The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Art Deco horn won't work right

I can't get this original style 6V horn to work right to save my life. All I can get out of it at best is a tiny chirp. So far I've tried changing the height of the steering column tube and bolting down the steering wheel to different heights. I managed to get it to chirp with the steering tube bottomed out, the wheel bolted all the way down and the horn button just barely screwed on. Obviously I don't want to keep it that way because the horn button keeps popping off.

All of the replacement parts are new except for the horn button, and the truck has been converted to 12V. The horn bearing/contact I got said '55-57 Chevy on it and came with a spring and spring seat which I didn't use since it isn't shown in the diagram in the Jim Carter catalog (this spring is slightly smaller than the one that goes under the horn button assembly on top of the steering wheel).

Any ideas how I can get this thing to work like it's supposed to? Is that extra, smaller spring needed on the bottom of the steering wheel? Does trying to run a 6V horn on 12V have anything to do my problem? Except for the cad plated new parts everything that has a contact surface is down to bare metal.

Thanks for any help.

I would check the horn by itself. Just use a couple of leads from a battery to the connectors on the horn. If it doesn't blast, maybe the horn needs work.

that slight chirp means the horn is NG, probably 6V horn has been fried on 12V, they don't much like the extra power

Bill

Any ideas on how to either run one of these horns on 12 volts or what to do for a 12 volt horn when I want it to look like original?

I don't know of any way to adapt the 6V horns, although there may be a way to 'tap' 6V off a 12V system - if you have a picture of what you'd like, there may be some post-55 horn that is similar

Bill

Here is a pic of the one I have off of the Sheridan site: http://www.46chevytruck.com/images/46Chevy/Horn_After.JPG

can't think of any 12V horn that has that 'trumpet', but some have the 'melon shape' body, maybe you could combine parts, dunno

Bill

I suppose a person could cheat and hide a 12 volt horn somewhere out of sight hooked up to work with the switch and then keep the old 6 volt horn as a dummy so it at least looks original.

I had the same problem. Had to burnish the contacts inside the horn.

You actually do have a 6 volt horn there.

the pic is for a six volt horn.

if you didnt let all of its smoke out convert it back to six volts.

if it came with the truck then i would tend to believe so. since i only have had to play with the one on my 40 and its different from what you have.

get a six volt battery and hook it up to that. in the maintenance manual there are instructions on how to play with the horn. maybe it's not fried and only needs an internal cleaning and adjustment.

Interesting! My 6 volt horn works with 12 volts, really LOUD. It is just like the photo shown.
I found quite a lot of debris in it causing it not to work. Once I removed the debris it works great.

6V horns can work reliably for years on 12V. I'm not sure why you guys are saying otherwise, I know a lot of vehicles that have them, and I just hooked up my 6V horns on my 46 (Factory dual horns and connected to 12V). It sounds like there is a ground and/or contact issue with the horns.

The horn works as a set of switches and spring. When you put power to it a coil is magnetized and pulls a shaft to one side. That opens a set of contacts and the diaphragm acts like a spring and returns to it's original place which closes the contacts again. Repeat a bunch of times and you get sound out of the horn. If the contact is bent or just warped from over heating it will just go to the one side and say there. It chirps so the coil is good. You can hear it so the diaphragm is good. Open it up and clean the points. Might just save it. Just what pickuptruck did to save his. 6 volt or 12 volt they work the same. I would use a relay on that horn to reduce the current at the horn switch on the steering wheel. That will let that connection last longer. Try it you arent out much and just might have the joy of "restoring" a part of your truck. Fun stuff.

I wonder if the insides of this one could be retrofitted into the original horn: http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUTO-HORN-E...ries&hash=item417527b8a9&vxp=mtr . What do you think: think it's worth trying?

Might. If the old housing is the same size or bigger it might be worth the effort. If the housing is the same size just rotate the diaphragm and re drill to match the screw pattern. If the old horn is bigger make a mount ring to hold the new diaphragm and match it to the old case. Close it up and call it restored...:)

> 1950 Delco-Remy Electrical Service DR-5022

Not much info, but may help.

- Lonnie

Follow Lonnie's link and if the horn is good it will work. Mine runs on 12-volts just fine, I made the adjustment (a little goes a long ways) and have no issues. Yes it is loud which should be what you want?

Getting back to the other parts of my original questions, how do you adjust the horn button and spring mechanism on the steering wheel and is the slightly smaller spring that came with my ('55-57 Chevy) horn contact/bearing used on the 41-46 trucks in addition to the larger spring which goes under the horn button assembly? There are several things that can be adjusted such as how far down on the steering gear to set the steering column tube. That determines how much of the steering shaft sticks up above the steering wheel when you tighten down the nut that holds the steering wheel down which determines how far down you can press the horn button/collar assembly. Does everything just need to go on as far as it will go and it's all supposed to automatically work then (assuming the horn is good)?

On my truck, 52 1/2 ton the horn button spring and cup fit quite close with just a little movement. About 1/8th inch. Works just fine. All you are doing is making a ground to complete the circuit. The trick is to have the round spring "bucket" flat when the nut is tight. The "Chevrolet" cover just held in place by the "bucket". If you want you can test it with out the horn button and see if it works. Then pull the + cable off the battery and put the cover on. Hook up the battery and you are good to go. Of course you can leave the battery hooked up and enjoy the sound as you try to put the cover on. That is fun to.

"I wonder if the insides of this one could be retrofitted into the original horn: http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUTO-HORN-ELECTR...8a9&vxp=mtr . What do you think: think it's worth trying?"

Reviews on Amazon about this horn are not good.

I'm going to try a new post on this topic to see if I can get more takers.