Hey TDR, You'll like this one. Air horn stuck on!

[Mactruck]

Hey TDR, You'll like this one.

So last night I left my favorite watering hole to drive a friend home. Some guy cuts me off and so I react by laying on the Air horn. Well it's about 10 degrees last night and getting colder well. the darn thing stayed on. Had to pull over and try to remember which wire to pull to disconnect the Air compressor which was running constantly because of the horn being on. It was the only way to shut the horn down.



I finally get it disconnected and look over to see my friend laughing :-laf his A$$ off.



Glad he thought it was funny.



Pretty embarrassing.



Anyone know how to get water vapor out of an air horn system? It's the only thing I reason I could think that would get the solenoid stuck open.

 

[stg2500]

Mactruck,



I have been worrying about that same thing. It certainly has been cold around here. If you find out anything could you pass it along?



Thanks

 

[Kalaehina]

Hey Mactruck, I know it won't get any where near that cold out here but I was having trouble with my horn not working, turned out to be the solenoid had some crud in it, kinda looked like algae, so I cleaned it out and put in a small water catch I got from Lowes. It's right before the horn, and there is a sleeve of pipe foam around the glass to protect it. So far works fine and there is alot of water in the catch, it's also self draining. Good luck!

 

[WDaniels]

If it's not your solenoid there is moisture eliminator that will work. I can't remember the exact name right now(Brain fart) but what happens you put this regulator type thing on your air line and as air passes through it it picks up methanol that is in it. That way your air valves will not freeze in cold weather. I know that there are at least a half a dozen guys here that will know what it is called. I can see it in my head but now but no name comes to mind. sorry. Hope this helps.

Wd

 

[JR2]

I had the same thing happen, sort of. I hit the door lock button on my remote and the horn went honnnnnnnnnnnk and ran out of air. The compressor did not come on?? Then later that night my girlfriend wakes me up and says my air compressor is running... I jump up and go outside (-2 F) and the compressor is red hot. I unplug it and it stops. The next day I took all the lines off the system and they where full of ice and the compressor will not build more than 60 psi. I just bought a new compressor on Ebay for $50 (Hadley 850 serries) and I am going to find one of those air line dryer setups. I used a little heet in the lines and they defrosted fine, but I need a solution.



John

 

[illflem]

Install an in line desiccant filter, Napa sells them two for $9. They're used when you need really dry air such as when painting. They look similar to a in-line fuel filter but have a pink chemical inside that soaks up moisture turning blue as it gets used up.

 

[JohnE]

I don't think the desiccant type filters will last long in this application. My approach would be to consider the reservoir as a wet tank and give it a drain line.

 

[K_Arts]

That's hillarious Kevin... I wish we had some video of it... LOL



Kev

 

[Straight6Jeff]

Kevin,



Upgrade the solenoid. In a mfg plant where I used to work, the solenoids were operating in a -40 freezer, only a quality solenoid (such as Parker) would not fail.



A coalescing fillter (onboardair.com) will help remove most of the moisture.



I was using my horns today (3 degrees) and they worked without sticking. I laid on them alot because of the moron drivers in South Boston. It was cool watching the frost come out of the horns after I laid on them.



I'll look on my solenoid to see if I can get a part number.

 

[Camara]

I have used denatured alcohol in air systems on the big trucks over the years. If it got real bad I used to take the tube of the tank that comes from the compressor and put a little directly in the tank, and then hook it back up. It doesn't take much water in an air system at these temps to freeze.

 

[Philip]

What Camara said.



Easyest way out. Just pop out a plug on the tank. Pour a little in every once in a while. Your set.

 

[Wheaties]

What a kick! It never occured to me that this could happen, but it does make sense. I like Jeff's comment about frost coming out the horns. I wonder if it would look like a fire extinguisher if you substituted CO2 for air? Imagine that coming out your grill?



Reminds me of an experience I had at school in upstate New York. The weather channel will tell you it's about -20 -- -30 F up there right now and you get a chill factor of another -20 or so.



I found myself awakened from a sound sleep at something like 2AM without really knowing why. Well, it happens, so what? I rolled over and was well on my way back to sleep, when a car horn goes off outside my window about ten minutes later. There's a parking lot just below the window, so WTF? The horn stays on for about three minutes, then it goes off. Huh.



Ten minutes later, the horn is sounding again. Two minutes after that, off again. I decided to investigate and ran into another guy I knew out in the parking lot, both in sweats with a down parka, both mad as wet hens, looking for what is causing all the racket. Security shows up. No car with a horn, "Sorry boys, there's nothing we can do. " Security get's ready to leave and the horn goes off again. It's an empty car, an old Ford with no one in it!!! (good thing too, the hood latch was on the outside)



My buddy starts taking tools out of his parka pockets. He's ready to take the car apart. Security tells him he can't tamper with someone else's car; disconnecting the horn could create a hazardous situation. My buddy was pretty big, and there was a fire in his eyes when he told the security guard he was going to do it, no if's and's or but's!! Security backed down and said, "Alright, but leave a note. "



I never really did figure out what made that horn go off. My best guess was that condensation was forming ice crystals in the gap inside the switch and completing the circuit. Then the juice would warm it up again, melt the ice, and break the circuit.



MTE

 

[Ron Bissett]

You need a spring =======April ,MAY ,JUNE :Ron in Louisville KY