Whelen ALPHA12S User Manual

®

ENGINEERING COMPANY INC.

51 Winthrop Road
Chester, Connecticut 06412-0684

Alpha™ Series Siren Amplifier

Installation Guide:

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

©1996 Whelen Engineering Company Inc.
Form No.13086D (050608)

Page 1

Mounting the Alpha

TM

Series Siren Amplifier:

The Alpha siren, although technologically advanced, is simple to
install. An aftermarket center console is recommended for the
mounting location of the siren. 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 siren includes a bail
strap mounting kit for over or under dash mounting.

The following steps will guide you through the bail strap
installation process:

1. Select a mounting location for the Alpha siren, either on top

of, or below your vehicle’s dashboard.

2. Using the bail strap as a guide, drill two 1/8” holes and
secure the bail strap to the dashboard with two #10 x 1”
Phillips pan head sheet metal screws (user supplied). Refer
to Figure 1.

Fig. 1

4. Insert the Alpha siren amplifier into the bail strap, as shown
in Figure 2. Please note that it will be necessary to spread
the bail strap arms slightly apart to accept the Alpha’s
carriage bolts into their mounting holes.

Fig. 2

5. Place a lock washer and an acorn nut on each carriage bolt
and tighten with a 3/8” wrench. Do not over-tighten!

3. Slide the carriage bolts into the middle of the mounting
tracks on the siren amplifier and fit an external-tooth lock
washer onto each of the carriage bolts.

Alpha™

(+)

12VDC
Battery

6 POSITION INPUT CONNECTOR

10 AMP FUSE

(CUSTOMER

SUPPLIED)

(-)

CHASSIS
GROUND

BLACK

RED

SPEAKER #1

BROWN

11 OHM

WHITE

GREY

ORANGE

+12V

HORN

RELAY

TO

HORN

RING

CUT

HERE

Wiring the Alpha

TM

Series Siren Amplifier

Connecting to power:

1. Extend the RED and BLACK wires through the firewall and
into the engine compartment.

2. Follow factory wiring harness towards the vehicle’s battery.

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
the battery to carry that load. DO NOT USE CIRCUIT BREAK­ERS WITH THIS PRODUCT!

3. Connect the RED wire to one end of a user supplied, 10 amp

fuse block. Do not connect this unit to the battery yet!

4. Connect the BLACK wire directly to the NEGATIVE battery

terminal.

ACTIVATION OF THIS
SIREN MAY DAMAGE
UNPROTECTED EARS!

CAUTION

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

Refer to OSHA Section 1910.95 prior
to putting ANY siren into service!

HORN

VEHICLE

Wear

Protection!

at

Page 2