Sterling Little Giant

Sterling Little Giant
Company	Sterling Siren Fire Alarm Co.
Produced	1926-1960s
Type	Electromechanical Omnidirectional
Frequency	50/60 Hz
Horsepower	1 hp
Voltage	120/240 V AC

The Little Giant is a small horizontal mechanical siren that was produced by the Sterling Siren Fire Alarm Company during the early 20th century. Intended for use in rural fire stations, industrial warnings, and other short-range uses, these little sirens pack a punch and are essentially miniature Model Ms based on the Big Chief platform.

History and design

The Little Giant is a small, horizontally oriented siren, available in both dual and single ended configurations. Its primary construction is of steel. The siren is driven by a 1 hp AC motor that runs on either 120 V or 240 V single phase. Both brushed universal motors and capacitor-start induction motors were used. This motor drives two small, thin 12-port rotors, with the siren coming exclusively in 12/12-port single tone. The stator on each side has an ornate cover with the name "Sterling" on it, which also serves as a barrier to keep debris out of the rotors. The siren comes with large horns that help protect the rotors and project the sound outwards, and the siren came with a cover for the motor to protect it. However, this cover is only held on by two screws, meaning that the vast majority of remaining Little Giants are missing their motor covers. Single-rotor variants were also produced. The Little Giant is essentially Sterling's Big Chief vehicular siren with an AC motor, projector(s), stand and motor cover.

Unlike most sirens, the Little Giant has lines that split each stator port in three, which is a trait more commonly found on small vehicular sirens. The Little Giant uses a small version of Sterling's mounts, with only 4 legs. It is easily able to be mounted to a pole or roof mount, depending on the application. W.S. Darley & Co. produced a very similar siren, known as the Champion series, to compete with this siren. The Little Giant entered production in 1926, alongside Sterling's Model M and later the Vertical Siren. Like those sirens, the Little Giant was intended as a fire siren, for use by volunteer fire departments to summon firefighters. The Little Giant was also advertised as an industrial warning siren, in the event of an accident.

This siren was cheaper and easier to run than its alternatives, which made it more appealing to rural stations which lacked the funds or need for a larger siren. However, due to its lack of power compared to its larger alternatives, it sold far fewer units and mainly saw use by small fire departments. The Little Giant would remain in production for roughly 40 years, ending sometime in the 1960s as the demand for such small fire sirens was waning and sales of the Model M and VX overtook it. While it packed a lot of punch for a siren of its size, it did not perform enough for it to compete. Due to their age, as well as the fewer sales compared to the other models, the Little Giant is quite a rare find today. Several are now used for noon blasts, while others continue to serve their fire stations. A few also exist in private possession.