MIKEY
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Re: Denver Siren Found in Highland, NY

Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:07 am

I believe Krum Tx still has one on the water tower next to the fire station. It's been a few years since I been there.

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Daniel
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Re: Denver Siren Found in Highland, NY

Tue Mar 28, 2017 4:05 am

I've seen them in Hillsboro, Oregon (mounted vertically and later removed), Wapato and Toppenish, Washington, and at the Hoopa Indian Reservation in northern California.
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LukeH
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Re: Denver Siren Found in Highland, NY

Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:17 pm

Here is the write up I did for Wikipedia, with all the information I have found regarding the Denver Siren. I have several photos of all models avalible, however the mobile browser is not very friendly for attaching them.

Hendrie and Bolthoff Manufacturing and Supply Co – A Denver, Colorado-based company that was famous for selling mining equipment through the early 20th century. They began supplying the local mines with tools and equipment, and later entered the business of producing municipal Supplies. They contracted Dillon Box Iron Works to produce the "Denver Siren", Pat. by William A. Box, as early as 1915 until the early 1920s.

These sirens used a centrifugal clutch connected to a 5 HP motor, usually General Electric or Westi house, with single and 3 phase motors avalible.

These distinctive sirens had one or two large, open-ended, double sided, 20-port rotors connected by a long shaft to the motor and mounted to a common horizontal frame. single head models were known as the "Duplex" and double head models were known as "Quadruplex". Two smaller models were also available, connected directly to a single phase motor, the small double 12 port Type A or the slightly larger double 20 port Type B.

Sometime in the early 1920s, Sterling Fire Alarm of Rochester NY. Sold a variant of the Denver siren under the name "Sterling Siren Fire Alarm", and produced them for a short while. Early Sterling models have a window-frame grill bolted to the stator, most likely to keep birds from nesting in the rotor. Sterling also produced a double head 12/12, and 15/15 port version, which was available with a coding mechanism on the stators.

Due to their weight, (the largest being nearly 6 feet long and 2 feet wide, made completely of iron with bronze or aluminum rotors on the Sterling models grossing near 2000 lbs) they were usually mounted on top of high buildings rather than poles.

An article from "Electrical Review and Western Electrician" once stated when tested, local official departments received calls from several miles away by people wondering what the cause of the noise was. Few of the sirens still exist and only a handful of these are still in use.
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LukeH
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Re: Denver Siren Found in Highland, NY

Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:29 pm

charleysalmon91 wrote:
Tue Mar 21, 2017 5:25 am
Did these ever rotate?
No.
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KGK1234
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Re: Denver Siren Found in Highland, NY

Wed Mar 29, 2017 10:45 pm

There is a single headed model in Manley, Nebraska. It's coordinates are: 40.9197564,-96.1666058. TheFiremansavage has a video of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-tSw6g8PWA.
Proud owner of a Model 2.

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LukeH
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Re: Denver Siren Found in Highland, NY

Thu Mar 30, 2017 11:42 pm

Archon wrote:
Tue Mar 21, 2017 5:06 am
Erick Sirens of MN Bought Denver sirens in teh 30's
Erik never bought them, just used a similar rotor/stator design, as did Decot. Sterling bought them out in the 1920's, sold a dozen or so with a grille on the front, trialed with 12/12 and 15/15 port versions with a coding device, and axed them in favor of the M series. They had experimented with the dual rotor design on the M series but it was short lived and few if any still exist, and they neverade it to full scale production. I remember seeing a picture of one on one of the older versions of the forum, IIRC Adam posted it, but I'm sure that's long lost with time by now.

I wish I still had my old laptop, you'd drool at all the info I managed to dig up on these things.
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