Horn going dead

[turbomangt]

My hella horns were working fine untill we got the big snow, now they sound like a half dead animal. Here is how they were mounted maybe some technical people can respond. I had my novility horn mounted in my wheel well, they put a switch in my dash, so when I flip it my hella's would work, flip it again and my a-u-ga horn would work. When the snow came, the snow got packed in the wheel wells and fried the relays, along with the a-u-ga horn. I pulled out the relays, and a-u-ga horn and disconnected the relays. I plan on mounting the a-u-ga horn under the hood soon. But now my hells horn sounds like only one note is working. did the relays play a part in the install in the hella horns? I thought the relays were just for the toggle switch. confused. Gary

[quicksilverdon]

Suggestion - under the plastic valence that the windshield wipers sit on may be a good, protected space for the horns. Some have done it, and I'm thinking of moving my aoogah horn there.
Did you replace the relays? Depending how it was set up, 1 relay or 1 set of contacts may have been for the second Hella horn, and didn't like getting all that slush.

[Cal Cruzer]

Relays are a switch but not a toggle. The relay releases a full 12 volt charge to the accessory all at once. It is a more efficeint switch than the button you are pushing to activate the horn. Think of the old hand crank sirens. It took a while to get them up to speed. That is kind of what happens without a relay to the horn. With a relay it is like the biggest strongest guy you know steps up to the crank and gets it moving full speed instantly.

[RallyDRock]

Gary,
you say in the wheel well. do you mean behind the splash sheild where the factory horns are mounted? if so you should be fine as long as the trumpet for the horns are facing down. if they are indeed dead you should be able to send to hella dealer in the US for a replacement.

[MYREDPT]

Typically, a horn or light relay is used to alow a smaller wire drawing lower current to be used to run to the switch. Large power wires run from the fuse box/battery to the relay and the accessory and thinner wires run to the switch. This provides a shorter path for the higher current wire. Perhaps when you took out the old relay, the resulting wires are not large enough to carry the current for the horns and are causing a voltage drop? Just an armchair diagnosis.

[Ichikisu]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the information. Had a heck of a hard time finding information on where my horn is located (dumb dealer didn't give me the manual that belonged to my car. Ended up giving it to the Main dealership as an extra book). Glad I joined the forum as I may need more information in the future! Hope my horn gets fixed now!

Cheers,
Ichikisu