The Siren Board

Hey. This was unexpected. I acquired a 1974 Federal Sign and Signal Model 2 (110-125 volts) on September 12, 2015. I got it from Philippi Fire Department (Union County Fire Station #900, Lockhart, SC). I traded my Plectron radio siren controller for the Model 2. The Model 2 did not came with any of the cabinets for it. And the housing is missing the ID plate. I was told it does not work. It was struck by lightning. When I first got it, I tried to spin the rotor. It didn't want to spin. But later I finally got it to spin! We are going to try to test it soon to see what it will do.
Alright, I will show the pics of it first (taken before cleaning) when I first got it (before explaining most of this):















The fire department replaced this siren a while back with an extra siren they have (the Model 2T) after the lighting strike and left this siren laying on the ground near the current siren (Model 2T) for years. The reason why it was laying on the ground because the fire department didn't need it and it doesn't work. I'm glad the fire chief accepted the trade! The fire chief actually wanted my Plectron controller for use for parts for their current siren's controller. When I first discovered this siren, there was a upside down trashcan on the siren (not even covering up the whole housing). I was really surprised! I never noticed that they have another siren. At first I thought it's only the housing. But I lift it and it's heavy. Then I think it's the whole siren. It's a long story about this. This siren is actually still on Google Maps street view back when it was still in service.

I will show pics of it laying on the ground when I first discovered it:




(**I took off the housing to see it and to get pics of it.**)



As of September 13, 2015 (today), I took some parts off it to take a closer look at inside of the motor.

Very nice, man! It is so good to see another siren like this to be saved from potential scrap!

Hate to bump this, but I now own this siren (Well technically I have since Nov. 2016, although I did not own it from July to October this year). Thankfully, the siren still has some life in it. The armature is good to go, however I plan to have the commutator turned. Unfortunately, the field is pretty much gone beyond recognition. The siren has no brushes as well might I add. However, I plan to put a replacement 120V field in it (probably will order it from Federal), get decals for the shroud, repaint it, and slap on a unused Federal Signal Model 2 housing ID tag in place of the missing one. Hopefully, I can get this running again. In the event I do, I will probably replace the Model D here at the house with the 2 and use it as a community warning siren (I already have the go ahead from my local city council to do this)

Another approach I have heard is that a 2 motor is similar to a vacuum cleaner motor. (at least in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=260xqqiAdDk). If this is the case, I could cannibalize a VC motor for parts for this and somehow rig it to this siren in an attempt to get it running again, although I am still believing that just getting factory parts will be the simpler solution. Just a thought.

Sorry for the consecutive post, but I wanted to give you all an update on this 2. I completely refurbished the housing. The siren however is another case. The field is toast beyond all recognition The armature, although still good, I will most likely retire and keep as a spare. My current plan of attack is to either obtain a parts siren with good electrical components and retrofit said parts to this 2, or just leave the 2 alone, and find some pieces to retrofit a 1000 chopper to stand in for a Model 2. I will post pictures of the housing as soon as I can.

Bump-a-roo, but with good news:

With the help of Christopher, we have resurrected this model 2. I acquired a new motor as well as armature for the siren, and we assembled it earlier this afternoon. We did have some minor issues at first, but we got them sorted out with new brushes and some oil. We did bump it on 120 and it sluggishly came to life. Why this is, is due to the fact that the parts we used were for a 240V siren, a Tbolt chopper as a matter of fact that was retrofitted with 2 legs, stator, etc. transferred from the original siren. Before running it for tests, etc. however, I plan on getting a source for 240V that is more practical then having to run a cable all the way through the house, up to the third floor where the dryer is.

About the chopper, please do not pester me or christopher about where it came from. We are not allowed to say where it came from, and we have no intentions of sharing out of respect for the privacy of the source. Thanks for understanding.

A short video taken not even a minute after we installed it. Aplolgies for the shoddy video, it was a quick thing filmed with my phone (iPhone 8+)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZjhDSAvA_s

HUGE thanks to TrainsAndSirens1 for sourcing the parts to put this old girl back into service and for helping with the installation.