Federal Signal Super Beacon-Ray 174

Jun 18, 2013
3,709
PA
As I clean off my bench to make room for what's ahead.. I have had this guy sitting on it for about a year.
Unfortunately I don't have any images from when I first acquired it.. but it has had a few rounds with 0000 steel wool on the base and the dome. And I just followed up with some Neverdull to make is shine. I originally thought I would need to rechrome the base.. not anymore.

elightbars plug in the video... ;)

Build date on this one is April 1965.. and yes glass dome.


Optimized-20180923_134817.jpg

Optimized-20180923_134823.jpg

 
The 174 is my personal favorite of all time! Great job!

Minor point...it was designed with the "dwell" flash would be strait ahead (directly over the label) and the secondary flashes across its 95 degree oscellation, which, according to FedSig, made the dwell flash seem brighter. When you screw on the skirt, the end of the motor whould be facing forward, that way the screw holes will line up with the label forward.
 
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stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
Interesting how some of those badges from the mid-1960's oxidize to a brown color.
 

Wailer

Member
May 24, 2010
2,290
Canada
Whenever I look at a light like that I think of the motion of the agitator on an old washing machine.
 
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Jun 18, 2013
3,709
PA
I'm gonna go total noob here.. but I originally thought this light was goofed because of the oscillation. At the time I knew next to nothing about these beacons, after this place and some research, I learned that it is supposed to do that.. And I admit I am not a beacon guy, so always learning.
 

coop359

Member
Apr 16, 2012
495
USA Tennessee
How does the mechanism differ from a 175/176 beacon ray? I never heard how it ocilate back and forth? I am curious. I can almost swear that our local FD when I was a kid had hill light beacon rays that did the 174 action. Was that an option?
 

dmathieu

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 20, 2010
8,766
S.W. New Hampshire, USA
Hill light 174 never had an oscillating option. but I guess it can be done just by changing the bulb cage from 4 horizontal to a 175 cage.
The way it oscillates is, there is a tiny little guy in the gear box that keeps switching the wires (polarity).
 
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The 174 and 176 use the same bulb holder (I like Dan's term "cage"). The 175 cage has two bulbs with one angled up and the opposite side angled down (NYPD had a special cage where the up-angle light was not as steep). The gearing for the 17, 173, 175 and 176 are all the same. The 175 and 176 have a second circuit brush for the use of clear and colored bulbs where the clears could be turned off.

OK, I would normally post a video but the site won't accept .mov files from my iPad or iPhone...here's a photo of the gearing for the 174 from my Super Twin BeaconRay--thus the model 14 motor.
IMG_1898.JPG IMG_1899.JPG
On the other BeaconRays, the gear is mounted to the cage shaft. On the 174, a cam is mounted to the shaft with a connecting rod to the gear. As the gear turns, it pushes/pulls the cam to cause the oscillation--approximately 95 degrees.
 

348

Member
Feb 16, 2013
1,014
Idaho
The 174 and 176 use the same bulb holder (I like Dan's term "cage"). The 175 cage has two bulbs with one angled up and the opposite side angled down (NYPD had a special cage where the up-angle light was not as steep). The gearing for the 17, 173, 175 and 176 are all the same. The 175 and 176 have a second circuit brush for the use of clear and colored bulbs where the clears could be turned off.

OK, I would normally post a video but the site won't accept .mov files from my iPad or iPhone...here's a photo of the gearing for the 174 from my Super Twin BeaconRay--thus the model 14 motor.
View attachment 214913View attachment 214914
On the other BeaconRays, the gear is mounted to the cage shaft. On the 174, a cam is mounted to the shaft with a connecting rod to the gear. As the gear turns, it pushes/pulls the cam to cause the oscillation--approximately 95 degrees.

Thanks for the pictures. I too often wondered what made those lights oscillate the way they do.
 

cmb56

Member
May 22, 2010
746
Norrköping, Sweden
The 175 cage has two bulbs with one angled up and the opposite side angled down (NYPD had a special cage where the up-angle light was not as steep).
The 175 and 176 have a second circuit brush for the use of clear and colored bulbs where the clears could be turned off.
I think it might be good to tell that the NYPD’s special 175 did not have the secondary lamp circuit so they could not turn the two tilted red sealed beams off.
At least most of them was of this type but I have seen some with this secondary lamp circuit.
In any case, I do not know if they where NYPD light or not.
The one I have is without this circuit.

Michael
 

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