ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Electrical Nostalgia Fire Alarm System

Many schools use dye to help catch the false alarmers. There is also an "invisible" kind that becomes visible under black light.

Not nearly as dramatic as an exploding dye pack , though.

Look here too for more old fire alarm equipment.
http://www.joetedesco.com/gallery/album01

If you want drama, the old "alarm grease" that was used years ago provided plenty. That was the stuff that really came out under a black light. Had a drunk pull an alarm one night and try to blame it on some kids in the area .. we were getting ready to go after the kids and were testing the black light when this guy just lit up like a candle in the night. He had apparently wiped his hands off on his shirt, pants, head and whatever he could to get the grease off .. talk about going cold sober in a hurry .. we convinced him it was God punishing him for lying about the kids pulling the alarm .. worked for us.
ERFERTT

The product at http://www.sti-usa.com/product.asp?PartNo=STI-1100 from STI is used in Schools, etc. where they have problems.

"Stopper II consists of a clear, tamper-proof, super-tough polycarbonate shield and frame that fits over manual pull stations. When lifted to gain access to the actual alarm, it sounds a piercing 95 dB or 105 dB warning horn. Immediate attention is drawn to the area and a prankster will either run or be caught. The cover is connected to the frame by a cable. When the cover is lifted, it hangs off of the frame and the horn will sound until the cover is snapped back onto the frame (or for the life of the battery)."

I wonder how many kids figure out that they might be able to set the alarm off by using a pencil or such to push the handle, thus avoiding the dye. But kids that smart are likely to be smart enough to not want to pull a false alarm.....

Iwire:

Cincinnati was full of those boxes, one on a utility pole at almost every third intersection, up until only about 10-15 years ago. They also had their handles painted with an ultraviolet grease to aid in catching kids "pulling" false alarms. The fire department also had to "wind" the box back up after and alarm as it work under it's own power via a spring. The wiring for these boxes still exists to this day on the poles. So much for removing abandoned wiring.

codeenforcement guy said:

Would it have been possible to get a square of glass cut by a glazier? Or is it a certain type of glass that is used for these things?

I've seen some fire alarms with the break glass also have a heavy iron bolt or rod hanging from a chain in order to break the glass when you need to activate the alarm.

The house-shaped ones in Joe's photogallery: I remember some of those from the old high schools here in the city.

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 10-21-2003).]

Mean Gene:

Philadelphia had them, but once the crack epidemic started, the boxes were vandalized for the copper wiring. If I'm not mistaken, the alarm came into the FD by some kind of punch tape.

"Master boxes", BTW are improved manual Pull Boxes (the shed type) with a spring loaded rotating arm on the inside of the box, kept in the "cocked" position by a solenoid.

When the (newer) building alarm system trips, the solenoid retracts, allowing the small arm to rotate, tripping the "PULL" hook in the fire box, sending the coded alarm for that location.

Until the inside alarm is reset (or the zone is disabled, allowing reset of the interior panel), the spring loaded arm won't latch, since the solenoid is still withdrawn.

(The Great Lakes Naval Training Center used to have that combination, and it was there that the difference between simple "pull boxes" and "master boxes" was explained to me.)

Let me add my 2 cents here. Some of the old fire alarm boxes were spring wound like a clock. When the alarm went off, the little wheel would turn. The wheel had cogs in it and the cogs were cut into patterns by the installer. For example the wheel on the flow switch might be 2-4-6 and the wheel on the temperture freeze alarm might be 4-6-8. Then in the central office when an alarm came in the person in charge would look up who's alarm code went off and dispatch the fire dept to the proper location. I know because I had to install some of those wheels.