I changed horns this weekend because one of mine quit qorking and the other one sounded like a woulnded duck. I did a bit of research last week and found favorable results for a Fiamm 'El Grande' set of horns. It came with a relay, as it seems most aftermarket horns do. I ran all the wiring to the relay including a wire from the original horn (acts as a switch), permanent fused power (from the battery), line to the new horn, and a jumper from the full time power to the other post on the relay. Using the relay there is no sound - nothing. I have now bypassed the relay and just plugged the new horns into the old wiring. I understand that due to the amount of power these horns take I am at risk of burning some wire and also the horns are not as loud as they could/should be. If anyone is familiar with these types of systems, please let me know what I might have done wrong or if there is the likelihood that I just got a bad relay. FWIW - the directions really stink that came with the horns - but it should not be complicated. Thanks in advance
Aftermarket Horn / Relay Question
- Thread starter sbbamafan
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blindside
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I have a set of hella supertone horns that i had installed and had been using it for quite sometime now.. no problems with the stock relay.. the horns did come with a relay, i just didn't use it..
what i did was i inserted the stock plug to the + and for the - i used a piece of wire, one end to the negative on the horn and the other end to the bolt that holds the horn (metal grounding point)
Not too sure how your aftermarket horn is different from mine, other than yours put out 130 decibles while mine is at 118
what i did was i inserted the stock plug to the + and for the - i used a piece of wire, one end to the negative on the horn and the other end to the bolt that holds the horn (metal grounding point)
Not too sure how your aftermarket horn is different from mine, other than yours put out 130 decibles while mine is at 118
I figured it out! I went online and found a couple of different diagrams for relay installation. For whatever reason the diagram that came with the horns didnt work but one of the other connection methods did. Whatever. Surprisingly, they are not noticeably louder from inside the T4R but they do seem louder outside. Oh - Blindside - I hooked it up exactly like you said as a temporary method (and wil keep the little harness I fabbed in the glove compartment just in case the relay dies one day) but I read too many things about something frying (horn, switch or wires) due to the increase in power required by the horns. I figure better safe than sorry. FWIW, there is a sonic rule that says for every 3dB increase in sound you have to double the power, which would mean a big power increase required to go from 118 to 130 dB. Who knows?
