2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission safety question

[dodge cummins]

i had some air horns installed yesterday on my 96 ctd and i want to take them off. i don't know much about electricity but i see that the he has the positive red wire hookup connected with the red battery terminal inside the black box on the drivers side. can i touch the nut that is inside the box with the red wire coming from the battery hooked up to it?i don't want to get shocked.

 

[tp0d]

Why would you want to take the air horns off? I love mine, wouldnt part with em if they pried my cold dead fingers off...



As for getting shocked, absolutely no risk. 12vDC is harmless, unless of course, you happen to bridge the positive and negative (body ground also). . Then the sparks fly. . But as for you gettin zapped, no worries. . Just watch anything metal when working on the positive lead. . A slight tap on the ground will take the paint right off the fender heh...





good luck. .



-j

 

[dodge cummins]

actually i am taking them off because he ended wiring it throught the stock horn . he just left the wires attached that he originally was going to use but didn't and left them hooked up as another power source in the future. everything though looks kinda rigged so i am going to take out anything that is not being used. i was just kinda nervous about taking a metal socket to the nut holding the positives down

 

[dodge cummins]

the trumpets are kinda long so i mounted them sideways directly on the metal guard that is right under the radiater. instead of useing the the clear see through air hose that came with it i used 5/8 fuel line

 

[WBusa]

Its good practice to disconnect the negative terminals on your batteries whenever you do anything electrical in your truck. Scary sparks you'll get over, but accidentally frying an electronic component will cost you. Setting off the air bag would be particularly disturbing, especially if someone's in the front seat at the time. All of these potential problems go away if you just disconnect the batteries. My son would sniff at this... he's an industrial electrician, and works on hot circuits all day long... but he has also had the bejabbers knocked out of him two or three times now, so he ain't thinkin too clear anymore

 

[RustyJC]

Having exploded a battery by directly shorting positive to ground many years ago, I'd also suggest lifting (removing) the negative battery cables just to be safe.



I guess I'm still trying to understand the problem. If he hooked into a positive in the power distribution center, it sounds like he was going to power the air horn compressor through a relay (that's what I did) and only energize the relay with a wire from the stock horns. I also ran a pair of wires back to the cab to a switch so I can turn off the air horns and only use the stock horns if I wish. If the wiring is already run, it would be pretty easy to go ahead and do the job right.



I installed my air horn trumpets on the back side of the forward section of the fender liner on the right front wheel - there's a lot of unused space between the back side of the fender liner and the headlight area of the front end.



Rusty