SirenO, The Original Vehicle Siren

[Skulldigger]

I just picked up this Sireno No. 5, known as the SirenO. The Sireno company was started in 1908 by John Gordon, Jr. and Charles H. Conner. Their patents of Feb. 4, 1908 and July 28, 1908 created the SirenO siren. It is small, with a chopper of just 3-7/8" in diameter. Including the projector it is 12" long.

As it arrived. The chopper would not spin.



Disassembly for cleaning



Cleaned parts



Reassembly

 

[Skulldigger]

 

[Skulldigger]

1909 SirenO Ad, showing this little siren.

 

[tsquale]

Some great history there! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Pete L.]

Beautiful job of bringing her back to life.
Is it 6 or 12 volt ??

 

[lotsofbars]

Excellent, beautiful work as always.

 

[jph2]

Nice find! Great work restoring that piece of history. And nice background info, too.

 

[coop359]

Great job. Did you polish all the metal? What did you use? Does it work now? Video??

 

[JazzDad]

Sì, video!

 

[Skulldigger]

Is it 6 or 12 volt ??

It is 6v, from the serial number I'm estimating it was made between 1920 - 1925

Great job. Did you polish all the metal? What did you use? Does it work now? Video??

This was originally all nickel plated brass. I used a brass brush in my drill press to polish up the siren housing. The nickel was already flaking and coming off. Used the same brush on the chopper and the rear cover. The cone I dipped in PH down acid for about 3 hours and it cleaned up real nice. It does work! I will try and get a video before today is over. Being able to clean the motor and lubes, it spins great.

 

[Skulldigger]

Video as promised. I am awaiting my 12v stepdown to 6v, so I am using 12 volts to test it. It runs good but spins faster than it should. will do a full video when I get the display set up and working.

 

[Wailer]

The horn shaped thing is the air intake. All the sound comes out of the chopper.

 

[Skulldigger]

Built a display for my Sireno No. 5. Narrowed down the date to about 1922. Was able to make the bearing work and it has nice old sound to it. Still looking for a donor motor to get the rear bearing out of. I am thinking about getting it re-chromed.

 

[Maxim2Eng]

RE: the bearing, check your area for bearing suppliers (even in Fort Smith, AR we have a company that can find almost any bearing or bearing parts you might need). If it was originally nickel plate, you should consider the same—a good shop can recreate that for you. It’s much “warmer” than chrome plate, but require a bit more polish maintenance. Well worth it IMHO. Great addition to the collection!

 

[car54]

Nice job, even on the disp!ay. Personally I like it the way it is, good to show age and use to it.