Whelen EPSL2S6 User Manual

®

ENGINEERING COMPANY INC.

51 Winthrop Road
Chester, Connecticut 06412-0684

Epsilon™ 2S6 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 produce 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

©2011 Whelen Engineering Company Inc.
Form No.14467 (022411)

Page 1

Congratulations on selecting the Epsilon™ 2S6 Siren. This siren offers a unique and distinctive collection of features designed to
allow the user to customize the operation of this siren to suit their individual needs. Features include:

• Speaker diagnostic indicator

• 200 watts of output power

• Scan-Lock™ siren tone programming

• Hands Free operation

• 6 Lighting control outlets

• LED Backlighting

• 7 position rotary switch function selector

• Compact design

• Harmonically rich composite air horn tones

• Title 13 compliant profiles

• Non-destructive short circuit protection.

• Horn ring control inputs

•PA Override

Mounting:

This siren is designed to be mounted directly onto the dash or other
surface through the use of a bail-strap mounting bracket. The unit may
also be mounted into your vehicle’s console (if so equipped).

WARNING: Regardless of the style selected, be sure to observe the
air-bag warning on the cover of this manual.

WARNING: Mounting this unit will require drilling. It is absolutely
necessary to make sure that no other vehicle components could be
damaged in the process. Check both sides of the mounting surface
before starting. If damage is likely, select a different location.

Bail-strap mount:

1. Position bail strap in selected

mounting location and drill mounting
holes, then secure the bail strap to
the vehicle.

2. Secure the siren to the bail strap as

shown. Tighten the screws firmly.

5

6

VO

L

Console Mount:

Console manufacturers offer mounting kits that include all the necessary
hardware and brackets required to mount this unit into their console. The
console mount brackets are secured onto the unit the same way the bail
bracket is. Please refer to the manual included with your console.

Microphone Clip:

A microphone clip is included. Secure with provided hardware.

WARNING: Refer to the Air Bag Warning before installing this clip.

Wiring:

Siren Input Connector - RED: Power - BLACK: Ground

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
load. DO NOT USE CIRCUIT BREAKERS WITH THIS PRODUCT!

1. Extend the RED and BLACK wires

toward the vehicle battery. To pass the
RED and BLACK wires through, you
may have to drill a hole in the firewall.
Insert a grommet to protect the wires.

2. Route the RED and BLACK wires

along the factory harness towards the
battery and install a fuse block (user
supplied) on the end of the RED wire.

Remove fuse before connecting any
wires to battery.

3. Connect fuse block wire to POSITIVE terminal on battery. There must

not be more than 2 feet of wire between fuse block and battery. The
wire between the fuse and battery is “unprotected”, do not allow it to
chafe and short to ground.

4. Connect the BLACK wires to the factory chassis ground.

YELLOW, ORANGE & BROWN - Speaker Wires

1. Route the YELLOW, ORANGE and BROWN wires toward vehicle siren

speakers, along factory wire harness and through firewall at the same
point as the RED and BLACK wires.

2. Connect the YELLOW wire to the POSITIVE terminal on SPEAKER #1

Connect the ORANGE wire to the positive terminal on speaker #2 and
the BROWN wire to NEGATIVE connection on both speakers.

at the battery to carry that

TABLE 1

30
40
50
60
70

Current Draw / AMPS

80

Wire Gauge / AWG

10

12

24.5

15.5

16.5

10.5

7.5

12.5
10

6
5

8
7

4.5
6 10 15.5 24.5

4

8

6

396298.5
26

41.5

49.5

19.5

31

39.5

25

15.5

20.5

13

17.5

11

42

15720
104

66

78.5
63

52.5

33
28

45
39

Epsilon™ 2S6 Siren

FUSE AS REQUIRED

BLU

VIO

POWER

LOAD

WHT

LOAD

(

12V
)

Outputs Outputs

BRN

BLU

WHT

VIO

POWER

POWER

LOAD

LOAD

20 AMP

Fuse @

S

CHASSIS
GROUND

SIREN

INTERRUPT

(Optional)

BRN

BLU

VIO

POWER

POWER

LOAD

SW2 SW1SW4 SW3

142

RED

RED

TO 2-WAY

RADIO

SPEAKER

WHT

NOTE:

All Fuses & Fuse Blocks

are supplied by the customer.

