Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

[tmh]

I have a horn on the front of my boat which is way to quiet to do any good. I'm wondering if this is likely the horn itself or a lack of enough juice going to it? In other words, is the power more an "on/off" thing or does the volume vary based on how it's hooked up? The horn is old, no idea when it was installed though.

Thanks

 

[mwmotorsports]

Re: Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

Most horns have an adjustment screw to change the tone of the beep. Take off the cover and try messing with that a bit. If no better results, simply replace the horn. I replaced my original horn last fall for about 13 bux(Cabelas). My original got very quiet and sounded quite awkward.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

before you replace any parts......................in my experience, about 99.7% of boat electrical malfunctions can be fixed by cleaning the corrosion off all the connections (both sides of the switch and both sides of the device), I mean polish 'em til they shine, and then hook'em back up *tight*.

have a multimeter? measure the voltage at the horn with the switch on.

 

[DufferJim]

Re: Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

I have a trick I've used for years on car horns. No experience with boat horns, but a 12v horn is a 12v horn I imagine, so take this as you will. Spray a small amount of wd40 into the horn, then activate it every 30 seconds. If the horn is weak because of dirt or wear, it'll get progressively stronger. If it never gets back to where you want it, it's too worn and needs replacing. If the wd40 has no effect, check for corroded connections as stated above. If there's no corrosion, and the wd40 does nothing, replace it.

 

[WAVENBYE2]

Re: Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

Have you tried blowing it out with an air compresser, could have mud dobbers (old) nest or spiders that nested in there. (just trying to give diff. reply

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

I would take the horn apart. The horn on my Starcraft was pretty lame when I got it. I disassembled it and found a spider nest of silk and eggs packed up in the spiral shaped sound chamber. I cleaned it out, reassembled it and just about blew my eardrums out when I touched the wires to a battery to test it...
- Scott

 

[ziggy]

Re: Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

sounds like the lub or compressed air ideas are pretty good. i didn't think of that. i'm certainly with chinewalker thuogh. my horn didn't work at all. disassembled it and cleaned it up and now it works just dandy.....

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

Get a whistle?

 

[ziggy]

Re: Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

Get a whistle?

or a horn in a can too.......


i've got all three onboard.....don't want to let "the man" down if he pulls me over.......

 

[aclmvh]

Re: Very quiet horn - what's the solution?

My horn has not worked since the day I bought my boat (used)- so just for grins I used some suggestions from this forum to see if I could get it to emit some kind of sound. I had good voltage from the switch to the horn itself, and wiring it straight to the battery didn't work, so I removed the horn from the boat- an AFI horn that was mounted in the center console. I couldn't open the horn up due to the corrosion/rust on the screws, so I completely removed the adjustment screw and filled it with WD40. I replaced the adjustment screw and then filled the horn trumpet opening with WD40- then tapped it all around the outside of the magnet. I wired it to the battery and voila! The horn worked....so I reinstalled it, hooked it to the leads and....no more whistle for me!