The ABCs of Fire Alarm Systems - Part X

By Anthony J. Shalna 2009 Principal IMSA Representative to the Automatic Fire Alarm Association
President: Southeastern Signalmen of Massachusetts

Retired Approvals Manager: Gamewell-FCI by Honeywell

Street Corner Fire Alarm Boxes

So far, we have discussed the workings

of a protected premise
fire alarm system, but
have not gone into detail about the specific
methods of signaling
to an outside authority.
One of the most traditional methods is via a
City Master Box that is
a street fire alarm box
modified so that it can
be actuated by a fire
alarm control panel
in addition to being
manually operated.

gized single stroke devices, such as gongs, electromechanical punch registers, etc. could also be connected
in series with the boxes. The punch registers perforate
a strip of paper in accordance with the box code and
then time and date stamp the strip, giving a hard copy
of the code and time of alarm. (The TV show American
Pickers recently showed a punch register they bought
for resale, and the Pickers didnt have a clue as to
what it was!) Some towns even have solenoid valves
installed in the loop to blow large air horns. Larger
systems connect all gongs, solenoids, etc. into a separate alarm circuit rather than intermingle them with
boxes. Switchboards in large cities now have electronic
decoders, but older systems in small towns might very
well have these gongs, etc. in use. A gong located in
a fire substation will automatically sound the code of
the box in alarm.

Radio type fire alarm boxes are now replacing the

electromechanical versions in various areas, especially
where the cable plant has deteriorated badly due to
budget cuts, etc. We will discuss mostly the electromechanical type box in this installment.

The older municipal switchboards operate from a

Form 4 power supply which is further defined in the
National Fire Code, NFPA 72. In brief, a large set of 24
volt batteries is connected to a large battery charger that
is also suitable for use as a power supply. The charger
has excess capacity; that is to say, if the municipal loops
require 5 amps of current for operation, the charger will
have a capacity 5 amps greater than that required to
recharge the batteries in the event of a power failure.

The electromechanical city box is most commonly

found in the northeast and in pockets elsewhere
throughout the country. This box has a wind up clockwork mechanism mounted in a weatherproof shell,
with a cottage roof. These boxes were first installed in
Boston in the nineteenth century and thousands are
still in use in the east.
We will discuss the operation of a wired municipal
fire alarm system here, since an understanding of this
system will make it easier to understand the working of
the city master box. Otherwise, the only way we could
describe the operation of a master box would be that it
consists of a black box that works by magic.
The box mechanism contains normally closed contacts
that are connected in series with a huge series balloon
loop that could stretch for miles. A municipal switchboard maintains a current in the loop of 1/10 ampere
that has remained unchanged for almost a century,
except we now use the modern way of expressing it
as 100 milliamperes. Supervision is provided via the
current flowing through the loop.
Depending on the size of the municipality, other enerPage 36

Thus, the charger will actually power the system. In

the event of power failure, the charger will die and
the system will continue to operate from the batteries.
This is a true uninterruptible power supply! In older
systems, solid state inverter power supplies are then
used to step up the 24 VDC to the voltage required to
maintain current in the loops.
To operate the box, one opens the pull guard and pulls
the hook that becomes exposed. This requires two
hands to operate, in an effort to reduce the possibility of impulse alarms, while the pull guard affords
protection to the hook. The pull guard has a large open
handle that is pulled to pull the guard forward. This
handle was originally designed to be an ice breaker, so
you could insert a mittened hand and pull the guard,
even if the guard was coated with ice.
The act of pulling the hook causes the clockwork
mechanism to unwind, rotating a code wheel with
Continued on page 37
IMSA Journal

The ABCs of Fire Alarm Systems Part IX . . .

teeth cut in accordance with the
code assigned to the box. The teeth
on the wheel cause the contacts
to open and close in accordance
with the code. Note that I said that
the contacts are normally closed.
Since supervisory current is flowing through the circuit, a break in
the municipal loop will cause the
energized single stroke gongs, etc.
in the circuit to fall out and sound
a single blow. This differentiates a
break from an alarm, and indicates
the need for an investigation by
the fire department. An operated
box will sound its code on all the
gongs, registers, etc. In small towns,
a solenoid valve connected in series
with the loop sounds an air horn
that enables volunteer fire fighters
to respond directly to the scene of
an alarm.
This code is usually repeated for
a total of four rounds, although
exceptions may occur. Some years
ago, the City of Chicago used a code
wheel equipped with a double set of
coded teeth. The wheel rotated for
only two rounds, but each revolution sounded two sets of code! Due
to the large number of boxes then
in use, and heavy alarm activity,
the four rounds were transmitted
in half the usual time. The timing of the box is specified by the
municipality. Large cities will use
very fast time, while a small town
with an air horn connected into the
loop will use a very slow time to
allow the horn to sound distinctive
honks. In another almost humorous instance, one small town not far
from here only used boxes that were
adjusted to sound two rounds, the
reason being that their compressed
air tanks only had enough capacity to sound two rounds of code
on the air horn! Thus, economics
preempted the National Fire Alarm
Code.

Continued from page 36

a ground connection, and the main switchboard is usually equipped with

grounding capability. Therefore, in the event of an alarm being turned
in after a loop break, the box will automatically signal through the intact
part of the loop and the box ground, using the ground as a conductor.
Thus the only thing that will stop a box alarm from going through would
be multiple breaks at the same time, and even then only the boxes located
between the breaks would be disabled. About the only time this could
happen would be during an ice storm with multiple skidding accidents
all involving box knockdowns. The boxes connected to either leg of the
intact loop would still operate.
The boxes signal on a series non-interfering basis. A box in alarm shuts
off any alarmed boxes further downstream from itself. Any other alarmed
boxes will idle until they see a clear line, and then will signal their code in
turn. A wound mechanism has the capability of sounding about 25 rounds
before requiring re-winding, and will open the line if it is completely
run down. The Fire Departments usually have a standing regulation
requiring the officer in charge of the response to re-wind the box. If an
alarmed box is unable to signal after idling for 20 rounds or so, the box
has a bulldog feature that enables it to take over the line, shut off any
signaling boxes, and send its code before the spring is run down. The
non-interfering feature is so effective that in demonstrations, as many as
five boxes have been pulled simultaneously without affecting their ability
to sound their codes!
This electromechanical form of signaling has proven so reliable and
Continued on page 43

The use of a series loop with normally closed coding devices would
appear to be fraught with problems,
but actually, this setup is exceedingly well planned. The boxes have
November/December 2010

Page 37

The ABCs of Fire Alarm

Systems Part IX . . .

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Continued from page 37

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Radio Street Boxes
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Continued on page 66
when pulled. Radio boxes require
power for operation, usually batteries, and a means of charging
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mounted adjacent to the box. Basically, the radio box transmits a
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been received. Thus, supervision of the box is provided. Most
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