The Siren Board

Starting last year I added some small sirens to my collection. Here's the small but growing "hoard":

L-110: runs, but has an extremely noisy bearing


Sterling F326: Haven't run it yet, stiff when hand spun, rotor has a very sharp burr


A-5 (yes, A-5): 5 port rotor, needs a plug wired (I'll take care of that tomorrow)


Benjamin 8195 (Older A relabel): screams like a Q


B9: got it last week, haven't run it yet (will do that tomorrow)


A (current style): Got it a few days after the B9, haven't run it yet (will do that tomorrow), I may wire in a longer plug

Nice collection there! Any idea on age for the F326? It can be seen on the ad from 1923:

A 5 port model A? That would be awesome if you made a video of it! I hope you actually make a video of all these sirens!

Chicagosiren-hunters wrote:Nice collection there! Any idea on age for the F326? It can be seen on the ad from 1923:

I have no idea on the age of the F326, but that ad does give me an idea.

I tested the B9 and the A this afternoon. Both run like a champ, but the B9 tipped over and knocked stuff off my dresser do to the motor torque thanks to the base (I'm going to mount it on a block of wood). The A didn't move, but my downstairs neighbor was less than thrilled (had no idea he was home, warned my next door neighbor), so I'm hunting for a safe location to make a few videos.

3t22 wrote:

Chicagosiren-hunters wrote:Nice collection there! Any idea on age for the F326? It can be seen on the ad from 1923:

I have no idea on the age of the F326, but that ad does give me an idea.

I tested the B9 and the A this afternoon. Both run like a champ, but the B9 tipped over and knocked stuff off my dresser do to the motor torque thanks to the base (I'm going to mount it on a block of wood). The A didn't move, but my downstairs neighbor was less than thrilled (had no idea he was home, warned my next door neighbor), so I'm hunting for a safe location to make a few videos.

Nice to hear that the B9 still packs a punch, glad it arrived safely!

TNT1001 wrote:

3t22 wrote:
I tested the B9 and the A this afternoon. Both run like a champ, but the B9 tipped over and knocked stuff off my dresser do to the motor torque thanks to the base (I'm going to mount it on a block of wood). The A didn't move, but my downstairs neighbor was less than thrilled (had no idea he was home, warned my next door neighbor), so I'm hunting for a safe location to make a few videos.

Nice to hear that the B9 still packs a punch, glad it arrived safely!

You packed it so well that my mailman could have driven over the box, and it still would have survived.


Now for an update: I finally added a D, and an old one at that:

yes, the paint is crusty. I plan on giving it a full restoration I didn't think Ds were quite that old. If I had to guess it's from the 1940's Note the screen which I think is original. I spun the rotor through one of the ports and it spun smoothly Wiring needs a bit of work before I test. It has an old cloth plug and switch. I'm debating on keeping it or replacing.

Definitely replace that plug. From what I can tell it's a huge fire hazard.

Very nice.

Sorry for the bump, but I made another addition to my small siren collection:

A current style L-110 It spins much quieter than my older L. I'll run it up in the next few days.

Nice! You really need to update your signature!