Siren Control Board

I would like to apologize in advance as I did not take many pictures of the board build itself.

Photo Descriptions:

Photo 1:

To start, I went to the hardware store and bought a thick piece of wood to serve as a mounting board for the electrical components. I also purchased some 2x4 lumber to construct the legs of the stand. I drilled two holes on each side of the legs to attach them securely to the board using bolts.

Photo 2:

I made some progress on the project, and in the photo, you can see that the feet and supports have been constructed and attached to the legs. Additionally, the electrical components, including the disconnect switch, contactor, and AR timer, are mounted in place. I wanted the control board to be simple, so I opted for a twist-lock outlet. The power for the control system is kept separate from the siren power. For the siren, I'm using an armoured 10 AWG 2-conductor wire that connects to the disconnect switch. All components, including the disconnect, contactor, and twist-lock plug, are rated for 240V at 30 amps.

Photo 3:

Moving ahead, you can see two additional boxes. The top box is the decoder and "radio", while the box beneath it is the power supply for both the "radio" and decoder.

Photos 4 & 5:
In preparation for additions to the board, I made some modifications at the front. I installed a junction box next to the contactor, as well as an emergency stop switch on the far right. Additionally, I added a selector switch. Since I have a Federal STH-10 that is three-phase, it requires a larger contactor. The selector switch allows you to choose which circuit the AR timer controls. You can either control the 30 Amp single-phase side for the small sirens or switch to control the 45 Amp three-phase contactor on the other side.

Photos 6 & 7:
I previously mounted the contactor and created a hole in the back of the box for the coil wires to connect to the junction box on the opposite side of the selector switch. I finally received the remaining parts I needed to continue working on that side. In this photo, I've added the motor disconnect switch along with some 3/4" conduit for a neat appearance. You can see the wires from the switch to the contactor.

Photos 8 & 9:
Here you can see I got some 6 AWG 4 conductor wire to feed into the contactor, and I installed the plugs on both the output from the contactor and the input into the motor disconnect switch.

The board project is pretty much done at this point.

Page Updated: 03/24/25