I obviously have lots of other more important things to attend to on our '52 New Yorker project, but the dual horns are sitting on my work bench and are dead. I connected my 6v battery charger to them to see if they'd make any noise, but nothing. I took the dome off one of them and it looks very clean inside. Has anyone torn into these?

Thanks,
Dave

 

Ninety percent of the time, it's just dirty contacts. I would start by hooking them to a battery NOT a charger, as these draw a fair amount of current. Many chargers cannot supply enough current AND almost ALL chargers are not "true" DC. They are pulsating, unfiltered DC, which can give you "skewed" results.

Anyhow, hook them BRIEFLY to a battery and quickly turn the adjustment screw "vigorously" from left to right to 'scrub' the contacts.

Do they draw current? If not, either the contacts are dirty or the coils are burned out

 

Horn 1 - Little clicking before and after fiddling with the adjusting screw.
Horn 2 - Little clicks before, two toots after, but then back to little clicks.

I attached them to a proper 6v battery for this test. They look clean on the insides. Can I take them apart more to clean things up?
Horn 1:

Horn 2:

 

Just noticed you mentioned turning the adjusting screw while it's connected to the battery. I will that tomorrow and see if it wakes them up.

Dave

 

Success! I took out the contact point and filed down both sides, cleaned up the grounds and power connections and they both came alive. Thanks for your help DDodger.


Dave

 

Great job...

 

Very good. Made back when you could "fix" things

 

Fixing in better than buying!!

 

Yeah, just like the muffler on my '24 Studebaker. I've actually disassembled it and put it back together.