Do use circuit breakers

NOT

with this product.

LOAD

BLK

5

9

63

BLU

VIO

BLK

100WATT

SPEAKER

12 Position
Connector
(

Rear View

812

7

BLU

ORG

BRN

10

11

WHT/GRN

GRN

YEL

100 WATT
SPEAKER

9

6

3

12

5

8

2

)

11

7

10

1

4

Outputs

BRN

POWER

SW6 SW5

BATTERY

WHITE/GREEN - Horn Ring Wires:

1. Route WHITE/GREEN wire along factory wire harness and through

firewall at the same point as the RED and BLACK wires.

2. Route WHITE/GREEN wires to vehicle’s horn relay. If possible, follow

the factory wire harness to this relay.

3. Locate the wire that connects the vehicle horn to the horn relay.

4. Connect the WHITE/GREEN wire to the wire that runs from the horn

relay to the horn.

GREEN - Aux Override:

This wire is activated by switching it to ground (See Page 3 for operation).

VIOLET - Siren Interruption:

Distance is shown in feet.

Grounding the VIOLET wire will deactivate the siren. Removing ground
from the VIOLET wire will not reactivate the siren. The operator must reset
the siren by placing the rotary switch into one of the standby positions (HF,
MAN1, MAN2).

Two BLUE wires - Radio Re-Broadcast (optional):

The 2 remaining blue wires are used to connect your 2-way radio’s
external speaker for radio re-broadcast (optional connection).

NOTE: If your remote speaker is amplified (speaker has power amp
circuit), radio re-broadcast will not work and should not be used.

1. Locate the 2 wires that connect the external speaker to the 2-way radio,

cut one of them and splice one of the blue wires into this circuit.

2. Cut the remaining speaker wire and splice the other BLUE wire into this

circuit.

TO HORN

BUTTON

VEHICLE

HORN

RELAY

+12V

HORN

Page 2

ON

Power Switch

OFF

Diagnostic
Indicator

SW12SW23SW34SW4

1

HF

MAN2 T1

MAN1

RAD

MAN

SPKR RADIO

Manual
Button

Rotary Switch

T2

T3

Air Horn
Button

HORN

SW56SW6

5

VOL

P. A. Volume

Radio

Volume

Power Switch

This switch has two positions. Down - Off & Up - On. When this switch is
off, siren functions are disabled.

Rotary Switch

The Rotary Switch controls the siren functions of the Epsilon™ 2S6. There
are 7 positions to select from (See “Rotary Switch Operations”).

Volume Knob

The Volume Knob controls the volume of Public Address function. Volume
is increased by rotating the knob in a clockwise direction. Rotating the vol­ume knob in a counter-clockwise direction decreases the volume pro­duced by these features. The volume knob has no effect on siren tones.

MAN Button

The Manual button generates a variety of tones, depending on what posi­tion the rotary knob is in (See “Rotary Switch Operations”).

HORN Button

Whenever the siren is ON, pressing the HORN button will generate a sim­ulated airhorn tone regardless of the ROTARY SWITCH position.

Diagnostic Indicator:

While this siren is under normal use the diagnostic indicator is used to
indicate fault conditions with your siren system. The following section lists
the type of fault and indicators response. If the indicator is on steady while
a tone is in use, this implies that there is no fault with the speaker output.

Fault Condition Diagnostic Indicators Response

Speaker Short Circuit: The speaker LED will be in a single flash mode
(LED is on and off an equal amount of time) and siren tones won’t operate.

Speaker Undercurrent: Speaker LED will be off. All tones will continue to
operate.

Microphone:

Whenever the siren is on, activating the microphone (pressing the switch
on the side of the mic.) will shut down any other siren functions and enable
public address operation regardless of the rotary switch position or any
other switch or input.

