MTFCA Forum

Hey Guys
i recently got a Mag Horn from a fellow member on hear and it worked great and then it just stopped working. When I got home I took out the floor boards and made sure all my new wiring was good and it checked out. I then cranked the car and hit the horn button when standing over the open hood and I could hear a very faint sound when pressing the button. I then gently tapped of the horn base with a small rubber hammer and and I could hear a bit of a horn......a few more taps and it was working just fine. I then went for a 15 mile ride and used the horn quite a bit and all was well till the end of the ride when she went out once more. Can anyone on hear give a few pointers on Mag Horn adjustment?

Thanks
Ron

Can anyone help?

Hi Ron,
There's a set screw and locking nut at the base of the horn bell. It can be accessed with a long screwdriver. It's possible that it may have unscrewed itself, but it's probably more likely to be that the contact points are dirty.
Magneto horns are easy to pull apart and pretty easy to work on. I'd pull it apart and check the diaphragm, the set screw and the contact points. It may just need a bit of a clean.

Cheers,
James.

Hi Ron, sorry to hear you are having trouble with it. The business card from the guy that rebuilt it and sold it to me at Hershey was with the horn. If you can contact him, he may be able to help. Also, that horn should have both terminals insulated from the body, so you might check to make sure the insulators are still keeping the terminal lugs from shorting to the case. If you can't get it to work, let me know. Was not my intention to pass on a dud.

dr1960 wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:36 pm

Hi Ron, sorry to hear you are having trouble with it. The business card from the guy that rebuilt it and sold it to me at Hershey was with the horn. If you can contact him, he may be able to help. Also, that horn should have both terminals insulated from the body, so you might check to make sure the insulators are still keeping the terminal lugs from shorting to the case. If you can't get it to work, let me know. Was not my intention to pass on a dud.

David
You did not pass a dud as it worked just fine when I installed it......this is something very minor and I am sure I will get it sorted. I am very happy that you were able to get me the proper horn for a 1915 and little things like this happen with 106 year old parts lol. The wiring is fine but it just goes out after a bit.....a slight tap and works again. I will go look for the card and give the man a call but after seeing what was said above taking them apart is a snap.......by the way the mag horn scared the crap out of the deer

Ron

David
Do you think it's possible the horn is getting to much power as I am not running on the original mag coils and the horn is the only thing on it? i do not think this is the case but your the electrical guy and I am more mechanical.

My thinking is the diaphragm may be just a bit to tight as I can hear a very slight sound when the horn goes out. When I say slight that's with my head in the engine compartment and reaching around to hit the button......slight tap tap and it works.

Thanks again and like i said this is minor....half the fun of this hobby is getting things to work.

Ron

Ron,

I can't imagine any electrical issue with the horn being the only thing powered by the mag. With a healthy mag, it should work great. I think you are on to something with the other advice given regarding the adjustment. Always something on these old cars and part of the learning experience. I hope you are back in business soon. Glad to hear the deer heard you coming!

Were you able to get the horn adjustment worked out? Would be good to hear what you had to do.

Tapping it to get it to work sounds like a ground issue. I have a persnickety battery horn that acts the same way. The diaphragm adjustment cant magically come back into re-adjustment?