Whelen WPA112 User Manual

®

ENGINEERING COMPANY INC.

51 Winthrop Road
Chester, Connecticut 06412-0684

WPA™ Series Waterproof 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

©1997 Whelen Engineering Company Inc.
Form No.13236F (050608)

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INTRODUCTION...

This manual outlines the procedures necessary for the
installation of the WPA
includes the 100 Watt models (WPA112, WPA124) and 58 Watt
models (WPA512 and WPA524).

TM

Series Waterproof Amplifier. This

Mounting the WPA Series Waterproof

Siren Amplifier:

Caution: If the amplifier is mounted vertically, it must
be oriented so that the connector end of the amplifier
is facing downward!

1. Locate a suitable mounting location for the WPA. Do not
mount this product in any location where it may be exposed
to extreme temperatures.

2. Be sure that the remote amplifier fits properly and does not
interfere with any vehicle components.

3. Position the remote amplifier on the proposed mounting
location. Using an awl or other suitable tool, scribe the
mounting surface where the mounting holes are to be
drilled.

Caution: As mounting the WPA will require drilling, it
is absolutely necessary to make sure that no other
vehicle components could be damaged by the
drilling process. If damage is likely, select a different
mounting location.

4. Carefully drill the mounting holes in the areas scribed in
step 3. The diameter of these holes will be determined by
the size of the mounting hardware and the thickness of the
mounting surface.

5. Using the supplied #10 x 3/4” sheet metal screws and #10
external tooth lock washers, secure the remote amplifier to
the mounting location.

Connecting To Your Speaker:

1. Route the ORANGE and BROWN wires towards your
speaker.

2. Connect the ORANGE wire to the POSITIVE (+) terminal
on the speaker.

3. Connect the BROWN wire to the NEGATIVE (-) terminal on
the speaker.

Note: The two (2) BLUE wires are used to connect

your two-way radio’s external speaker to the

WPA for radio rebroadcast. This is an

optional connection and does not effect the

other operations of the WPA.

Wiring The WPA Siren Amplifier Radio
Rebroadcast Wires (BLUE):

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 work with

amplified remote speakers! If your remote
speaker is amplified (i.e.: contains a power
amp circuit in the speaker assembly), do not
enable the radio rebroadcast feature.

Connecting To Your Horn Relay (Optional):

Note: This option can only be enabled when using

customer supplied switches.

Wiring the WPA Series Waterproof
Amplifier:

Connecting To Power:

1. Following the factory wiring harness, extend the RED and
BLACK wires to the 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
at the battery to carry that load. DO NOT USE CIRCUIT
BREAKERS WITH THIS PRODUCT!

2. Connect the RED wire to one end of a user supplied fuse
block. Do not

3. Connect the BLACK wire directly to the vehicle’s chassis
ground (typically adjacent to the battery).

connect this unit to the battery yet!

1. Locate your vehicle’s horn relay. Now locate the wire that
connects the vehicle horn to the horn relay output and cut
this wire.

2. Extend each end of the cut wire (using a minimum 16
gauge wire) to a user supplied SPDT (single pole/double
throw) horn transfer switch.

3. Connect the wire coming from the horn relay output to the
switch “wiper” as shown in Figure 1.

4. Connect the wire coming from the horn to one side of the
switch as shown in Figure 1.

5. Connect the WHITE/GREEN wire to the other side of the
switch as shown in Figure 1.

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