Vintage 1962 Simplex Fire Alarm Test, Wiring, and Explanation

Рет қаралды 6,367

2 жыл бұрын

This is a complete Simplex Fire Alarm system from around 1962 - it came out of an old school built right around that time.
In this video I do a complete install, wire, troubleshoot and test of the system
This is my first attempt at a longer video with fancy(ish) production elements; I had to figure out how to do everything as I was doing it...so there may be errors, repeats, audio problems, and way-too-long sections.
Please bear with me as I learn how to make grownup videos - I welcome all constructive comments and suggestions.
If you'd like to skip straight to the test it's at about 27:58 - but there's a lot you'd miss!
Enjoy!

Пікірлер: 32

@TexasRailfan2008 2 жыл бұрын

This helped a lot, I just bought a 4246-2 panel from eBay that is just like this, but it’s non-coded, it’s yet to arrive in the mail, but now I have a basic idea of how to hook it up.

@wheinz574 Жыл бұрын

I remembered that single stroke signal from my elementary school in kindergarten during a fire drill, but with the simplex 4016

@jaredthompson3011 2 жыл бұрын

This is a very unique demonstration of how these panels functioned back in the days. Please do more cause I'm very interested in seeing more of how this stuff works. Nice video!

@brettman273 2 жыл бұрын

I have at least two more ancient panels, one you saw in this video and the other is very unique; I'll be making videos about them soon.

@jaredthompson3011 2 жыл бұрын

@@brettman273 Can't wait to see what you have in store.

@KJ7BZC 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome quality on this video, really cool to see this system in its entirety as well.

@FourtyFiftyEighty 2 жыл бұрын

What a beautiful setup. That’s so cool good job!

@GETINLOSER Жыл бұрын

Aw yes, just like my elementary school days 1999-2003 lol! School built in 1951. They were murdered by Spectralert Advances in 2009! Same bells/pulls. Sameeee single stroke action. Love love love this video. Amazing to see the old panel as well. Great video, in my likes it goes.

@MircomFan 2 жыл бұрын

Love the sound, reminds me of my high school fire drills, only with Edwards 23 fire bells instead of the Simplex ones

@SomeDudeWithAnExitSign 2 жыл бұрын

That was very cool. I would like to see more videos of this

@brettman273 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! There's not much more to this particular system unless I get new information on it, but I have plenty of others I can point a camera at and slap together.

@siphonralarms9411 2 жыл бұрын

I also watch hours of people wiring stuff up. This video was great btw!

@achannelwithnopurpose1977 2 жыл бұрын

Definitely reminds me of the thrill of wiring up an old fireshield panel. Sure it isn’t as vintage as that dinosaur but hey it came with its own set of surprises. It has a lovely ground fault and bad programming memory (you can program from the panel itself).

@brettman273 Жыл бұрын

Fireshield.... That's EST right? I always fought with those things when I encountered them. In retrospect I do understand that they're proprietary but they annoyed me nevertheless.

@achannelwithnopurpose1977 Жыл бұрын

@@brettman273 Yeah, EST is way worse than Simplex in my opinion. Its notorious for programming errors, false alarms, and is overall very cheap/poor quality. My middle school has an EST 3 and I remember when the school let me trip it for a drill, it took a million years to actually trip. Worse yet, my elementary school had an EST 2 that replaced a 4100+ or 4020 (dont really remember) that just failed on them not even 5 years. Thats why I always say: “Remember kids, don’t buy cheap fire protection!” whenever I encounter EST.

@West_Kootenay_railfan 2 жыл бұрын

I can't wait tell the standard electric fire alarm panel episode

@MatthewKelley1206 2 жыл бұрын

Request musical fire alarms - Cinderella nobody’s fool played on a bunch of old fire alarms

@ceb8253 2 жыл бұрын

My Elementary and middle school days

@zacharykorbet9690 Жыл бұрын

I have two simplexes 4050s and I got them out of a building with simplex T bar's do you have any idea on when you think the fire alarm system was installed? may be around the 80s

@officialsimplexguy 2 жыл бұрын

Question: I got a simplex 4246 which seems to be setup exactly like this. However the bell circuit needs to he adjusted to match the correct voltage for the horns. Do you by any chance know how to adjust those big grey resistors to match the current? Or if there is some way to adjust it elsewhere? Thanks!

