The Ford Barn

dgkipp · 05-31-2015, 10:42 AM

hi Guys, just completed changing my 35 ford to 12 volts. What do I need to do to use my original horns?

cmbrucew · 05-31-2015, 11:47 AM

Press the horn button. Intermittent use will last a long time.
The horn will be LOUD.
Bruce

JSeery · 05-31-2015, 04:14 PM

The voltage change my change the sound to the horns, get it a try and see what happens.

bergie · 05-31-2015, 07:36 PM

Just my two cents worth, but my impression is that you have two horns since your post stated "horns". Aren't these normally wired in parallel? In other words six volts is applied to each horn when the horn button is pushed and the return path(ground) is supplied by the mounting bolts to complete the circuit. When converting to 12 volts, all that needs to be done is the 12 volts from the horn button is applied to one horn terminal only and then that horn has to be insulated from ground(no metal contact) and the body of the insulated horn is wired to the terminal lug of the second horn. The second horn is mounted as normal, thus being grounded(current return path) by the metal of the horn body and the frame of the vehicle. You now would have the horns wired in series and each horn is dropping six volts so should sound just as they did before converting to 12 volts. Hope this helps. Some people say water faucet rubber washers work good to isolate the first horn.

JSeery · 05-31-2015, 08:22 PM

That is not how Ford horns in this time period work. They are wired with a hot wire from the battery to one side of the coil in the horn and the other side is wire through the light switch up the column to the horn button. Pressing the horn button provides the ground path. The horn body is isolated from the hot wire or they would be blowing all the time!

Drbrown · 06-01-2015, 12:03 AM

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JSeery: I'm not familiar with '35s so gather there's no horn relay on a '35 ?? and wired thru the light switch (i.e. no lights no horn) ?? .... quite different from '47s.

JSeery · 06-01-2015, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drbrown

JSeery: I'm not familiar with '35s so gather there's no horn relay on a '35 ?? and wired thru the light switch (i.e. no lights no horn) ?? .... quite different from '47s.

Yep, no relay, direct wired. Yellow wire from the starter switch (battery side) to the horn coil and a Blue/Yellow wire from the horn coil to the light switch on the column. Yellow/Green up the column to the horn button. The horns are always hot and will sound whenever a ground is applied to the ground side of the horn coil.
The lighting switch is at the base of the steering column and controlled by a rod up through the column to a selector switch under the horn button. The horn ground wire runs through a hole in the center of this rod. The whole car wiring drawing attached is 33-34 but all the early Fords are wired very similar.

bergie · 06-02-2015, 08:44 PM

Jseery's reply with wiring diagram was great. I was not familiar with this era of horns. The fact that these horn bodies are insulated from ground would seem to make it even simpler to put in series. According to the diagram, the yellow wire supplies 6 volts to each horn in parallel. The BLY (blue-yellow tracer) wire supplies ground to each horn in parallel from the horn button via the lighting switch. Why couldn't a person keep the yellow wire (now supplying 12 volts) to one of the horns (coil wire) and the other terminal of the first horn should now be wired to the coil terminal of the second horn. The BLY(blue-yellow tracer) wire on the second horn remains connected to the horn button via the lighting switch. Now the horns are wired in series and should sound the same as when using six volts.

funrunr · 06-01-2015, 08:59 AM

I took two sets of horns and bolted them to the sides of a wooden homemade battery box, 12V battery and a 12' lead wire with starter button connected to it. Hid this under the table with Halloween candy. It sounded like a train! Worked very well and no harm to the horns.
Boy was this fun watching from a distance.
I use a relay in my car but not on this set-up and no harm to the horns.

cmbrucew · 06-02-2015, 09:24 PM

Bergie
You may be on to something.
Let us know the results, series and parallel.
Bruce

COE Dan · 06-02-2015, 09:31 PM

The horns will only sound the same if they have the same internal resistance which is unlikely. Differences in resistance are no factor for parallel circuits but could show up in a series circuit.

Another option is to place a dropping resistor in series with the 12V feed that drops the 12V to 6V across the original parallel-wired horns. This is much easier to install and guarantees equal voltage across the horns.

