2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission air horns

[dewdo]

I recently bought a couple of air horns on E-Bay and thought I could tap into my air tank that is used for my air bags. When I hooked into it the compressor kept running and wouldn't cut off. The horns worked great as did the air bags, but the pump just wouldn't quit. I had to pull the fuse on it to shut it down.



Has anyone else tapped their on board air tank and compressor for air to their horns. I checked with the dealer that installed the air bags and he said the tank and pump were both too small to operate air bags and horns. Is he correct? Why wouldn't the compressor cut off? I didn't make any adjustments or changes to the pump. Seems to me that the tank would fill up if there were no leaks and I wasn't filling the air bags or blowing the horn.



Any help wpould be appreciated.



Dewdo in the other Washington

 

[mikel]

If the horns were installed correctly the compressor shouldn't run all the time. If you have an electric solenoid for the horns check which way it is installed. The one on my setup only seals correctly one way, if it's put in backwards it will hold about 20psi, but nowhere near the 110+ that it takes for my compressor to shut off.



You won't get a long blast with a small tank, and a small compressor may not be up to the task of filling a large tank, but you should be able to get some kind of noise out of them.



If none of this helps break out the soap and watter in a spray bottle and check everyting (even the stuff that you didn't touch when installing the horns) for leaks.



Something is leaking somewhere and is keeping the compressor from reaching it's cut-off pressure.



good luck!



Mike

 

[EMDDIESEL]

Try spraying soapy water on all your fittings but with the leakage so severs the compressor wont shutoff, you would think the leak would be so big you would hear it.

 

[Dkevdog]

You might want to check to make sure the pressure switch wires didn't get broken or maybe that the pressure switch even had failed. This would cause the compressor to run continuously. Did you notice what the pressure was rising to? Unless you have a large leak, the pressure should have built up enough to shut the pressure switch off and thus the compressor.



Kev

 

[dewdo]

I didn't try the soap procedure yet, but I couldn't hear or feel any air escaping from anywhere on the lines and the tank where I made the connection. The compressor is mounted under the frame on one side and the tank on the other side. I will try the soap and see if there is any leaks on the parts I worked on. If that doesn't tell me anything I will reconnect the system minus the air horn and see if the compressor shuts off.



Thanks for the feed back



Dewdo in the other Washington

 

[jwgary]

try a gauge

In my personal experiences with fluid power, I have always wanted a pressure gauge to see what is happening in the system. It is usually easy to tell if you have a leak because your pressure will be down. That will let you know if your pressure switch is malfunctioning or not. I envy y'all who have gotten around to adding on board air. I work with pneumatics and hydraulics every day and REALLY want a compressed air system on my rig.