I've recently bought a Gents of Leicester Tangent siren, which I believe may be a Type 1479. It seems very similar in construction and design to one, however obviously it is not a 15-port model, rather being 8-port.
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Unfortunately the makers plate does not feature a model number. I was wondering if anyone would be any the wiser as to whether this is a Type 1479 or not?
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The siren is absolutely full of cobwebs at the moment, so I'll clean those out before I test it.
I'll take more detailed shots of the rotor whilst I'm cleaning, as it is a very strange design. It almost reminds me of the Tri-Tone rotors.
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Any information would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
-205664
Owner of the first confirmed M.E.Z. H1/B2 in the UK
Caution: This user has recently been diagnosed with a serious addiction to 60s music.
the stator design reminds me of the Gents 1468 siren*, but clearly this isnt one as the 1468 always came with two rotors (either 8/8, 15/15 or 8/15), this is kind of mysterious... *if you ever spot a Gents 1468 8/15 dual tone, PLEASE TELL ME ! i have been looking for one for years and i absolutely would love to own one. thus if you ever get one or find one on sale, please tell me and ill try to get it if its on sale or you could give it to me if its yours.
proud owner of a Constructions Electriques Du Nord NP00S siren
the stator design reminds me of the Gents 1468 siren*, but clearly this isnt one as the 1468 always came with two rotors (either 8/8, 15/15 or 8/15), this is kind of mysterious... *if you ever spot a Gents 1468 8/15 dual tone, PLEASE TELL ME ! i have been looking for one for years and i absolutely would love to own one. thus if you ever get one or find one on sale, please tell me and ill try to get it if its on sale or you could give it to me if its yours.
Yeah, I think that this siren is likely just a low-tone 1479 unit, however it did cross my mind that it might use the same chopper as the 1468 (unless they are different diameter rotors).
If I find a 1468 for sale, I'll let you know, but I will say that there appears to be a lot of interest in these rare Gents models. I was very lucky to have bought this siren, as I quickly learnt that a friend of mine had also contacted the seller! I hope your search goes well
In other news, I got the front plate off thanks to my neighbour's bolt-negotiating abilities, so here's the rotor picture as promised!
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Interestingly, the rotor has straight centrally-mounted vanes, similar to a Model 1500 Gents. The Air Raid Sirens Wiki currently states that the 1479 model had curved vanes "unlike any other Gents siren", so evidently some editing needs to be done! I remember hearing somewhere that most Gents sirens used straight centrally-mounted vanes at first, but later switched to curved/angled vanes due to the better efficiency, which would make sense as to why the Wiki page was incorrect.
Also, I found this peculiar indentation in the cast metal backplate of the motor housing... I'm making the educated guess that "SY28" reads as "Syren 28"... What could this mean?
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And finally, here is a video of the siren being tested!
the stator design reminds me of the Gents 1468 siren*, but clearly this isnt one as the 1468 always came with two rotors (either 8/8, 15/15 or 8/15), this is kind of mysterious... *if you ever spot a Gents 1468 8/15 dual tone, PLEASE TELL ME ! i have been looking for one for years and i absolutely would love to own one. thus if you ever get one or find one on sale, please tell me and ill try to get it if its on sale or you could give it to me if its yours.
Yeah, I think that this siren is likely just a low-tone 1479 unit, however it did cross my mind that it might use the same chopper as the 1468 (unless they are different diameter rotors).
If I find a 1468 for sale, I'll let you know, but I will say that there appears to be a lot of interest in these rare Gents models. I was very lucky to have bought this siren, as I quickly learnt that a friend of mine had also contacted the seller! I hope your search goes well
In other news, I got the front plate off thanks to my neighbour's bolt-negotiating abilities, so here's the rotor picture as promised!
IMG-20250502-WA0003.jpeg
Interestingly, the rotor has straight centrally-mounted vanes, similar to a Model 1500 Gents. The Air Raid Sirens Wiki currently states that the 1479 model had curved vanes "unlike any other Gents siren", so evidently some editing needs to be done! I remember hearing somewhere that most Gents sirens used straight centrally-mounted vanes at first, but later switched to curved/angled vanes due to the better efficiency, which would make sense as to why the Wiki page was incorrect.
that sure does look like a 1468 rotor, i am sure those shared the same rotors anyways, the 1479 probably was just a single rotor & cheaper version. according to the tag on the siren it does say it is a universal motor, yet it says 3000rpm (which would be typical for a induction motor), so this kind of confuses me... i know the 1468 used a induction motor, this i have no idea because of that.
proud owner of a Constructions Electriques Du Nord NP00S siren
looking at the video, the plate was right, its indeed a universal motor. still odd for the SY28 bit, must be some kind of code for it, maybe its their 28th siren type/model ? no idea.
proud owner of a Constructions Electriques Du Nord NP00S siren
Could be. Since it's on a cast piece, the "SY28" would likely have bean imprinted on the backplate of every Type 1479. This could signify that it's the 28th Syren design Gents has come up with, as you say. Alternatively it could be referring to the cast component itself, meaning "Syren (Component No.) 28".
Unless more light is shed on the situation, it could really mean anything, the best we can do is make educated guesses I suppose.
Owner of the first confirmed M.E.Z. H1/B2 in the UK
Caution: This user has recently been diagnosed with a serious addiction to 60s music.
Could be. Since it's on a cast piece, the "SY28" would likely have bean imprinted on the backplate of every Type 1479. This could signify that it's the 28th Syren design Gents has come up with, as you say. Alternatively it could be referring to the cast component itself, meaning "Syren (Component No.) 28".
Unless more light is shed on the situation, it could really mean anything, the best we can do is make educated guesses I suppose.
who knows ? its a absolute mystery for now until we get more info on the 1479, one way would be to look at every piece of the siren and see if they have "SYxx" on them, but i highly doubt its just to mark what piece it is, most likely just to indicate what design it was like i said. still cool to own such siren.
proud owner of a Constructions Electriques Du Nord NP00S siren
And with just a splash of WD40, it's amazing how bright the red paint still is! Turns out it was just covered in a thick layer of dirt and grime, so a touch of the microfibre cloth got it off.
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Owner of the first confirmed M.E.Z. H1/B2 in the UK
Caution: This user has recently been diagnosed with a serious addiction to 60s music.
that thing still looks beautiful, the only bad thing at this point is the rust.
I know, it is a shame... part of me wants to repaint it, but it's at the tricky point where there's too much good-condition original paint to justify a full redo.
Owner of the first confirmed M.E.Z. H1/B2 in the UK
Caution: This user has recently been diagnosed with a serious addiction to 60s music.
