Fire alarm test

[Kyle]

Today, my school did a fire alarm test. it sounded really weird from the other alarms I have heard at my old school's.

It goes like beeeep beeeep beeeep then pauses and starts up again. I was wondering if anyone of you know what kind it is. The alarm is obviously red. It's square with little rectangle openings on the front. There's a fire alarm every 20-40 ft. I don't know why. I dont know if it's because its not loud enough. But when i passed by it, it was pretty loud.

If any of you think you have a recording of it, just post it and ill listen to it.

[dilloncarpenter]

This is the most common type of fire alarm I know of. People like Charlie D will know what type it is, I'm more for sirens than fire alarms.

[Kyle]

This is the most common type of fire alarm I know of. People like Charlie D will know what type it is, I'm more for sirens than fire alarms.

ah yes, now that you reminded me of Charlie, I heard some of them in hes video's.

[Matt]

sounds like a Wheelock MT in code 3 horn

[bwillcox]

That cadence is called Code 3 or temporal coding and is the NFPA recommended fire alarm signal, and almost all new systems will use it unless the local code says otherwise.

If you can get a picture of one of the horn strobes we can probably tell you what it is.

[Toledo 2t22]

Defiantly code 3... Every school I have gone to uses it.... It would make me happier if they could change it up a bit and use march time

[3t22]

what you heard as mentioned is temporal code-3, which is has been the universal alarm coding in the US in new systems sense the late 90's. The alarm you mention did it look like these?



if so that's a Wheelock AS.

[bradhig]

We have Sentex at work and it does the same thing. What are the strobes for?

[ACAP10]

Every building I've been in (school building, dorm, etc) has used the continuous signal in both North Dakota and Illinois. I think continuous is more attention getting and seems more urgent than code 3.

This year at my apartment at school, they have Simplix smoke alarms set on continuous in the rooms and living room, and in the halls they have Simplix TruAlerts set on Code 3, a first for me. After one drill and one accidental activation, I really am not a fan of code 3. It doesn't catch my attention like continous.

Here's a short video from the dorm I lived in last year with Simplex 9838's set on continuous. Keep in mind there are eight 9838's going off in a small area so it's REALLY loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K0qB7-906Q

[Daniel]

A continuous signal on an older AC vibratory horn would grab attention, but on these newer DC magnetic or motorized horns, they make a dull drone that quickly fades into background noise. High-pitched piezo horns are very popular these days, but are above the audible threshold of many people with high-pitch hearing loss. The most attention-getting fire alarms I remember from school were Model A sirens (once common in Oregon schools) and intermittent AC horns (once required in California schools). My high school sounded a repeating 1/2 second on, 1 second off blast, and my junior high did a repeating Code 4-4.