Power distribution switches:

The power distribution switches include the six rocker switches. For each
of the six rocker switches there are a set of corresponding WHITE and
BLUE or VIOLET and BROWN wires in the back of the unit (See wiring
diagram).

To obtain proper operation of the LED indicator with the switches, connect
the BROWN or BLUE wire to power through a user supplied fuse and
connect the load to the WHITE or VIOLET wire (See wiring diagram).

Rotary Switch Operations:

This section will outline the operation of the siren in the factory default
configuration. Refer to “Siren tone programming procedures” for

information on how to customize the operation of this siren.

RAD - Radio Repeat: With the rotary switch in the RAD position, any

signal that is received by the 2-way radio will be simultaneously broadcast
over the vehicles loudspeaker (The unit must be connected to the 2-way
radio as outlined in this manual).

With the Rotary Switch in this Position:

Pressing the MAN button or activating either the HORN RING or AUX
OVERRIDE input will produce the AIRHORN tone. The AIRHORN tone
will stop when the input is released.

MAN 1 - Manual Siren #1: With the rotary switch in this position the

siren is on standby. No tones will be activated until an action is taken by
the operator.

With the Rotary Switch in this Position:

Pressing the MAN button or activating either the AUX ENABLE or HORN
RING input will produce a WAIL tone. The WAIL tone will ramp up to peak
frequency, then ramp back down and stop when the input is released.

MAN 2 - Manual Siren #2: With the rotary switch in this position the

siren is in standby. No tones are activated until an action is taken by the
operator.

With the Rotary Switch in this Position:

Pressing the MAN switch or activating either the HORN RING or AUX
OVERRIDE input will produce a WAIL tone. This tone will ramp up to peak
frequency and stop when the input is released.

HF - Hands Free Operation - When the rotary knob is in the HF

position, the siren functions are placed in a stand-by mode. Siren tones
are activated by a single tap on the MAN button or a single tap on the
vehicle’s steering wheel horn ring (if the vehicle’s horn has been wired to
the HORN RING input). The first tap produces a WAIL tone (a steady rise
and fall tone). A second tap produces a YELP tone (a fast rise and fall
tone). A third tap produces a piercer tone (an extremely fast rise and fall
tone). The next tap returns the siren to a wail tone and the cycle repeats
itself. Two quick successive taps will stop the siren.

With the Rotary Switch in this Position:

Pressing the MAN button or activating either the HORN RING or AUX
OVERRIDE input will produce the HF cycle.

T1 - Tone #1: When the rotary knob is in the T1 position, a steady, rise

and fall tone (WAIL) is produced.

With the Rotary Switch in this Position:

Pressing the MAN button or activating either the HORN RING or AUX
OVERRIDE will change the siren tone to a YELP pattern (fast rise and fall
tone). Activating the input a second time returns the tone back to WAIL.

T2 - Tone #2: When the rotary knob is in the T2 position, a fast, rise and

fall tone (YELP) is produced.

With the Rotary Switch in this Position:

Pressing the MAN button or activating either the HORN RING or AUX
OVERRIDE input will produce the PIERCER tone. Pressing the MAN
button a second time returns it back to YELP.

T3 - Tone #3: When the rotary knob is in the T3 position, an extremely

fast, rise and fall tone is produced.

With the Rotary Switch in this Position:

Pressing the MAN button or activating the HORN RING or AUX OVER­RIDE input will result in the AIRHORN tone until the input is released.

Epsilon™ 2S6 Specifications:

Input Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12.8 VDC ±20%

Input Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @15 VDC @ 5.5 OHMS16 AMPS MAX.

Input Fuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 AMPS

Speaker Impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 OHMS MIN.

Operating Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -30° C. TO +60° C.

Storage Temperature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -40° C. TO +70° C.

Humidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99% (NON CONDENSING)

Output Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . @ 15 VDC @ 11 OHMS 34 V RMS MAX.

Output Power . . . . . . . . . . . . @ 15 VDC @ 11 OHMS 105 WATTS MAX.

