Electric horn malfunction ..

[LAKERtoo]

.. other than fuses, what might be the obvious reasons for the electric horn to stop working .. out for a few hours yesterday and tried to salute a passing boat.. got a grunt and then nothing .. Thanks for any comments .. Rob

 

[Just Dreamin']

Rob, I do not know the make of your horns but I would guess dirty contacts. On our R25 we have the Ongarro dual horn and had a similar issue this year and it was dirty contacts. After pushing the reset button I still had a barely audible grunt which lead me to the contacts. Several articles on line how to clean and there is also one from Andrew in the Factory Technical Bulletin section.
Mike

 

[Scuba Too]

Only somewhat related but I'll share anyway 😀 . Our last boat was a Regal 3560 and it had a pneumatic horn. The problem was that the air line ran from the horn down the arch and to the blower in a compartment off the cockpit. First issue was that the line was way too long so the horn was anemic. The second issue was water would collect in the line - which was virtually guaranteed since the horns faced forward and the bells acted like ram scoops! I would blow out the line and getting everything working until the next time it rained or the seascape generated a lot of spray while underway. Regal of course has been around a long time and make a decent boat - but every boat has these design faux pas!

Eric

 

[Don Cardinal]

Rob
Sounds like dirty or corroded contacts.
I have a dual trumpet electric horn on my Classic R-21.
When my boat is in storage or when trailering I put a clear plastic bag over the trumpets and secure with a ball shock cord. This keeps the wasps out and any bugs or other debris during hyw. travel. I have forgotten the bag on and it didn't seem to affect the loudness of the horn.
Don

 

[tlkenyon]

If you have been out in heavy rain, or bashed thru heavy waves, you might have a little water in the horn. Happens to me every so often, but goes away after a hot day or two.

TK

 

[LAKERtoo]

Thanks all .. its an R21 Classic with the duals, so contacts are first on the list .. Rob

 

[Crewdog]

We had same issue on our boat, this horn repair procedure did the trick:

http://www.tugnuts.com/download/file.php?id=146

 

[LAKERtoo]

.. now that's helpful !

 

[Cutwater28GG]

genuis this may have saved me $150 for a new one! giving it a go this weekend

 

[Brian B]

I've done it a few times now on my horn. Never had to make any adjustments, just clean the contacts by pulling some emery cloth through them. I have sprayed Corrosion X on the contacts and it seems to help. It also helps to use it now and then when no one is around.

 

[doke01]

This is a common problem and the cleaning has always worked for me. Water gets into the horn and causes contact corrosion. Tooting proudly for 10 years.