Fixed inop boat horn

[everwhom]

I just solved a very frustrating problem with my brand new trumpet horns. At the beginning of the season they became intermittent and then failed entirely giving only a dull "thunk" sound. Normally I'm very systematic about tracking down problems (I'm an engineer by training), but for some reason I went about this totally wrong... Long story short, after a lot of chasing around I discovered that the installer spliced the ground wire from the horns in to the ground connections at the back of the switch, instead of wiring directly to a ground bus. I just extended the ground wire directly to a ground bus and voila!

Anyways a good reminder: even though it seems like hooking into the black wires at the back of the switches seems like a fine idea, don't do it. Especially for high-current devices like a horn. I guess I probably have a bad crimp or something in the ground connections behind the switches, but that path is only used for the switch illumination lamps, so I'm probably just going to ignore that for the time being.

 

[Blaugrana]

I just solved a very frustrating problem with my brand new trumpet horns. At the beginning of the season they became intermittent and then failed entirely giving only a dull "thunk" sound. Normally I'm very systematic about tracking down problems (I'm an engineer by training), but for some reason I went about this totally wrong... Long story short, after a lot of chasing around I discovered that the installer spliced the ground wire from the horns in to the ground connections at the back of the switch, instead of wiring directly to a ground bus. I just extended the ground wire directly to a ground bus and voila!

Anyways a good reminder: even though it seems like hooking into the black wires at the back of the switches seems like a fine idea, don't do it. Especially for high-current devices like a horn. I guess I probably have a bad crimp or something in the ground connections behind the switches, but that path is only used for the switch illumination lamps, so I'm probably just going to ignore that for the time being.

Interesting - My horn seemed to randomly work in the summer and I haven’t gotten around to fixing it. Oddly, it’s been working perfectly once the weather switched but I need to work on it for sure. For some reason they spliced the wires with electrical tape AND left it between the two casings on the outside. No clue why but now you got me wondering if they also didn’t ground it correctly due to its inconsistent functioning.

 

[everwhom]

Interesting - My horn seemed to randomly work in the summer and I haven’t gotten around to fixing it. Oddly, it’s been working perfectly once the weather switched but I need to work on it for sure. For some reason they spliced the wires with electrical tape AND left it between the two casings on the outside. No clue why but now you got me wondering if they also didn’t ground it correctly due to its inconsistent functioning.

Ugh - tape?? I few years ago I bought a proper Ancor crimper: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032G1MB0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Best money I ever spent! You should resplice with these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NI3BGE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And definitely check the ground wiring, though if it's replacing the factory horn it's probably fine. Mine was relocated to my hard top so they ran new wire.

 

[Blaugrana]

Ugh - tape?? I few years ago I bought a proper Ancor crimper: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032G1MB0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Best money I ever spent! You should resplice with these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NI3BGE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And definitely check the ground wiring, though if it's replacing the factory horn it's probably fine. Mine was relocated to my hard top so they ran new wire.

Yep! There are a few items on my boat with electrical tape, including the bilge pump and livewell. I can’t wait to replace them this fall.

I bought those butt connectors, they worked really well. Did you end up getting a heat gun? I bought a crimper from Amazon for heat shrink that worked well except that it only does 12-16 so I need to get another one for the smaller gauges. I used an old model airplane heat gun that took forever so I need to invest in one before changing out my panel.

 

[SkunkBoat]

I have found that all horns eventually suffer from rust inside the horn. even a stainless horn has ferrous internal parts. Smacking it with a bfw often gets it working for half a season...
That said, yes, loose terminals and bad connections are another culprit.

 

[Blaugrana]

I have found that all horns eventually suffer from rust inside the horn. even a stainless horn has ferrous internal parts. Smacking it with a bfw often gets it working for half a season...
That said, yes, loose terminals and bad connections are another culprit.

Oddly, every time I was about to open it up to check, it would miraculously start working again. Mine looks brand new too so I think it’s more of an electrical issue than something rusting.

 

[everwhom]

Yep! There are a few items on my boat with electrical tape, including the bilge pump and livewell. I can’t wait to replace them this fall.

I bought those butt connectors, they worked really well. Did you end up getting a heat gun? I bought a crimper from Amazon for heat shrink that worked well except that it only does 12-16 so I need to get another one for the smaller gauges. I used an old model airplane heat gun that took forever so I need to invest in one before changing out my panel.

I use a torch lighter which works "OK" though it sometimes burns the insulation if you aren't patient enough... On the other hand they are great for lighting cigars!

 

[everwhom]

Oddly, every time I was about to open it up to check, it would miraculously start working again. Mine looks brand new too so I think it’s more of an electrical issue than something rusting.

Hey - since your wires are taped it will be really easy to measure the voltage when the switch is activated. If it's 12V, then the horn is bad. If it's like 6V (or 0V) then it's a wiring problem...

 

[glacierbaze]

If you don't have a heat gun, borrow your wife's hair dryer, when she's not looking. Or maybe you have your own.

 

[seasick]

I use a torch lighter which works "OK" though it sometimes burns the insulation if you aren't patient enough... On the other hand they are great for lighting cigars!

For boat harness wiring, you shouldn't fine wire smaller than 16 gauge. You might find smaller wires on things like power cords for plotters, sonar, etc but those wires should terminate in a fitting line a ring connecter or spade type connector. For those smaller connectors, a inexpensive stripper/crimper tool works fine and since the connector itself is open to the air, heat shrink connectors are not needed. This is the type of wiring you often see on the back of a switch/breaker panel.
The tricky connection is when you want to connect a smaller gauge wire to a larger one in a potentially wet area. You may find that situation in the bilge. In those cases, there are reducing butt connectors available to transition from one gauge to a smaller one. Again, the smaller end if smaller than 16 gauge, can be mechanically crimped using the stripper/crimper and then heat shrunk.
Here is a link to a reference.

McMaster-Carr

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Based on my experience, buy a few more than you need. They are easy to mess up