@brettman273 2 жыл бұрын

I would use a relay. Determine output voltage of panel's bell circuit, get a relay with a coil that operates in that voltage range, and run it in place of the bell. Then pass the bell power through the normally open contacts on the relay using whichever power it needs. Supervision would probably not work as the relay coil would not match the bells/horns the original circuit was intended for use with. But this old stuff is a lot more robust and forgiving than modern electronics, you can bend the rules significantly and it will usually work.

@MrWill1985 Жыл бұрын

Who made the pull station? I know my elementary schools I attended had those pull stations and I don't know if they are simplex or Faraday or even federal systems. But I know my school system where I grew up now uses est and all of my schools were switched to est. Genesis with external integrity horn strobes at my first elementary school. Est genesis at my 2nd elementary school est genesis speaker strobes in my middle school and my high school est integrity after a renovation before my attendance

@FyrFyter 2 жыл бұрын

So your supervision is working as it should, minus the one relay coil being open. When there is a trouble in the system, the meter will not read anything, again because of the relay. Your panel is a "double supervised" type. Meaning are two trouble signals (EB1 and EB1, EB2 and EB2), one is for operational circuits and the other is the supervisory circuit. The light you jerry-rigged, is only indicating a trouble on the box circuit, not the entire supervisory circuit. One trouble bell terminal is getting 120 vAC because the entire supervisory side is incomplete, again because the relay coil is open. If you haven't seen it yet, the broken relay is a Struthers Dunn Co. 112XAX model . There are a few on ebay.

@brettman273 2 жыл бұрын

Ahh, so perhaps I was thinking about it backward? Bad really equals power to trouble indicators because that is default state...supervision is also supervising itself..?

@FyrFyter 2 жыл бұрын

@@brettman273 Yes, supervisory relays stay energized, and de-energize when it's circuit is incomplete. Giving power to the correct trouble signal. Technically operational power is primarily for fire signals, and supervisory for trouble signals. Both really work together to "check" circuit integrity. Your meter should read about 20 Milliamps in normal, and zero in trouble.

@brettman273 2 жыл бұрын

@@FyrFyter So if I physically activate that bad relay, perhaps I'd see opens on the trouble indicators as one would expect? Then since I know the box supervisory works, disconnect box circuit and should see trouble?

@FyrFyter 2 жыл бұрын

@@brettman273 Yes, if you push in the bad relay (as if it was a good relay), the trouble signal terminals should read either nothing or the odd 4 something volts you were getting. And the meter should read about 20 milliamps (technically it should be a little less because the broken relay coil is not drawing current). I've never done something exactly like that, but that is what should happen. Yes if you do that action with the relay, simulate an open in the box circuit, the meter should read zero, and 120 vAC should be at one of your trouble signal terminals (EB1, EB1 or EB2, EB2).

@johnsidlauskas3838 2 жыл бұрын

If you have any extra Standard Electric Time Co Panels I would love to have one, been looking so long for one!

@brettman273 Жыл бұрын

You and me both my friend lol. They are hard to find, and believe it or not many are still in use; I have a contact that still works on them. Not in NY though for the most part, so I dont the encounter them.

@johnsidlauskas3838 Жыл бұрын

@@brettman273 You had a few and thats so cool! I love the use of those Standard Clocks you have! Very fine work!

@TexasRailfan2008 2 жыл бұрын

So it relies on the individual pulls to be wired in parallel OUTSIDE the panel, but still having individual feeds back to the panel to keep the trouble bell off?

@brettman273 2 жыл бұрын

Yes. Think of it as two loops of wire that leave the panel and come back, and the pull stations bridge the loops.