Such thing as a Thunderbolt 2000?

[TimeAttack]

WOW, all of my questions have been answered in one topic thats cool!

Nice pics of the T-bolt 2000 too!

[Mantis]

Did that have a grille?

[Midnight Drifter]

I find it odd that they'd even bother to run a siren on gasoline. I can see that it might have been cheaper in the 50s, 60s and 70s but Gas prices have skyrocketed from this BP mess and Propane is more of the same. I'd just stick with 240 volts of sheer 3 phase electricity. I have had my encounters, with 120 volts, not 240... yet.
But Running a siren such as the Thunderbolt, Let alone the Mobil Directo on Gas would be unbelivably expensive in these times of economy. I can see where they got the idea of running a siren on Gas, since electricity was "Dangerous" back then. But hey, If it was a good alternative to electricity, I can see that it may be cheaper, but I also see gas as more of a "Fire Hazard" than electricity.

Please don't take this the wrong way (not trying to be mean or anything) but none of that makes any sense. It would take only a few cents of gasoline to run the siren for a full cycle. And electricity being "dangerous" had absolutely nothing to do with it (that's back from the 1800's, not the 50's). It was simply an option for locations which couldn't supply a large electrical load (think plugging in an entire thunderbolt into a wall socket). And a fire hazard is pretty much nill. With that being said however, a 3-phase thunderbolt is definitely your best bet.

I can see where you come from with that, And i have no problem with what you're saying. But from what I've heard Gas Powered sirens didn't do too well in the market, and in these times of economy it would cost a bit more to run the sirens on gas, given everyone's financial situations here, Especially the county's situations.

It shouldn't take more than a pint of fuel to run a Mobil Directo for a full 3 minute attack and 3 minute alert cycle... the only cost concerns are MAINTENANCE since gasoline has a 'stable' (can run in even the latest direct injected cars) shelf life of maybe 3 months and a maximum sustainable shelf life (COULD run in carburated, might gunk out an injector or 8) of one year, and well... the fuel goes bad, and the situation goes ignored - until the siren stops working of course, then the carb needs to get cleaned - which requires at least partial disassembly, and THAT'S expensive.

[weasel2htm]

It shouldn't take more than a pint of fuel to run a Mobil Directo for a full 3 minute attack and 3 minute alert cycle... the only cost concerns are MAINTENANCE since gasoline has a 'stable' (can run in even the latest direct injected cars) shelf life of maybe 3 months and a maximum sustainable shelf life (COULD run in carburated, might gunk out an injector or 8) of one year, and well... the fuel goes bad, and the situation goes ignored - until the siren stops working of course, then the carb needs to get cleaned - which requires at least partial disassembly, and THAT'S expensive.

Not to mention time consuming if you are trying to warn for the real thing!

Granted, regular tests should combat that problem.

[Mac]

I don't know if this has been posted... but is this a version of a 2000? It looks as if it has an air filter
http://cgi.ebay.com/FEDERAL-FULL-SOUND- ... 483f3a2195

[Westgate Thunderbolt]

No. That is just the blower relief valve. If you look close at the image you can see the pipe going into the stand pipe. They did have an advertisement for the gasoline powered unit though. I believe it still just had the same generic image.

Justin

[Mac]

Oh, I see it now. Did they really look like this at some point?

[TrackerSirens]

That was one of the prototypes, I believe. They must have gunned it for a reason, but it certainly looks cool.

[jacob585]

I last saw the San Dimas Thunderbolt 2000 in October of 2009. I didn't have my good camera with me at the time (only my phone) though but I did open up the blower cover again to take a look.

It had an "A" type blower with the large diameter spoked pulley and a 2 cylinder horizontal engine that appeared to be an Onan where you'd normally find the electric motor. I didn't see anything at all that resembled a generator but there was a mysterious looking box with wires coming out mounted over the blower. The box had a single toggle switch on it that could be accessed through a sliding cover on the side of the blower box.

The engine did not appear to be converted to propane or natural gas from what I could see though, it still had the original fuel tank and carburetor. There was some brownish-orange stuff (really stale gas I suppose) in the very bottom of the glass bowl fuel filter under the tank.

I only have 2 good pictures I took that day.

very sorry to bump this in all but over in L.A. I think they still have one 2000 model check the L.A. air raid siren map and you should find it. and if I heard right it runs on a turbine engine of some sort its still there as of 2016

[Brendan W]

very sorry to bump this in all but over in L.A. I think they still have one 2000 model check the L.A. air raid siren map and you should find it. and if I heard right it runs on a turbine engine of some sort its still there as of 2016

Yes, there is one 2000 left in the Windsor Hills area. However, it does not run anymore. It hasn't since roughly the late 1980s, when LA decommissioned their system. And as of 2016, it is an all original 2000. Lately though it has been tampered with. The siren does still retain its original engine as seen here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODWDa4KlV1Y