The Siren Board

I got a call today that someone had brought in a "firehouse siren" to the scrap yard. The guy that worked there hated to see it get scrapped and wanted to know if I would come rescue it. I did, but I have no idea exactly what it is. It appears similar to a Champion or a Sterling M-10, but does not look identical to either one. Does anyone have any ideas???

This siren is a Federal Electric Type B.

Thanks for the help identifying! Now the search for info on the model B siren begins....

Indeed that is a Federal Electric Model B
Yours appears to be missing the motor cover
Here is a inactive Type B in Butler, MO
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewe ... wYm95xxoJY

First generation Federal Electric Type B siren. I believe they were made somewhere around 1910-1920 before they were redesigned, and then redesigned a third time around the 1930s.

Nice find! Does it spin freely?

Unfortunately it does NOT spin freely. From the looks of it, I would say the cover has been missing for quite some time. The tag from the motor is long gone, but I see it has three wires coming from it. Does this mean it was a single phase unit (I'm used to three phase units having four wires), or did the three phase units of this era have only three wires and ground to the chassis?

More than likely 3 phase. Every siren I own is 2 wire single phase or "3" wire 3 phase

Given the age of the motor, there’s a slim chance it’s 2 phase, an outdated form of AC power.

This is a first generation Federal Electric Type B. They debut circa 1915. They came mostly 3 phase, rarely single phase, and went through at least 2 design changes through the 1930's when they were discontinued, but all were vertical and almost all were dual head 3 phase. They were replaced by the c3 1/2 which eventually evolved into the model X by the 1940s.