McDermott Circle Beam Rotator Revealed | eLightbars

OK Folks, just like the introduction to "Wheel of Fortune"...

Say it with me-altogether now:   "WE.....STAND.....CORRECTED!"

Recently this bad boy was part of a debate over these units that they were only produced in a 4-beam alternately flashing version and with that, even a few of the gurus were stumped as to the legitimacy of this unit which was recently offered on fleabay. 

Well, that beacon was brought to my attention by one of my colleagues, a "vintage collector" and due to his age and/or computer accessibility, he asked me to throw my hat in the ring for him. I guess I'm the owner. 

First of all, when this thing arrives, I'm astounded at the size! This thing is HUGE! Easily a foot or better in diameter and almost again as high. I spoke with a few of you on another thread about this because I'm not very familiar with anything McDermott as that stuff rarely ever made it this far west. That being said, the only knowledge I have of these units is from here, a few print ads and a few tidbits online. 

So this thing gets my attention. Research and education is always the key to ANY purchase and I now have a customer asking ME what it's worth. How the hell am I supposed to know? I've never sold one in all my years, let alone seen one in-person as far as I can remember. It's probably a few years before MY time, even. So I go on here and ask a few questions. What better group to get an education from, right? With few answers and much hesitation on my part because of this lack of info, I bid and win. Oh boy, now what? He/I are assuming this to be a 4-beam alternately-flashing beacon with a couple of sealed beams missing. A neat old beacon for one of his fire truck restoration projects (if he ever gets the truck done). 

Here's what we actually have; The cylindrical lens is plastic, not extruded but formed from a flat piece, rolled and joined with a glued or melted seam. The top and bottom of the lens has a rubber u-shaped gasket for sealing. A single 5/16"-18 stud runs through the center and acts as the pivot and the means to secure the stamped, chrome-plated copper top. The base is chromed tin and has 6 mounting-screw holes around the circumference. Upon the initial "fire-up", she ran a bit weak. Following a simple dis-assembly and "tune-up" she ran much better. One of the sealed-beams was a #, the other a # upon it's arrival and I swapped-out the # w/ another # to keep them the same. The age of the # seemed almost original and McDermott may have actually used them in this beacon but those are next to impossible to find. In addition, I'm not a big fan of the long dwell of the light pattern emitted by those so a pair of #'s it is. The former owner/entity may have also had the same difficulty in locating one...maybe the reason for the one #? Dunno... Nonetheless, the motor is rather large, mounted transversely, spins with the unit and runs a countershaft which drives a pulley at the top. This pulley has a large rubber band wound around a fixed larger pulley bolted to the main center shaft at the top, thus spinning the whole shootin' match. VERY unique and interesting design. I can honestly say I've never seen this design or set-up on anybody else's anything! Kinda cool! There's no tag or stampings of any kind anywhere. This thing still has the original cloth-covered wiring affixed, too!. That would date it around the mid-to-late 50's at latest. The bulbs were both 12 volt and the speed is not out-of-hand so i'd have to think the motor is also 12 volt...again, no markings. For now it'll stay 12 volt but i'm sure it will run on 6 if need-be. I called my colleague earlier today and he seemed disappointed that this thing rotated and didn't flash. He was looking for something like the Mars QF-1 beacon. He'll stop by in a few days to make a decision if he wants it, otherwise I may be the new owner! Hmmmm....

So, in conclusion, I guess they did make these in a rotating version! I'll be dipped in shit! No, ex416, you can't have my Leinie's! Get your own, you're closer!

Some pics and a short video for your enjoyment and the light video porn guys:

https://youtu.be/lHeXCRd_RXM

Looking at it more closely, I see what you mean. Crude wiring job too.


894, I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes Lienies creamy dark! Ha

That was the last time anyone ever saw that Leinenkugels ever again! Dunno what happened to it! 

From its appearance and the placement of fasteners in the top plate, it certainly looks like they modified their 4-beam flashing beacon to turn it into a rotating beacon. 

From that side plate being spot-welded to the top and bottom plate, to the brush holder(s) and the fancy gear-reduction countershaft mechanism, you'll really have a hard time convincing me that this was some type of frankenbeacon of ANY variety. This is definitely a "factory production" job. NO-ONE would go to this much work to fabricate something like this... the engineering alone would have taken someone months to decipher...  I could see if they used an old Dietz lightbar self-contained rotator inside one of these housings or something similar to that but this whole rotating mechanism is an integral part of the housing right down to the machined aluminum pulleys and adjustment screws for the motor-to driven gear adjustments and gearbox mesh adjustment screws. There's just too much engineering into this one for it to be hacked in my opinion... even the print ad that Tony displayed in the other thread mentioned something about "revolving" or something. I'll have to look it up and attach it to this. I DO agree with the excess in wiring but every wire inside this unit had a purpose. There were 4 wires coming from the motor... I wonder if that motor could spin in reverse to reverse the direction? Hmmmm... how cool would THAT be? 

I'm only seeing one (or two-if you will) beams in this unit. Maybe a rotator?

http://elightbars.org/forums/uploads/monthly_01_/post--_thumb.jpg

I was not implying that it is a frankenbeacon, but that it looks like a modification of an existing design.  How many of these are in existence?  Could it be a prototype or a limited production run as a market test?  So many questions, but where to find the answers?

I agree and have the same questions.

Very low production I would think as none of us seem to have seen one. I posted a different photo someone submitted a while back which shows a McDermott with a closed-type base on what could be a rotating unit.

The rotating cage assembly inside my unit seems very similar to the 4-beam flashing version without the two opposing sides. Also what Torpedo mentioned about the extra windings really intrigues me. Some firms, back then, would have that forethought when building these units to make them more "user friendly" or "customer adaptable". Just like Federal would recommend the trimming of the Model 17 skirts to adapt to the rounded rooflines of the vehicles back in the 40's, and 50's.

We'll have to keep our eye out for some literature or flyers, regarding. Again, education is the best way to get to the bottom of ANYTHING! Maybe a patent office data sheet or something? The 4-beam flashing version, from what I read, Has 1 PAR46 bulb to the front and 3 PAR36 bulbs to the sides and rear, from what I read. Also John Marcson posted a thread on a unit he appeared to have had a while back which (i think) confirmed this. Looking at his pictures, the bulb-holding cage appeared very similar to this model's rotating cage.  

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