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Federal Sign & Signal: Model-5A C3 1/2 | Valley Motor

FEDERAL SIGN & SIGNAL

The Federal Signal Model series is a series of medium sized omnidirectional sirens produced by Federal Signal over the span of 50 years, going through many design changes and variants throughout the years. Popular as fire sirens, tons of these sirens remain in service despite being discontinued roughly 35 years ago. They were also rebranded and resold by other siren manufacturers, such as GCS and W.S. Darley & Co.

The earliest sirens in the Model series began production in 1929 as the Fedelcode series, manufactured by the Federal Electric Company. These sirens were designed to replace the antiquated Type B, which had lackluster performance. Unlike the later Model series sirens, Fedelcodes came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes throughout the years. Single rotor Fedelcodes came in three main sizes, the C1 1/2, C)2 1/2 (or B2 1/2), and C3 1/2. The designs included a weatherproof housing to prolong the life of the siren inside. The Fedelcode was designed with a very steep cowl, or "skirt" to project sound downwards and be dispersed by a building roof, as roof mounts were the most popular mounting style at the time. Fedelcode sirens came with the option to add a coding damper, which used a motor-driven (early) or electromagnetic (later) damper to block and unblock the siren's intake, allowing it to produce a "pulse" of noise. This was used to tell volunteer firefighters where a fire was, using a numbered series of "fire zones" and blasting a number of pulses corresponding to which zone the fire was in. These coded models generally have the additional designation of "OC", such as the Type Mach. 5OC or 7OC.

By the time the Fedelcode series had been discontinued in the 1950s, the series had been streamlined to feature only the Model 2, C1 1/2, C2 1/2, and C3 1/2, with the rest being discontinued. The weatherproof housing was now changed, adding screens for the output and intake, and most notably, changing the design of the cowl to project sound further outwards, as pole mounting was becoming more popular. Up until 1959, C2 1/2 and C3 1/2 sized models also included a service door for the motor, with subsequent sirens lacking the door. Dual tone models were also introduced. The C3 1/2 size was still available with a coding damper for a short time before it was discontinued, as siren coding had become obsolete in favor of simpler methods. The sirens in this series were also sold by other companies who partnered with Federal Signal, such as GCS and W.S. Darley & Co. These sirens had their own custom housings, but were otherwise identical to their Federal counterparts.



Real picture of FS&S Model 5





The first and third generation of the Model 500, Federal's mid-range rotating siren, made use of the C3 1/2's rotor, while the second generation models used the STH-10's rotors. The 15 inch rotor from the C2 1/2 model was also later reused by Federal Signal for the popular 2001 series.

There were three different rotor sizes available for this siren, with each model having a unique housing. These sirens were designated as "CX 1/2" on the tag, though Federal Signal simply used the Model X naming scheme. Some have "B" instead of "C" on the tag for unknown reasons. Motor horsepower can vary even with the same rotor size, which can make identifying sirens in this series difficult without seeing the tag. The known variants of this siren were:


The C3 1/2 was the largest, loudest, and most successful size in the series. The C3 1/2 was a significant step up from the previous models, using an 18.5 inch aluminum rotor. The siren was available in 8 or 12-port single tone, or 9/12 port dual tone. Dual tone models have the "T" (FS) or "TT" (Enterprises/FS&S) designation. The siren is driven by either a 5 , 7.5, or 10HP AC motor, although all are more or less identical in performance and appearance. The siren was available in single or three-phase AC, with three-phase models being designated Model 5A/7A and single-phase models being designated Model 5B/7B. The C3 1/2 was able to reach 107db at 100ft, matching the performance of the C2 1/2, though the frequent changes in housing proportions could enhance/worsen performance by generation. The reason for the C3 1/2's existence was to skirt regulations about motor horsepower, and is the reason why the C3 1/2 ultimately became the standard model.


Available in Port ratios
9/12, 12, 8

Motor
5HP Valley Motor

Decibel Rating at 100ft
105db

Company
Federal Sign & Signal
Federal Signal Co.

Reselling Companies
W.S. Darley & Co.
General City Services (GCS)