The Siren Board

Sorry I haven't posted here in eons. Been busy with school and work. Anyways, I still have my jailbar Thunderbolt. Like before, I still just have everything from the rotator box on up (rotator, chopper, siren head).

The siren is 480 volts, 3 phase T-1000 according to it's tags. Besides a blower and RCM, is there anything else I'll need to get it to run again?

T-1000? That's a new one. Perhaps checking to see if the rotator turns and if the chopper spins freely may help you get it running again.

I meant 1000. I got it confused with the part on the tag that says T-129.

hey calvin, the chopper motor is single phase and can operate on anything from 120-240v ac. your rotator motor is the only thing that is three phase... if you dont have the blower. a RCM is not required to run it but if you want to adjust chopper pitch it will be needed. change the rotator motor out for a 1/3 hp 1800 rpm single phase motor that has a 1/2" shaft. i have provided a picture of the insides of the rotator box to give you an idea of what to hookup to where.


The two grey wires that are connected to the black wire are the leads going to the chopper motor.

Wow. A 480v 3 phase jailbar? That's new to me. I was under the impression that the early Thunderbolts would all be single phase. Do you happen to have photos somewhere of the siren?

I have a picture that i saved from out in the wild of a 480v RCM panel, its a mid 1950s model that has been semi butchered and some of the contactors have been changed out. Note the massive chopper transformer inside it.

That is a sad looking panel. I wonder how the 1956 Thunderbolt panels in Springfield would look. If only I could convince the city to give me the 3 old Thunderbolts.

Pi_User5 wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 09, 2017 10:34 pm

Wow. A 480v 3 phase jailbar? That's new to me. I was under the impression that the early Thunderbolts would all be single phase. Do you happen to have photos somewhere of the siren?

https://www.thesirenboard.com/forums/vi ... hp?t=18804

Pi_User5 wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 09, 2017 10:34 pm

Wow. A 480v 3 phase jailbar? That's new to me. I was under the impression that the early Thunderbolts would all be single phase. Do you happen to have photos somewhere of the siren?

It's usually the opposite. Most of the earlier Thunderbolts were more commonly 3 phase. There were lots of single phase ones sold thru the 70's-80's. Considering the OP's siren was installed on an industrial building, 480v 3 phase was likely the most readily available option at the time.

Stormsetter4 wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 12, 2017 11:18 pm

It's usually the opposite. Most of the earlier Thunderbolts were more commonly 3 phase. There were lots of single phase ones sold thru the 70's-80's. Considering the OP's siren was installed on an industrial building, 480v 3 phase was likely the most readily available option at the time.

I did not know that. So that means at least 2 of the 1956 Thunderbolts in Springfield are 3 phase (not sure about the other 2).