Lighting Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 AMPS MAX

Page 3

Siren Tone Programing Procedures:

With Scan-Lock™

Rear view of Amplifier

Siren Scan-Lock Switch

20 AMP FUSE

TABLE 3

Positions T1, T2 & T3

.

TONE OFF

.

WAIL

.

YELP

= Title 13 Compliant Tones

*

*

saved for that rotary switch position.

TABLE 4

Override Tone List For Rotar
Switch Positions T1, T2 & T3

.

TONE OFF

.

WAIL

.

YELP

.

AIRHORN

= Title 13 Compliant Tones

*

*

will automatically be saved as the override tone for that rotary switch
position. Release the MAN button.

TABLE 5

Tone List For Hands Free:

.

WAIL

.

YELP

.

PIERCER

= Title 13 Compliant Tones

*

*

next available tone will be broadcast. When the desired tone is generated,
it will automatically be saved for that hands-free cycle position.

yTone List For Rotar Switch

.

HI/LOW

.

PIERCER

.

Y-249

.

HI/LOW

.

PIERCER

.

Y-249

.

PIERCER

.

Y-249

.

HI/LOW

To change the primary tone for rotary switch
positions T1, T2, & T3: Put the rotary switch in

the position that you wish to change. Press and
release the Scan-Lock™ switch. Each time the
Scan-Lock™ switch is pressed and released, the
next available tone will be broadcast. When the
desired tone is generated, it is automatically

To change the override tone for rotary switch
positions T1, T2. & T3: Put the rotary switch in

y

the position that you wish to change. Press and
hold the MAN button on the front panel on the
siren. Press and release the Scan-Lock™ switch.
Each time the Scan-Lock™ switch is pressed and
released, the next available tone will be
broadcast. When the desired tone is present, it

To change one of the tones in the hands free
cycle. (See “Hands Free Operation”): Put the

rotary switch in the HF position. Using the MAN
button on the front panel on the siren, advance to
the tone that you wish to change. Press and
release the Scan-Lock™ switch. Each time the
Scan-Lock™ switch is pressed and released, the

the tonal operation
of the siren can be
customized to fit
your needs. Scan­Lock™ is used to
change the default
siren tones as
shown below. The
Siren Scan-Lock™
switch is located in
the rear of the unit.

TABLE 7

Override Tone List For Rotary
Switch Position: RAD

TONE OFF.AIRHORN

Scan-Lock™ switch. Each time the Scan-Lock™ switch is pressed and
released, the next available tone will be broadcast. When the desired tone
is generated, it will automatically be saved for that rotary switch position.
Release the MAN button.

TABLE 6

Tone List For MAN1 & MAN2:

.

TONE OFF

.

MANUAL WAIL COAST-TO-STOP

M

.

MANUAL WAIL STOP

the next available tone will be broadcast. When the desired tone is
generated, it will automatically be saved for that rotary switch position.
Release the MAN button.

Title 13 Operation:
Airhorn will not override primary tones. To put the siren into Title 13
operation mode:

1. Turn the POWER switch OFF.

3. Place the ROTARY SWITCH into the MAN1 position.

4. Hold Scan-Lock™ switch in while turning power on. A set

Re-Setting Factory Defaults:
To restore siren tones to the factory defaults:

1. Turn the POWER switch OFF.

3. Place the ROTARY SWITCH into the MAN2 position.

4. Hold Scan-Lock™ switch in while turning power on.

.

of Title 13 compliant tones have been programmed for use.
Turn power off, then on to activate changes.

Turn power off, then back on to activate the changes.

To change the tone for rotary switch positions
MAN1 or MAN2:

Put the rotary switch in the position that you wish
to change. Press and hold the MAN button on the
front panel on the siren. Press and release the

To change the override tone for rotary switch
position RAD:

Put the rotary switch in the RAD position. Press
and hold the MAN button on the front panel on the
siren. Press and release the Scan-Lock™ switch.
Each time Scan-Lock™ is pressed and released,

Page 4