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Bench testing horns

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Old Apr 7, 2016 | 01:39 PM
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W Guy's Avatar
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Default Bench testing horns

Is it safe to test original horns using a battery charger? I don't want to get one beep and then fry them. I don't know if the relay in the car has a way of softening the "blow" or not.
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Verne
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Old Apr 7, 2016 | 01:57 PM
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Originally Posted by W Guy
Is it safe to test original horns using a battery charger? I don't want to get one beep and then fry them. I don't know if the relay in the car has a way of softening the "blow" or not.
Thanks
Verne
No problem but depending on the charger, it may not be powerful enough to make them work correctly as horns typically draw a lot of power. All the relay does is switch the current on and off.
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Old Apr 7, 2016 | 05:19 PM
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Default Horns

You could always use a 12 volt car battery. Ground the horn mount to the neg. side of your battery and use a wire from the pos. side of your battery to the tab on the horn. That should do it. Jerry
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Old Apr 7, 2016 | 05:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Tampa Jerry
You could always use a 12 volt car battery. Ground the horn mount to the neg. side of your battery and use a wire from the pos. side of your battery to the tab on the horn. That should do it. Jerry
Works every time for me
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Old Apr 7, 2016 | 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Nowhere Man
Works every time for me
What?
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Old Apr 7, 2016 | 05:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Randy G.
What?
testing a horn the way Jerry suggested
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Old Apr 9, 2016 | 05:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Nowhere Man
testing a horn the way Jerry suggested
I was making a joke. Years ago I bought a set of Nathan Air Chime train horns that came off a Burlington Northern and Santa Fe locomotive to put on a tow rig I had. I set the three horn assembly on my work bench and put the air hose to it. It was so loud it blurred my vision. I still have tinnitus in my right ear after that.
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Old Apr 9, 2016 | 05:55 AM
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You can irreparably damage your hearing testing horns while standing nearby...take precautions. Train horns in cars should be outlawed...
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Old Apr 9, 2016 | 08:53 AM
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That's another thing I like about my 59, it has a real horn. Not like the wimpy beep horns they have today. You can barely hear the horn in my Tundra, a large full size truck! I would love to have a good set of air horns on it for those who set at stoplights texting.
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Old Apr 9, 2016 | 09:13 AM
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Originally Posted by 59BlueSilver
That's another thing I like about my 59, it has a real horn. Not like the wimpy beep horns they have today. You can barely hear the horn in my Tundra, a large full size truck! I would love to have a good set of air horns on it for those who set at stoplights texting.
Boy have you got that right. My 2013 Tundra has the most anemic horn in any car I've ever owned. With all the elderly 'blue hairs' and cell phone maniacs in Florida - it doesn't even faze them when I use it

My restored '63 horns will wake up the dead
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