Buzzing/Humming Noise From Siren Speaker

StephenNurn

New Member
Feb 8, 2021
4
New York
Hey all, i just recently replaced a Whelen 295slsa1 with a federal signal pa300 series siren. I compared wiring diagrams and made my own directory on paper one which wires would connect to eachother. Im positive the wiring is correct. Once i turned on the siren the speaker started making a low sounding humming or buzzing with the siren off. When the siren is on the volume is very low and there’s interference noise with the siren. The speaker is a federal signal es100 so the sirens are definitely compatible. Its not the siren itself because i swapped with another siren of the same model and same issue. So either its a bad speaker or the wiring is bad. Any advice? Has anyone else experienced this?
 

StephenNurn

New Member
Feb 8, 2021
4
New York
Its pretty Straightforward. And i cut and reconnected each wire 1 by 1 and had the actual wires labeled so I couldn’t get them wrong. Soldered, heat shrinked and Special Electrical tape they use in cars. The only thing i thought it was wiring wise was either the ground causing a ground loop or the speaker wires were swapped by accident. I swapped the speaker wires and same issue. Theres no antennas nearby so there isn’t antenna interference either.
 

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shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,276
NW Indiana
Using your multimeter, do you measure difference in voltage between the ground pin in the PA300's plug and the battery's negative terminal?
 

StephenNurn

New Member
Feb 8, 2021
4
New York
I have not done that but that might be a challenge considering this is in a Fire Truck lol i assume who installed the original siren (the whelen) followed the diagram and wired the siren to a chassis ground (probably a ground terminal) that is then wired to battery. If i directly ground the siren to ground only will that make a difference? Maybe if i can test it using an outside source? I.e car battery pack?
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,276
NW Indiana
Correct. If you had a 58 watt speaker you would use the low and common terminals. Since you're using a 100-watt speaker, you are correct in using the high and common terimals.
 

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