ACA Allertor siren - Philomont Volunteer Fire Department 

Yes Round Hill used to have an Allertor as well. They have a Model 5/7 (I think) in the cupola on top of their fire station. The Allertor is long gone, though, and the Model 5 is not used anymore either.

That 5/7 came from North Merrick Long Island

Yea thats what i figured it was too

1gsyetdgertteyeeuyeueueueyeye

@@katiaoliveira335 are you ok

It's capacitors are bad. They should be replaced.

Lmao

@@mynmhsnvwls1124 no it is legit sick or low voltage

u mean Allertor

@@thehackeroftornadosirens5133 I mean Alligator

@@giborisrael4229 e stupid

He means crocodile

@@TSAR2010 exactly! thank you sir

Unfortunately it’s no longer active for fire calls. But they plan to use it still for tornado warnings, so I look forward to seeing what the future holds.

@Nuke_VA I know but I’m asking why this often happens when they get old? Are they brushed motors or synchronous motors?

I doubt you could hear this from Fauquier County. If you did it would be very faint. You could have been hearing the siren that was in Middleburg. That siren was an ACA Allertor like this one but it was sadly removed a few years ago. You could hear this siren from Round Hill but it would be pretty faint. This siren was not turned down for the test. The reason it is so low-pitched is because its phase converter has problems. Lucketts's fire station has two sirens, an ACA Allertor like this one and a Federal Signal Model 5/7. Neither of them are still in use. The siren in this video is now the only active fire siren in Loudoun County.

Lovettsville Sta. 12 also at one time had one of the Federal sirens on the roof, as well as an Allertor down the road on a pole. I took photos of the allertor in 1998, but noticed that it was gone via google a couple of years back.

You can not turn the volume down on this.

Lucketts Has not gone off as far as I know However I do Live within range to hear it If it did I will wait for the next Tornado Warning that has not happened in this part of the county since I moved from Sterling out west here;

Yetetet3

@@katiaoliveira335 stop doing this stuff all the time

It is. Not sure why the wind down sounds the way it does. I think the phase converter is tough on the siren.

It's like it struggles to wind up, but the phase converter just, like you said, is being a little rough with that siren. And it tries to stop it as it winds down.

Yes. This siren has been sounding like this for about 10 years or more now. It's louder than you might think too. Shook my chest when I was there and you almost have to cover your ears several hundred feet away.

It's not single phase. It's 3 phase on a rotary converter, and I think that is what's causing it to run so slowly. I'm not sure how much life is left in this siren honestly. It does sound very sick, and I think that is due to a problem with the phase converter.

Jack Wood ugh phase converters suck ass.

They can be restored. Like this Directo in Pottsville. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aG3vFPgubGI.html

Same thing

@@steveperelli3602 yes - but hasn’t been used for calls since around 2017-18.

Actually yes. You'd be surprised. It vibrated my chest both times I heard it and whenever it faced towards me I had to cover my ears, something O never had to do with any other siren. It's not as loud as a healthy Allertor, but it's still pretty loud and does its job. My guess is it's about as loud as a Model 2 running the speed it does.

They need a thunderbolt

@@untetheredangel2152 You're just saying that because you like Thunderbolts.

@@FireRescue80 yep😂

@@untetheredangel2152 yeah that's not going to happen.

It's not tested. It sounds for fire calls. How long has it been since you heard it? I sure hope the motor doesn't burn out. They have career firefighters staffing the station so they rely on them more than the volunteers.

Jack Wood nah there used to be a certain test on each day of the month at a certain time. FWIW I've heard it the past two days around 630 in mountville, Middleburg. Are they trying to fix it or what?

I didn't know that it was tested on a schedule. I really don't know to tell you the truth. Next time it goes off, maybe try to record it and put it on here.

No. I think the reason it winds down that way is because it is on a phase converter. Yelp sounds a bit different.

no... wail tone

Yeheg 🙂😉😉🙂

This one is sick. That's why. Almost an octave lower than normal.

It is pretty quiet in there. The room where the siren's controls are has cinderblock walls. In there, the rotary phase converter for the siren is loud when it starts up, but then you walk outside and the siren is deafening. What do you imagine it would have been like if the siren had been on full speed when I had stepped outside, right under the pole? I had earphones in, but it was deafening and shook my chest, even though it only gets up to half speed.

Yes, I asked them to so I could film it.

Really. 😕😕, I liked it

@@mynmhsnvwls1124 This isn't how they're supposed to sound. They are supposed to be much louder and much higher pitch.

@@CentralVirginiaEAS wait, it is? Last I knew it was inactive

@@WoodJack99 Apparently if you look on google streetview, the siren changes positions if you switch between the dates of December 2023, and August 2024.

​@@WoodJack99 If you look on google streetview, and alternate dates between August 2024 and December 2023, you'll notice that the siren rotated. Now the siren is probably not active for fire calls, but i'm pretty sure it's hooked up to power, and they'll probably use it for special occasions. Also for some reason my last comment was deleted, not sure why. Well I guess my comment wasn't deleted. It wouldn't show my reply for some reason. Sorry.

It sounds more like a turntable too.

The starting caps are bad

Stormsetter4 Yeah. I saw the replies on ARS.

No, Philomont. Between Middleburg and Purcellville, on Snickersville Turnpike.

Jack Wood Ok, thanks I just know Arcola, VA has an Allertor 125 also.

Yes it does. There used to be many Allertors in Loudoun County at fire stations, installed by Civil Defense. The only ones left are Lucketss, Philomont, and Arcola. Philomont is actually the only fire station in the county that still uses a siren at all. We can hear it in Middleburg, 6 miles away, on a clear day!

Jack Wood I also found a FS STH-10 in Leesburg. I'm about 2-3 miles from Arcola, and I never hear it go off. So you're lucky to hear it.

There are two STH-10s in Leesburg. As I said previously, the Allertor in this video is the only siren in Loudoun County that is still in use. If I ever manage to catch it from my mom's when conditions are right, I'll put up that video as well.

No, it has a rotary phase converter that you hear starting up after the tones before the siren starts. It sounded much better a long time ago, so I suspect the siren has motor problems or it is something with the phase converter.

Regardless it definitely has power issues . I'm originally from the DC area and I don't ever remember seeing any Alertors in the District at all unless I overlooked them somehow .

This Allertor was part of DC's old Civil Defense system that was dismantled in the early '90s. That system consisted mainly of Thunderbolts, but there were some Allertors as well. After the system was dismantled, this Allertor became a fire siren, which it continues to be used as today.

I live nearby and haven’t heard it for about 4 years now. 🙁 It’s still there though!

It's on a rotary phase converter and that is not good for it. I think something is wrong with the converter that is causing the siren to run much slower than normal.

Because it’s half a century old and requires some maintenance- which no one is willing to pay for because they don’t use it anymore 😕

alexis trinquet I see

Some places don’t have three phase you know

@@SirensAndAlarmsOfNorthernIL no need to be persnickety. I’m not an electrician ya know??? I’m a musician. I just remember having these in my neighborhood and surrounding areas and they never sounded this poorly. Well except when one’s motor started to burn out. The person posting the video didn’t even mention power issues in the description. So maybe next time just don’t assume everyone has a masters in electrical engineering asshole.

when the heck did I say this???