I Really Want An Electric Horn

[wire2]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

The cheaper add-on air horns power a small compressor which feeds the horn directly. A storage system is more complicated and more $. You'd need the compressor, a storage tank, pressure switch, relief valve, regulator, solenoid valve.

Years ago I put a large step-on rubber pump for an air mattress on the floor of my boat, driver's side. I connected a ?" hose to a pair of truck air horns mounted on the front deck. I could sustain a very loud blast for about 1? seconds.
I also played with a cheap ($10) 12v compressor filling an old 1 lb disposable propane cylinder to 150 psi with a pressure switch, then a regulator & solenoid valve out to the air horns. It worked quite well actually.

Car horns are louder in pairs because of the 2 different pitches. One is 400 hz, one is 600 hz. The resultant frequency cycles between adding and subtracting wavelengths. Very piercing.
But running 2 of the same horns won't necessarily make it twice as loud.

FWIW; a doubling of loudness is a 3 dB gain. So if a horn is 108 dB, making it twice as loud is 111 dB. 4x is 114 dB, and so on.

 

[l008com]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

Here's a followup for you all.

Over the winter, I got a killer deal on an AFI 10107 single trumpet air horn. $97 on amazon. That same horn is currently on amazon for over $200.

And I just installed it today. It is SUPER loud. I can't wait to try it out at the locks, at 1am. It should wake them right up

The pump is what you are seeing mounted to a block of wood inside the porthole. The wood is glued with 5200 to the fiberglass. Installation was actually easier than I thought. The toughest part was screwing in the clamps that hold on the pump... oh and those clamps, came from Home Depot. The pump only came with one clamp and it was a crappy clamp that wouldn't work. So I bought those two clamps and some screws and washers to attach it very firmly. And it is attached very firmly!

Notice that the mouth of the horn is hanging off the boat. I am slightly nervous that someone might hit the horn somehow, with something (like their foot or their dock) and crack the fiberglass on the deck where it's mounted. BUT the alternative was to move the horn back a few inches, so the mouth of the horn would be resting on the deck as well. If there was a mount on the front, I would have done that. But there isn't, so every time my boat is in the low RPM range, that horn would likely vibrate like crazy, like my windsheild does and my bilge pump hose used to before I modified it. The pump is in the driest part of my boat so it should do just fine in there. I'm happy with it. And those two innovative lighting siren style horns... I still have both of them. They're listed on craigslist, message me if you think you want to buy them off me :-D

 

[ve3rpm]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

Ok, dB is measured on a logarithmic scale. If you have one horn @ 108 dB and add another you have doubled the power however you only get 3 dB more. (called the half power point) Now you are up to 111dB. To get to 114 dB, you have to buy 2 more. For 117 dB you need another 4 to add to the 4 you already have. For the much sought after 120, it's another 8 to go with the 8 you have...

 

[l008com]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

Ok, dB is measured on a logarithmic scale. If you have one horn @ 108 dB and add another you have doubled the power however you only get 3 dB more. (called the half power point) Now you are up to 111dB. To get to 114 dB, you have to buy 2 more. For 117 dB you need another 4 to add to the 4 you already have. For the much sought after 120, it's another 8 to go with the 8 you have...

Interesting. Although, that part of this discussion was over a year ago
My new horn is I believe rated at 126 dB. And it sure is crazy loud.

 

[ve3rpm]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

Sorry... didn't check the date. I'll try not to forget that.

 

[Geezer1]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

1008com... You might want to rethink the horn overhang. Murphy's law, you know.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

Look up Stebal horns. They are rated at 139db and can assure you they are very, very loud.

 

[l008com]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

1008com... You might want to rethink the horn overhang. Murphy's law, you know.

Don't jinx me!!!!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

Ve3rpm is very confused about how sound is measured and quantified in the units of decibels here. Probably best to ignore what he says.

 

[EricJRW]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

Don't jinx me!!!!

Yeah, I think I would have pointed the horn toward the nav light, then just "aimed" the sound by turning the boat. That overhang would worry me... But then Murphy has been pretty busy on my part of the lake so maybe he won't find you.

PS. And yeah, I see the dates... I'm just playing catch up on old threads (I've been off the board for a while).

 

[Don S]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

PS. And yeah, I see the dates... I'm just playing catch up on old threads (I've been off the board for a while).

Then just read them, you don't have to reply to 'em.

 

[EricJRW]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

Then just read them, you don't have to reply to 'em.

True, but I had an opinion in this case, and I'm curious if the horn is still there.

I'm not replying to all of my subscribed threads, just some of them.

 

[l008com]

Re: I Really Want An Electric Horn

Update: My horn is getting really sketchy lately. For the past few weeks, it has not been working reliably. The air pump always works, you can clearly hear it. And the air IS coming out of the trumpet, you can feel it when your hand it over the cover. But it doesn't always beep! Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes you'll hold the button for a long time and nothing will happen. Sometimes it starts beeping then the beep fades out (while you're still holding the button). And of course, sometimes the opposite. You push the button, you get no sound, then after a few seconds, the beep coming in. I have no idea what's going on here. It started having issues when I drove my boat down to the cape. It was foggy that night, maybe a little sprinkling. I suppose some water could have gotten inside. But this is a boat horn, does it really stop working as soon as it gets wet? It's also entirely possible that some water got in while some wave spray was blowing back on to the boat.

Any ideas?
If not, I'll try to contact the manufacturer.