Horn capacitor needed for 36 Ford

[gulfoil]

I had a thread earlier about how my dual horns quit, and it turned out the capacitor was dead in the driver's side horn.. Pictured is the capacitor about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch thick, no markings of any kind. Does anyone know of a replacement, or the parameters of the capacitor, or a horn rebuilder that may have this unit? Thanks for any information!

[Zeke3]

Check with Fred Wilner (barnfind08) here and on Instagram to see if there was a service part for that.

[gulfoil]

Thank you very much, I'll contact him.

[john greco]

I just went threw the same thing , mine was blown , it was all swollen , a friend told me go buy a .022 microfareds /200 v and put it in and try , well I did it was 5.00 dollars , it’s a tiny thing , it woks now , give it a try ,

[Terry,OH]

The capacitor purpose is to reduce or eliminate arcing of the contacts. john above has a good replacement but consider a higher voltage 300 to 500 volt. Check out on the web electrical arc suppression.

[gulfoil]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Thanks so much for all the help !

[rotorwrench]

An induction coil for ignition has a high step up to it so it has a higher back flow of voltage that a vibrator coil. It likely won't have near as much back flow of voltage. All they had back then was wax paper and foil to make capacitors with so it may work just fine using a modern cap like that. Most horns don't have a cap at all. The 6-volt system is why many older vehicles had caps. Folks don't really use the horn enough to ever wear one out. In the case of these old antiques, it is mostly time and the elements that do them in.

[koates]

The Sparton Horn workshop manual list the capacitors on their horns at .2MFD 400 volts. I buy the capacitors on line (China) for just a few dollars each and use them in horns that I repair. I test all the original capacitors on horns I repair and have never found one to test up to specification. Most are very leaky. The Sparton horns need a good capacitor to produce a nice clean tone and to afford a long life to the contacts. Regards, Kevin.

[hotcoupe]

Kevin, thanx for the info, can you post an eBay item number or screenshot of the capacitors that you purchased.
Thanx,
Tom

[koates]

Originally Posted by hotcoupe

Kevin, thanx for the info, can you post an eBay item number or screenshot of the capacitors that you purchased.
Thanx,
Tom

Tom, have a look at ebay item # 155462197018, ten capacitors for $9.90 us and free postage from China. A good deal. It might take a couple of weeks to deliver. Others will charge postage which might be more than the items. Regards, Kevin.

[gulfoil]

I replaced the capacitor with a 5 dollar one matching the proper specs and it works like a charm. Thanks for all the good advice!

[hotcoupe]

Kevin, A BIG thanx for the info, I have no experience with electronic components.
Tom