05-31-2015, 10:42 AM	#1
dgkipp Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 64	Wiring 6 volt horns hi Guys, just completed changing my 35 ford to 12 volts. What do I need to do to use my original horns?

05-31-2015, 11:47 AM	#2
cmbrucew Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: North of sandy ago, CA. Posts: 2,064	Re: Wiring 6 volt horns Press the horn button. Intermittent use will last a long time. The horn will be LOUD. Bruce __________________ Works good Lasts long time

05-31-2015, 04:14 PM	#3
JSeery Member Emeritus Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Wichita KS Posts: 16,132	Re: Wiring 6 volt horns The voltage change my change the sound to the horns, get it a try and see what happens.

05-31-2015, 07:36 PM	#4
bergie Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Norwalk,Iowa Posts: 50	Re: Wiring 6 volt horns Just my two cents worth, but my impression is that you have two horns since your post stated "horns". Aren't these normally wired in parallel? In other words six volts is applied to each horn when the horn button is pushed and the return path(ground) is supplied by the mounting bolts to complete the circuit. When converting to 12 volts, all that needs to be done is the 12 volts from the horn button is applied to one horn terminal only and then that horn has to be insulated from ground(no metal contact) and the body of the insulated horn is wired to the terminal lug of the second horn. The second horn is mounted as normal, thus being grounded(current return path) by the metal of the horn body and the frame of the vehicle. You now would have the horns wired in series and each horn is dropping six volts so should sound just as they did before converting to 12 volts. Hope this helps. Some people say water faucet rubber washers work good to isolate the first horn.

05-31-2015, 08:22 PM	#5
JSeery Member Emeritus Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Wichita KS Posts: 16,132	Re: Wiring 6 volt horns That is not how Ford horns in this time period work. They are wired with a hot wire from the battery to one side of the coil in the horn and the other side is wire through the light switch up the column to the horn button. Pressing the horn button provides the ground path. The horn body is isolated from the hot wire or they would be blowing all the time!

06-01-2015, 12:03 AM	#6
Drbrown Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Glens Falls NY Posts: 1,267	Re: Wiring 6 volt horns Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) JSeery: I'm not familiar with '35s so gather there's no horn relay on a '35 ?? and wired thru the light switch (i.e. no lights no horn) ?? .... quite different from '47s.

06-02-2015, 08:44 PM	#8
bergie Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Norwalk,Iowa Posts: 50	Re: Wiring 6 volt horns Jseery's reply with wiring diagram was great. I was not familiar with this era of horns. The fact that these horn bodies are insulated from ground would seem to make it even simpler to put in series. According to the diagram, the yellow wire supplies 6 volts to each horn in parallel. The BLY (blue-yellow tracer) wire supplies ground to each horn in parallel from the horn button via the lighting switch. Why couldn't a person keep the yellow wire (now supplying 12 volts) to one of the horns (coil wire) and the other terminal of the first horn should now be wired to the coil terminal of the second horn. The BLY(blue-yellow tracer) wire on the second horn remains connected to the horn button via the lighting switch. Now the horns are wired in series and should sound the same as when using six volts.

06-01-2015, 08:59 AM	#9
funrunr Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Belleville,MI Posts: 1,427	Re: Wiring 6 volt horns I took two sets of horns and bolted them to the sides of a wooden homemade battery box, 12V battery and a 12' lead wire with starter button connected to it. Hid this under the table with Halloween candy. It sounded like a train! Worked very well and no harm to the horns. Boy was this fun watching from a distance. I use a relay in my car but not on this set-up and no harm to the horns. __________________ Thank God this is only a hobby!

06-02-2015, 09:24 PM	#10
cmbrucew Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: North of sandy ago, CA. Posts: 2,064	Re: Wiring 6 volt horns Bergie You may be on to something. Let us know the results, series and parallel. Bruce __________________ Works good Lasts long time

06-02-2015, 09:31 PM	#11
COE Dan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Now in Wichita, KS Posts: 251	Re: Wiring 6 volt horns The horns will only sound the same if they have the same internal resistance which is unlikely. Differences in resistance are no factor for parallel circuits but could show up in a series circuit. Another option is to place a dropping resistor in series with the 12V feed that drops the 12V to 6V across the original parallel-wired horns. This is much easier to install and guarantees equal voltage across the horns.