Federal Model C3 1/2...how do i get it working?

[holler]

yea i guess ill leave it up there. and as for the picture....thats just one i found off the net...something that looked close to mine. I have a c 3 1/2.

As for the power..... u was looking at it yesterday and all the wiring seems to be fine...except the main power line (from the telephone poles) was cut. What would you suggest to get it powered up?

Well you have a single phase motor controller so the siren itself is single phase also. You need 240 volts going to it through a panel with a 100 amp main. Install a breaker that is 10-15 amps more than the siren and hook it to that.

[Robert Gift]

... I have an old Federal Signal Fire whistle/air raid siren that has been sitting on my property since since around the late 40's or early 50's and has been turned off since the early 90's. ...

Why do you have a siren on your property!
Sounds like an interesting story.
Thank you.

[fammer570]

Ok a little history....

My grandfather was big on the fire dept (up here its volunteer). I guess they were installing 5 or so sirens and they needed a place at my end of the town to put one...so they did. My grandfather let them use out property for it. It was disconnected because neighbors were complaining because of their children getting scared. So it's been sitting there since i can remember.

On another note...where am i going to get 240 volts in the middle of the woods?!?

Thanks for all the input!!!

[Robert Gift]

Ok a little history....
My grandfather was big on the fire dept (up here its volunteer). I guess they were installing 5 or so sirens and they needed a place at my end of the town to put one...so they did. My grandfather let them use out property for it. It was disconnected because neighbors were complaining because of their children getting scared. So it's been sitting there since i can remember.

On another note...where am i going to get 240 volts in the middle of the woods?!?

Thanks.

Since they had 220 before, it should not be difficult restoring it.

Most residences have 220 Volt service.
From either Black wire to Neutral = half of the 220 = 110 Volts
Black to Black = 220 Volts - from which electric stoves and clothes dryers are powered.
You can operate a 240 V labled motor on 220.

[Cyrun]

Since the children that were "scared" in the 90's are probably grown up now, maybe the FD would be interested in re-activating it. Does the VFD still use the other sirens you mentioned?

[Robert Gift]

Since the children that were "scared" in the 90's are probably grown up now, maybe the FD would be interested in re-activating it. Does the VFD still use the other sirens you mentioned?

Doesn't everyone use pagers and Minitors?

What has happened to Plectron radios?
My father had one in our house until we moved in June, 1966.

[pyramid head]

I would just make a jumper for the cut cables and test it, then figure out what to do. Make sure the power is off, get some wire clamps and try her out. But you really should check with the FD first, because they own it from the sounds of things.

[Fireman61341]

Doesn't everyone use pagers and Minitors?
What has happened to Plectron radios?
My father had one in our house until we moved in June, 1966.

I have one out in my garage that still works, the date on it is 1967. We've used Minitors for years, but they still have a bunch of old Plectrons laying around at the station so I grabbed one. We still sound our model 7 for fires between 6am & 10pm.

[zetronist]

I still have a Plectron that I use in my office. Works like a champ. The nice thing is that it self-resets, unlike my pager, which goes into monitor mode after activating.

[Robert Gift]

Father's Plectron was vacuum tube.
As a small boy I was fascinated looking through the front mesh and trying to make out the components and see what was glowing orange in there.
It was also fairly hot.