Whelen 295HFS4 User Manual

®

ENGINEERING COMPANY INC.

51 Winthrop Road
Chester, Connecticut 06412-0684

Installation Manual:

295HFS4 Series Siren

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Internet: www.whelen.com
Sales e-mail: [e-mail]
Canadian Sales e-mail: [e-mail]
Customer Service e-mail: [e-mail]

DANGER! Sirens produces extremely loud emergency warning tones! Exposure to these

tones without proper and adequate hearing protection, could cause ear damage and/or hearing
loss! The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (www.osha.gov) provides information
necessary to determine safe exposure times in Occupational Noise Exposure Section 1910.95.
Until you have determined the safe exposure times for your specific application, operators and
anyone else in the immediate vicinity should be required to wear an approved hearing protection
device. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THIS RECOMMENDATION COULD CAUSE HEARING LOSS!

Safety First

This document provides all the necessary information to allow your Whelen product to be properly and safely installed.
Before beginning the installation and/or operation of your new product, the installation technician and operator must
read this manual completely. Important information is contained herein that could prevent serious injury or damage.

• Proper installation of this product requires the installer to have a good understanding of automotive electronics,
systems and procedures.

• If mounting this product requires drilling holes, the installer MUST be sure that no vehicle components or other
vital parts could be damaged by the drilling process. Check both sides of the mounting surface before drilling
begins. Also de-burr any holes and remove any metal shards or remnants. Install grommets into all wire
passage holes.

• If this manual states that this product may be mounted with suction cups, magnets, tape or Velcro®, clean the
mounting surface with a 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and water and dry thoroughly.

• Do not install this product or route any wires in the deployment area of your air bag. Equipment mounted or
located in the air bag deployment area will damage or reduce the effectiveness of the air bag, or become a
projectile that could cause serious personal injury or death. Refer to your vehicle owner’s manual for the air bag
deployment area. The User/Installer assumes full responsibility to determine proper mounting location, based
on providing ultimate safety to all passengers inside the vehicle.

• For this product to operate at optimum efficiency, a good electrical connection to chassis ground must be
made. The recommended procedure requires the product ground wire to be connected directly to the NEGATIVE
(-) battery post.

• If this product uses a remote device to activate or control this product, make sure this control is located in an
area that allows both the vehicle and the control to be operated safely in any driving condition. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO ACTIVATE OR CONTROL THIS DEVICE IN A HAZARDOUS DRIVING SITUATION.

• It is recommended that these instructions be stored in a safe place and
referred to when performing maintenance and/or reinstallation of this
product.

• FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS AND
INSTRUCTIONS COULD RESULT IN DAMAGE TO THE PRODUCT OR
VEHICLE AND/OR SERIOUS INJURY TO YOU AND YOUR PASSENGERS!

ACTIVATION OF THIS
SIREN MAY DAMAGE
UNPROTECTED EARS!

CAUTION

Loud siren noise can cause
hearing damage and/or loss.

Wear

Refer to OSHA Section 1910.95 prior

Protection!

to putting ANY siren into service!

Automotive: Sirens/Switches

For warranty information regarding this product, visit www.whelen.com/warranty

©1995 Whelen Engineering Company Inc.
Form No.13087G (100410)

Page 1

WARNING!

DISCONNECTING THE VEHICLE BRAKE LAMP
CIRCUIT USING ANY SIRENS WITH RELAY OUTPUTS
OR SWITCH CONTROLLERS COULD CAUSE
VEHICLE OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, SERIOUS INJURY
OR EVEN DEATH.

DISABLING THIS CIRCUIT IS A VIOLATION OF THE
FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD
FOR THE THIRD BRAKE LIGHT, AS WELL AS REAR
BRAKE LIGHTS.

FUNCTIONS THAT BLACK OUT THE REAR BRAKE
LIGHTS (SOMETIMES CALLED “BRAKE LIGHT CUT
OUT”) MAY INTERFERE WITH THE BRAKE SHIFT
LOCK MECHANISM, AND CAUSE THE VEHICLE TO
MOVE UNEXPECTEDLY AND DANGEROUSLY.

DISCONNECTING THE BRAKE LIGHTS IN ANY WAY
IS AT YOUR OWN

RISK AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED

BY WHELEN.

