Horn not making a horn noise

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philipm

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It’s making a noise so there’s obviously power getting through but it doesn’t sound like a horn! More of a dull vibration noise.

Any idea what’s gone wrong??

Thanks
 
Almost certainly a poor connection at the switch/button. Take it apart and give all connections a good clean. Happens on my boat every now and again.
 
Dull vibrations suggest electro-mechanical and the usual suspects are poor or corroded electrical connections or the horn is shot.

If possible take a battery and wire it directly to your horn, or if it is easily removed then remove your horn and take it to your battery/batteries and run wires directly from your battery to your horn and if it works correctly you can eliminate it and check electrical connections and broken wires in electrical connections, if it doesn't work correctly then you have a defective horn.
 
Assuming it's not the low battery mentioned above ……...If it's one of the single or twin trumpet Electro-mechanical set ups, the contacts inside can corrode/wear. It's a pretty simple , if fiddly, job to take the back off, clean up the contacts with fine emery cloth, give them a little bit of electrolube, reassemble with a new gasket (genuine, if you can get one, or cut out of gasket paper). and it should then work fine.
 
Had the same problem with mine last year. Ours is two different length horns side by side, linked to one vertical housing, that I guess houses the diaphragm ? Sounded like it had bad asthma..

Was told servicing it wasn’t nigh on impossible at worst a faff at best, so forked out around £40 (from memory) for a new one.... 5 minute job to replace.
 
Andy Bav said:
Had the same problem with mine last year. Ours is two different length horns side by side, linked to one vertical housing, that I guess houses the diaphragm ? Sounded like it had bad asthma..

Was told servicing it wasn’t nigh on impossible at worst a faff at best, so forked out around £40 (from memory) for a new one.... 5 minute job to replace.
Click to expand...

Mine is a single horn. Sounds like a very loud vibration noise - nothing like a horn. You know what, Andy, your idea appeals to me on the basis trying to strip it down, buying a gasket, etc etc sounds like half a day of ball ache (knowing me) with no guarantees.

New horn is £50 in our chandlers and is guaranteed to work.....
 
philipm said:
Mine is a single horn. Sounds like a very loud vibration noise - nothing like a horn. You know what, Andy, your idea appeals to me on the basis trying to strip it down, buying a gasket, etc etc sounds like half a day of ball ache (knowing me) with no guarantees.

New horn is £50 in our chandlers and is guaranteed to work.....
Click to expand...

Not if the switch contacts are corroded.........
 
Okay stripped down the horn today. No obvious flaws. Horn is a very simple piece of kit. Reassembled and no change to the noise.

Then looked underneath and discovered this horn is operated by a compressor which blows air into the horn via a plastic tube. Compressor is blowing a strong flow of air when horn button pressed at the helm i.e. compressor seems fine.

So I’m thinking I either need a repair kit (new gasket and diaphragm) for the horn if it exists or I need to replace it altogether (but not the compressor). Problem is I can’t see the brand name and a quick look on eBay / google seems to list only horns that don’t use compressors or horn and compressor kits. Ideal world I would get exact same horn so the fitting through the roof is identical!

Any ideas on what’s the easiest solution??

Cheers
 
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Air horns are notably more expensive that electric. There are two makes - Kahlenberg and Marinco.

If a good air supply is still coming form the compressor when you press the horn button, the likelyhood (apart from air leaks) is a dirty diaphragm in the horn itself. If it's a Kahlenberg, you can remove and clean it. I don't know about the Marinco.
 
Ok, knowing that rules out the Electro-mechanical type, so if the compressor's working ok it's got to be the horn unit itself. As Piers said, all you'll be able to do is disassemble and clean, if possible, and see how they sound but if you've done that already then it looks like new units. do the current units appear original, might be worth contacting the boat builder or owners club(?) and seeing what make/unit they are. I think you might struggle to just find replacement horns.
 
I've worked out that the horn is a Fiamm (Italian?) but can't find anything like it on Ebay or Amazon. It is available from EU chandlery websites - circa £100 plus hefty postage presumably - but I can't find any here in the UK. There is also a replacement diaphragm / gasket kit available from a US website for around £20 + postage but I wonder if that's worth the gamble!

If anyone knows a Fiamm stockist I'm all ears!
 
Are your air pipes clear of water? Mine can get some water that stops the horn working properly. You might also try a bike pump to blow out the cr@p in the horn?
 
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