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Looking for info about a FS Model 5

Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 5:53 pm
by HDN
Greetings,

I have recently acquired a Federal Enterprises Model 5 siren. It fell off the roof of a building during a windstorm in spring 2017. The siren was painted silver-gray, which appears to be a common color for these units.

Fortunately, the motor, chopper, and stator were undamaged as its lifting mount broke its fall from two stories into a grassy area. However, its outer shroud is smashed up. While I could remove the top easily after snapping off the rusted-on lifting eye, it took me an hour and work with two crowbars to work the warped cover over the siren.

I discovered and cleaned the motor data plate and found the following:

Federal Enterprises Chicago IL
3 Phase, 208 Volts, 60 Cycles
5 HP, 3500 RPM (hard to tell the RPM due to age)
Type AV37X, S/N R618759

There is some kind of Rise PC number I cannot make out.

Does anyone know how I can tell when this siren was manufactured? I'm guessing the early 1950s. What do the Type and Rise numbers mean? Also, does anyone know where I can find a new shroud or have any sheet metal fabrication plans for one?

Re: Looking for info about a FS Model 5

Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 11:30 pm
by jacob585
If your looking for a new shroud you can probably go to WSS because they have a few model 5s or shrouds.

Re: Looking for info about a FS Model 5

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 4:10 am
by HDN
Here's a picture of the siren as I found it. Not only was it bashed up, but the rust ate up the sheet metal pretty bad, especially around the vent covers. The access panel covers were nowhere to be found. They probably disappeared years ago, either being worked off by the weather or a technician misplacing them.

I was surprised to discover that the inner workings were still free despite the damage it sustained. I was very happy to discover that the chopper spinned freely!

By the way, the housing has a S/N of 26738.
20170706_110519-smaller and cropped.jpg
20170706_110519-smaller and cropped.jpg (1.98 MiB) Viewed 5163 times

Re: Looking for info about a FS Model 5

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 7:48 pm
by Stormsetter4
That looks like a late 1940's siren, not really any way to tell the exact date unfortunately.

Re: Looking for info about a FS Model 5

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 11:47 pm
by HDN
What about it leads you to believe that it's a late 1940s siren?

If it helps anyone, the siren does not have an intake cone like the manual PDF that I have shows.

Re: Looking for info about a FS Model 5

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:25 am
by Tyler
HDN wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 11:47 pm
What about it leads you to believe that it's a late 1940s siren?

If it helps anyone, the siren does not have an intake cone like the manual PDF that I have shows.
Can you tell if the rotor in it is made out of iron, or aluminum?

Re: Looking for info about a FS Model 5

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 2:06 pm
by HDN
The rotor looks like it's aluminum, judging by the oxidation. Weren't some of these rotors made with some kind of magnesium alloy?

Re: Looking for info about a FS Model 5

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:38 am
by HDN
Just bumping this hoping to get more input. I'm hoping to get an electrician to look at the motor to tell me if it will still run. I hooked a multimeter up to the motor's wires a few different ways and spun the chopper and got some voltage out of it.

Re: Looking for info about a FS Model 5

Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:45 pm
by Brendan W
HDN wrote:
Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:38 am
Just bumping this hoping to get more input. I'm hoping to get an electrician to look at the motor to tell me if it will still run. I hooked a multimeter up to the motor's wires a few different ways and spun the chopper and got some voltage out of it.
If you're getting readings from a multimeter, that should mean your siren is good to go so long as the chopper wasn't knocked out of balance or broken by the fall.