I've got a siren!

[mbkerk]

I have acquired an old Siren from the city I live in, for donation to the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion.

The reason we wanted it is two fold. We want a way to warn our guests of impending bad weather during the show, and I also envision having a noon whistle, and a fire whistle for nostalgic reasons, that will fit in well with our 30's era farmstead, and our main street exhibits. It will be mounted on our 100' clock tower (retired fire watch tower) on the hill.

I am going to get it taken down this afternoon, so I don't know how big the motor is, but it is 240 Volt, 3 phase. Can any of you electricians out there tell me if it will run on either a "delta" or "Wye" 3 phase latch up? It is coming from a delta system, and I am not sure what it we have on the show grounds. A phase converter (rotary) will be involved.

Here are a couple of pictures of the siren. I'll get more later today.

[911radioman]

Mark, I'm definitely no electrician, but from my days as a volunteer firefighter and having to help yank our big siren down off the pole to have it rebuilt it was a 3-phase. Is that a Federal?

Edit -- Sorry man, I overlooked that you said it was 3-phase. That's what I get for not being awake fully before I type!!! I really don't know what type of 3-phase it would be though...

[farmallmaniac]

Do you get any kind of controls with it? Like what turns it on actually and picks what siren you want to turn on. They have two different ones here one's slower and the other is a more fast paced one.

[bobodu]

Ohhh...a noise making siren...I thought ya meant one of these..
link to photo: http://www.fignations.com/galleries/...ides/siren.jpg

[wayne440]

FWIW, without looking at your electric service, most "240 volt" 3 phase service is Delta, while a "wye" is 208volts. Your "240 volt siren" should work OK on either voltage, assuming your phase convertern has enough capacity. Be sure and get all the control/switchgear etc. if possible. A "WAG" is 5 hp for the motor size, Federal made many models with 3, 5 and 10 hp being fairly common, I have seen more 5 than anything else.

[Carl]

Congradulations on the siren. It will be a nice addition for the shows. I take it that the shows are a ways from the town?

[mbkerk]

It is a Federal Siren and it is a 5 HP motor. Runs at 3400 RPM. I have all of the controls, but the magnetic starter switch may be shot. The siren was controlled by radio and DTMF signals. I have the DTMF decoder, as well as the radio, though I have no idea what frequency it is on. That part will not be a problem. I am a Ham Radio operator, and have built 3 repeater stations, so I'll figure all that out. There is a relay in that controller that has two dials on it marked on and off. Both of them are currently set at 20%, so I assume the siren is on for 20% of "X" and then off 20%, thus giving the up and down pitch of the siren.

I have the hood off the siren, and I'll post some pictures of it tomorrow. It is built like a brick .... house! You definitely would not want to get your fingers in there!

Now, for the electrical question again... I figure it will run OK on either delta or wye, but... with a 5 HP motor, how big of a phase converter do I need to build? Would a 7.5 HP converter work? I am not sure how to figure that out. One friend told me that you lose about 20% using a phase converter, so a 7.5 HP converter should run up to a 6 HP motor? I'll have to do more research!

[bobodu]

Ooops....sorry if I offended anyone with the siren picture above.Should've looked closer...didn't realize it was a little racey.

[simple_john]

Originally Posted by bobodu

Ooops....sorry if I offended anyone with the siren picture above.Should've looked closer...didn't realize it was a little racey.

well maybe it was a bit racey for here... But im using her as a my desktop background now... j/k

[bobodu]

Funny how when you're younger,the first things you notice is the headlights.These days....I check their teeth!!
I might have noticed them things if I had looked elsewhere....but I was looking is the usual place....you know....down around the belly button

[freebird]

Well as the saying goes...if her teeth are too perfect they're probably dentures!

[bobodu]

Originally Posted by freebird

Well as the saying goes...if her teeth are too perfect they're probably dentures!

Actually.perfect teeth are something to look for.....means the ex-husband was probably a dentist and she'll likely have his money,his house,his car....

I have several dentists wives on my route and their teeth are too white....no natural shine to em (the teeth...not the wives ).

[mbkerk]

OK... Back to the subject I started with... Civil Defense Sirens !

I have been working on and off for 2 days getting it down and reverse engineering how it was all set up to operate.

The local REC was gracious enough to help us get it to the ground...


Here she is sitting "naked" in my trailer. The hood is behind it. It has got to weigh 300 pounds. I can spin the rotor by hand and get the very low sound you hear as the siren coasts to a stop. For those who have never seen the inside of one of these, you can see from this picture how the noise is generated. It would not be a good place to put your fingers!


Here is a shot of the tag on the motor. I am going to e-mail Federal and see if I can get some history on the siren.


I'm still waiting for one of you electrician types to tell me how big of a 3 phase motor I need to build the phase converter to run this thing. I have plans from Chipmakers web site, but that one may be too small. I wish he was still here!

My next installment will explain how it was controlled during it's life in town. I have that all figured out, and it was very clever... home built and well done. It has not worked for 15 years or better. There is nobody around that knows anything about it! Took me an hour or so to sort it all out, and I still need to find a manual for a Heathkit DTMF Decoder, but I will be able to make it all work for our show via remote control!

[jdkubotamurray]

Well, one propositioned me outside a red roof inn in Rochester NY at midnight night before last, 20 something from north KY "behind on her rent". I got in late and the hotel I usually stay in had sold my room though guaranteed late. Not being ED, I decided I'd best pass on those services

[mbkerk]

Originally Posted by jdkubotamurray

Well, one propositioned me outside a red roof inn in Rochester NY

So... do you have any idea what size of a phase converter I need to build? How about a manual for a Heathkit HD 1530 tone decoder?