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airhorn install/fuse problem


mospeed1
01-10-2005, 07:44 AM
last week i insatlled an air horn on my 02 rodeo.i splice the factory horn wire and insatled a 16 gauge wire to the horn compressor and 16 gauge wire for the ground,i left 1 of the factory horn for the alarm
my problem is i keep blowing the fuse#10 if i install a #15 fuse will i have any problems???

btw the horn sound pretty loud i mounted the compressor near the stock horns and the trumpets(2) side ways in the lower grill and i painted them black for a more stealth look
http://www.wolo-mfg.com/417c.jpg

Tonupboy
01-10-2005, 08:15 AM
I've done that on my wife's Infiniti. Kept both the alarm horn and airhorn on the same wire. After the fuse blew, I upped the fuse from 10A to 15A and no problems since. Also did it on my Pathfinder....

mospeed1
01-10-2005, 10:54 AM
thanks

iskiuskiweski
01-11-2005, 09:03 AM
I would not recomend upping the fuse sizes, you will create potential for causing an electrical fire in your truck. the fuses are sized for the wiring that has been installed, if the fuse doesn't match the size wire that is installed then you have a fire hazard, and also could cause your self to have to rewire you vehicle because you have burnt the wiring out of it. What I would recomend is using a relay to control you air horn. The coild side of the relay would be powered by the existing circuit, then using the relay run a new fused wire from the battery to your compressor.

Tonupboy
01-11-2005, 10:29 AM
I would not recomend upping the fuse sizes, you will create potential for causing an electrical fire in your truck. the fuses are sized for the wiring that has been installed, if the fuse doesn't match the size wire that is installed then you have a fire hazard, and also could cause your self to have to rewire you vehicle because you have burnt the wiring out of it. What I would recomend is using a relay to control you air horn. The coild side of the relay would be powered by the existing circuit, then using the relay run a new fused wire from the battery to your compressor.

That is true...however, he's talking about a typical car air horn and not a heavy duty type. It is such a miniscule up in the fuse size that its barely noticeable. I definitely wouldnt recommend doing this tip for other "heavy electrical" things such as audio, etc. It's been on my cars for years now with no problems and unless he's a "happy horn blower", there's nothing to worry about. However, using a relay is definitely is an option too - for double safety.

ponchonutty
01-11-2005, 05:59 PM
I would not recomend upping the fuse sizes, you will create potential for causing an electrical fire in your truck. the fuses are sized for the wiring that has been installed, if the fuse doesn't match the size wire that is installed then you have a fire hazard, and also could cause your self to have to rewire you vehicle because you have burnt the wiring out of it. What I would recomend is using a relay to control you air horn. The coild side of the relay would be powered by the existing circuit, then using the relay run a new fused wire from the battery to your compressor.
I 2nd this with me being in the automotive electrical field. The correct way to install these things is to use a relay to isolate the reg. horn circuit from having heavy draw from the horns. It is so easy to hook them up and you can get them almost anywhere for about $3.00.

Hmmmm, $3.00 vs. possibly having to rewire your nice ride???? :loser:

Tonupboy
01-11-2005, 07:53 PM
just speaking from experience, that's all (installed that air horn back in 98, lol...)...as stated, you can certainly go get a relay switch as a disclaimer...bottom line, its your call. :2cents:

ponchonutty
01-12-2005, 07:02 AM
just speaking from experience, that's all (installed that air horn back in 98, lol...)...as stated, you can certainly go get a relay switch as a disclaimer...bottom line, its your call. :2cents:
Yep. You know if it was on some old driver I wouldn't worry about it as much but if you try it on a new '05 Equinox you'd better use a relay. Almost all new cars are being soley controlled by the computers. There's hardly any direct-connect circuits anymore.

mospeed1
01-13-2005, 05:59 PM
i installed a relay today and then drove around honking the horn like crazy and it seems to be fine..but only time will tell

iskiuskiweski
01-14-2005, 07:15 AM
At a boy.

A job isn't worth doing unless your going to do it right.

ByteTheBullet
01-16-2005, 10:03 PM
Can someone post a link or give a decently detailed explanation of wiring the relay? I have added an oogah horn to my car but had difficulty getting it to work. I am reasonably intelligent, very mechanically inclined and I even installed a real oogah horn in a '66 mustang years ago. It worked correctly without a relay.

Thanks.


ByteTheBullet (-:

ponchonutty
01-17-2005, 07:00 AM
Can someone post a link or give a decently detailed explanation of wiring the relay? I have added an oogah horn to my car but had difficulty getting it to work. I am reasonably intelligent, very mechanically inclined and I even installed a real oogah horn in a '66 mustang years ago. It worked correctly without a relay.

Thanks.


ByteTheBullet (-:
It kind of depends on what kind of trigger your OEM horn is now. Since most are (-) neg. trigger, I'll use that. What you need to buy is a common 12v smpt relay. These numbers below will not make too much sense until you get one and look at it.

#87&30 to 12v fused constant
#86 to OEM horn trigger wire
#87 to air or ooga horns.

mospeed1
01-17-2005, 09:34 AM
ya the relay has 4 terminals

connect the 86 and 30 togther and then run the wire from the 30 to the power source(mine was the factory horn wire)
#87 run a wire to the + side on the compresser
#85 is run to the ground i use the same ground for the neg side from the compresser

ponchonutty
01-17-2005, 05:55 PM
ya the relay has 4 terminals

connect the 86 and 30 togther and then run the wire from the 30 to the power source(mine was the factory horn wire)
#87 run a wire to the + side on the compresser
#85 is run to the ground i use the same ground for the neg side from the compresser
If you hook it like that, you are not using the relay. You can not have the factory horn wire as your Trigger AND the power source. You have to take #30 to a fused 12v constant. Everything else is fine.

iskiuskiweski
01-18-2005, 07:56 AM
Here is a sample drawing of how to install a horn using an external relay.
Depending on the system you have you may have to reverse the pos(+) and neg(-) is you have a negative trigger system. But always fuse the positive side. You should be able to determine what type of system you have using an volt meter.

You have to splice the old horn wire to trigger the new relay. The relays have minimal current draw so the extra load should not effect the fuse size. This is epecially true if you are discconnecting the old horn. Once the relay is working then install a new fused wire to your battery, use an apporpriate size fuse for the wire size and size horn you are using, they must all match. Use one of the contacts on the relay to drive the new horn with the new fused circuit.

I hope this helps. If you have questions post them here, and I will try to answer the best I can.


http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/212540HORNRELAY-med.jpg

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