Twinsonic 12F Craigslist find

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Was given a heads up that this was local to me, and its been awhile since I had any luck finding things in the wild.
Twinsonic 12F, overall not bad used condition, I have some work ahead of me with cleanup but shouldn't need much.

As I got it..




Anyone know what Model 528 is referring to?
Wrecker brand maybe?



Not sure why the endcap was cut like that.





Gearbox.... YUCK!

I'll post some video.. OCD is kicking in as I work on this.. finding little things that are irking me..

 

[stansdds]

My guess is that this was mounted on a tow truck, the "Model 528" likely the tow truck body model. End caps may have been cut so as to fit around whatever the TwinSonic was mounted upon.

 

[tsquale]

Nice find! I have always liked the 12F the best. Great narration as well. "Mmm peanut butter!"

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

This is chugging along quite nicely..
Tear down complete..


Cleaned parts


The Mirrors came out great and they other then the gearbox were the worse for wear.
And I discovered that PBblaster is a pretty effective degreaser quite by accident.

I'm giving all the fastners and small metal bits a bath in PBblaster currently.
It also tackled and completely cleaned the drive chains.. so win.

While that was going on I attacked the domes.. left one is untouched... right one has gone through one cleaning and polishing round.



Quick question.. does anyone know the factory wiring order on the terminal?
It's a 5 position terminal.. obviously 12v+, 12v-, Speaker +, Speaker -, flashers.

But what order did it come from factory.. the sticker is long gone.

 

[Benno]

Quick question.. does anyone know the factory wiring order on the terminal?
It's a 5 position terminal.. obviously 12v+, 12v-, Speaker +, Speaker -, flashers.

But what order did it come from factory.. the sticker is long gone.

This is how the sticker looks on my 12F A1A

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Ironically enough I got it right with my last post.. lol

 

[ejwa]

Do you know if Code 3 made an SD bar that was comparable to this one? I remember one of the old fire tankers at the local department had a light bar like a Twinsonic but the flashers were mounted right against the inside of the domes. I want to say the flashers were between the rotators.


Never mind, I was able to answer my own question.

 

[Benno]

Do you know if Code 3 made an SD bar that was comparable to this one? I remember one of the old fire tankers at the local department had a light bar like a Twinsonic but the flashers were mounted right against the inside of the domes. I want to say the flashers were between the rotators. ...

Yes, they did!
These flashers on the SD-Bar were an option you could choose. They were called Selectalert alternating flashers

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Not to mention the later generation Model 12F and 12EF used the round Par36 lamp holders found in the Aerodynic.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

In the event anyone ever wondered what a Twinsonic Gearbox looks like completely stripped and laid out.. here you go.

This was by far the nastiest conglomeration of Grease I have ever dealt with.
On the plus side it did a good job protecting the parts, and after some inspection they all look to be good and reusable.

BTW the type 3 motor that was attached had a date of 2-90

 

[deelony]

Model 528 is a type of No-Mar brand wrecker (E.R Buske mfg). They were based out of Pochantas Iowa and have been defunct since around 2003. They were a very popular brand in the 70' and 80's and into the early 90s.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Progress, progress.



Pro Tip.. make sure your gearbox is assembled correctly and test it before you remount it.. lol don't do what I did.



You can actually see the base again! this was bad lots of degreaser, and a powerwasher and this is it.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

So with some fairly major progress completed I will post up some results..





Cleanup is complete. I need to add some additional grease, synch the rotators and rewire a new harness to the wiring block.

The holdup was getting time to work on the domes..



Nothing fancy done here.. these are the original domes..
I adjust my finishing method a little to experiment.

1.) Soap and water
2.) Magic Eraser (gave it a shot.. meh)
3.) Wet Sand. 1500 grit.. (abit high looking back, probably should have started at 1000)
4.) Soap and Water
5.) Auto Rubbing Compound.. (Turtle Wax brand I think)
6.) Mequires Auto Wax.. kinda smelled like bananas.. Carnuba maybe?

Take note I did not use PlastX, Novus or any other product. I grabbed what was on the shelf in my garage and ran with it..

I think the results speak for themselves.. Daylight reveals all flaws.. some crazing, but still overall pleased.




compare these to the original pictures..

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

And the wrap up!




And with that, I am calling it a day.. If I can locate a replacement speaker tray on the cheap then I might just replace the plastic one altogether. No big deal either way.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.. to everyone!


Rob

 

[CAPTAIN 58]

Just spotted a twin Sonic 12f in the wild on a actual in service flatbed they were turning and burning right before I snapped this pic

 

[lotsofbars]

Just spotted a twin Sonic 12f in the wild on a actual in service flatbed they were turning and burning right before I snapped this pic

Looks like it has the speaker grill from a Dietz Omni Chief. Cool to see it still at work.

 

[CAPTAIN 58]

it's an actual twinsonic speaker cover turned backwards with a sticker on the front that says Emergency Services I'm trying to convince the guy that he needs to take it out of service and trade me for a mx7000 light bar to put on that flatbed wish me luck

 

[stansdds]

Yes, you can still find TwinSonic's in service. Tow/maintenance vehicles and maybe on some volunteer or reserve fire department equipment. Federal Signal made quality equipment.

 

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

Yes, you can still find TwinSonic's in service. Tow/maintenance vehicles and maybe on some volunteer or reserve fire department equipment. Federal Signal made quality equipment.

I know of at least 2 departments that still have twinsonics in use. one R/R and one R/B. I was able to save one from the dumpster a few years back on one of the vehicles I rode around in when I was still active.