Longest time a siren has been stuck on?

[Daniel]

I wonder what the sirens in Dublin would do if the Queen or the PM came for a visit?

Last year, the tsunami sirens activated themselves in Waldport, Oregon, and stayed on for several minutes -- three Thunderbolts and a 3-cell Whelen, all in the same 1 1/2 mile radius -- and nobody could figure how they were triggered.

In 2004, my home town's old 1925 Erick siren turned itself on after more than 40 years of never being tested, and since the control mechanism had been removed, it took at least 10 minutes or so before the police could find the breaker to switch it off. After that, the siren and the 100 year old steel bell tower it was attached to were removed and disappeared (the bell was reinstalled on the wall in front of the fire station and can be rung from inside). Nobody seems to know where the siren is.

[Robert Gift]

You know, they are right in the theory of a false warning wasting their sirens, though the debate really depends on what is the most efficient for you.

What do they mean, "wasting"?
Concerned about wearing them out from unneeded use?
Bearing wear?
Brush wear?
The single-phase motors with brushes will operate until the brushes wear down. Would be nice to know how many hours.

[SirenMadness]

Yes, when I say "wasting," I mean wearing of the components, and I also mean wasting of the siren's batteries.

[Robert Gift]

I wonder what the sirens in Dublin would do if the Queen or the PM came for a visit?

Last year, the tsunami sirens activated themselves in Waldport, Oregon, and stayed on for several minutes -- three Thunderbolts and a 3-cell Whelen, all in the same 1 1/2 mile radius -- and nobody could figure how they were triggered.

Computer hacker?

In 2004, my home town's old 1925 Erick siren turned itself on after more than 40 years of never being tested, and since the control mechanism had been removed, it took at least 10 minutes or so before the police could find the breaker to switch it off. After that, the siren and the 100 year old steel bell tower it was attached to were removed and disappeared (the bell was reinstalled on the wall in front of the fire station and can be rung from inside). Nobody seems to know where the siren is.

GHOSTS!
How can it operate without a control mechanism?
Is the mechanism a timer which closes and opens power relays?

And how interesting to hear it after 40 years!!
Is it single-phase?
(Someone like me hooked up power to it, then removed the evidence?)

How interesting.

[Daniel]

If I remember right, the Erick siren was controlled by a simple switch mounted inside the cabinet of the fire horn encoding timer. This cabinet was removed during a 1992 remodel of the police dispatch room and never replaced. The horns were later reconnected and controlled by a lanyard, then a manual pushbutton, but the siren's controls were never replaced. There was still a starter relay somewhere, which was apparently what malfunctioned. Remember that this siren was installed in 1925 and the horns around 1941, so the control technology was quite primitive.

[Jim_Ferer]

Once, when I lived in Bowie, Maryland, about 1973 or so, the CD system all kicked on and wouldn't shut off. We turned off the station siren but they had to go out to turn off a Tbolt at the pole. It went on over an hour.

[Castlevania2006]

The 10V in Aurora SD during the october test, someone forgot to go to town hall & shut it down after 3 minutes. it went on for a 1/2 hour before someone could shut it down.
(it has to be shut down manually each time or it will keep going)

[Robert Gift]

The 10V in Aurora SD during the october test, someone forgot to go to town hall & shut it down after 3 minutes. it went on for a 1/2 hour before someone could shut it down.
(it has to be shut down manually each time or it will keep going)

Why?

Is the relay broken and freezes shut?
Surely it is not intentional, is it?

Why don't they just fix it?

[SirenMadness]

I think that the issue here is the lack of a timer for rounds of operation. Some places just want something that is economically efficient.

[Robert Gift]

That is not efficient if one must make a trip to shut it off.

What happens if they have an actual alert, and the person who normally shuts it off is somewhere else?

Sounds like something they would do in Mexico.
If it is broken, leave it broken and adapt and make other arrangements.