are probably from the '50s, and I know they are getting old, but I'd be really sad if they died. How much longer do you think an STH-10 from the 50s will last?

Assuming its three phase, pretty close to forever if it's not in a corrosive environment, literally the only wear items would be the bearings in the motor.

Like Turboproppilot said, though, if it's on the coasts that salt mist will trash one in short order.

Three phase STH-10s are tanks, like most of the three phase Federal sirens.

The single phase ones don't hold up that well, mainly because that motor is overworked on that siren and the fact that 90% of them never recieve maintenance and get brushes replaced when they wear out.

holler wrote:Three phase STH-10s are tanks, like most of the three phase Federal sirens.

The single phase ones don't hold up that well, mainly because that motor is overworked on that siren and the fact that 90% of them never recieve maintenance and get brushes replaced when they wear out.

Is that why 90 percent of the STH-10s I've seen are three-phase, not single-phase? Are the three-phase ones better sirens in general?

Yes, three phase is always better. Three phase sirens were cheaper, and back before power companies started getting picky about three phase power it was easy to get.

Every town has a three phase drop somewhere. If they have a water tower 99.9% of the time the well that feeds it is three phase. Three phase is just frickin' awesome.

I replace mine every nine months.