Page 2

The 295HFS4, although technologically advanced, is simple to
install. An aftermarket center console is recommended for the
mounting location. This not only allows the driver to reach the
controls easily, but also keeps the unit safely out of the path of
the vehicle’s SRS air bag. Follow the console manufacturer’s
instructions for mounting information. If a console-type mount is
not possible, the unit is specially designed for dash (or panel)
mounting. WARNING: Mounting will require drilling. Make sure
that no vehicle components behind the mounting area will be
damaged. If damage is possible, select another location.

INSTALLATION / Amplifier:

1. From inside the trunk, position the amplifier against the ver-

tical trunk wall behind the rear seat and mark off the 4
mounting holes using a scribe or other suitable tool. Be sure
that the remote amplifier fits properly and does not interfere
with any parts of the trunk or seat back.

2. Carefully drill the indicated holes using an appropriately

sized drill bit.

3. Using the supplied sheet metal screws, secure the remote

amplifier to the vertical trunk wall.

12-POSITION INPUT CONNECTOR

RED and BLACK / Power & Ground Wires

WARNING: All customer supplied wires that connect to the
positive terminal of the battery must be sized to supply at
least 125% of the maximum operating current and FUSED
at the battery to carry that load. DO NOT USE CIRCUIT
BREAKERS WITH THIS PRODUCT!

Control Head:

For 6 feet of wire ......................................... 22 AWG wire

For 9.5 feet of wire ...................................... 20 AWG wire

For 15 feet of wire ....................................... 18 AWG wire

Amplifier:

For 6 feet of wire ................................................. 16 AWG

For 9.5 feet of wire .............................................. 14 AWG

For 15.5 feet of wire .................................... 12 AWG wire

1. Insert the wiring harness into its port.

2. Splice the 2 RED (Power) wires together, then extend this

single RED wire toward the vehicle battery. Splice the 2
BLACK (Ground) wires together and extend this single
BLACK wire toward the vehicle battery. To pass the RED
and BLACK wires through, you may have to drill a hole in
the firewall. Be sure there are no components that could be
damaged. Insert a grommet in the hole to protect the wires.

3. Install a 20 amp fuse block (user supplied) on the end of

the RED wires.

NOTE: Remove the fuse from the fuse block before connecting
any wires to the battery.

READ BEFORE INSTALLING!!!

Do not install this product or route any wires in the deploy­ment area of your airbag. Equipment mounted or located in
the airbag deployment area will damage or reduce the
effectiveness of the airbag, or become a projectile that could
cause serious personal injury or death. Refer to your vehicle
owners manual for the air bag deployment area.

The User/Installer assumes full responsibility to determine
proper mounting location, based on providing ultimate safety
to all passengers inside the vehicle. Whelen Engineering Co.
assumes no liability or responsibility for determining individual
applications or exact installation location criteria.

4. Connect the fuse block wire to the POSITIVE (+) terminal

on the battery. There must not be more than two (2) feet of
wire between the fuse block and the battery. As the wire
between the fuse and the battery is “unprotected,” do not
allow this wire to come in contact with any other wires.

5. Connect BLACK wire to factory chassis ground.

YELLOW, ORANGE & BROWN / Speaker Wires

NOTE: This section outlines a two-speaker installation. If a one-

speaker installation is used, cut and cap ORANGE wire, skip
step 3 and connect BROWN wire to NEGATIVE speaker termi­nal of Speaker #1.

1. Route YELLOW, ORANGE and BROWN wires toward

vehicle’s siren speakers.

2. Connect YELLOW wire to POSITIVE speaker connection

on Speaker #1.

3. Connect ORANGE wire to POSITIVE speaker connection

on Speaker #2.

4. Connect BROWN wire to NEGATIVE speaker connection

on Speaker #2.

5. Splice a wire from the NEGATIVE connection on Speaker

#2 to the NEGATIVE connection on Speaker #1.

BLUE / Radio Rebroadcast Wires

NOTE: The two (2) BLUE wires are used to connect your two-

way radio’s external speaker to the 295HFS4 for radio rebroad­cast. This is an optional connection and doesn’t effect other
operations of the 295HFS4.

1. Locate the two wires that connect the external speaker to

the vehicle’s two-way radio.

2. Cut one of these wires and splice one of the BLUE wires

into this circuit.

3. Cut the remaining speaker wire and splice the remaining

BLUE wire into this circuit.

NOTE:Radio rebroadcast will NOT
speakers. If your remote speaker contains a power amp circuit
in the speaker assembly, do not enable radio rebroadcast.

work with amplified remote

Page 3