Came out yesterday morning and heard what I thought was the car alarm going off on our brand new Hyundai Sonata in our one year old detached garage. Opened the door, hit the alarm button on the key fob, still wouldn't stop. Look over and it's not the Hyundai, but my 50 Chevy panel truck's horn blaring away and SMOKE pouring out from under the hood. Got the hood open and yanked the wire off the horn, luckily before any fire started. It was quiet a half hour before this and I hadn't even driven the truck in 5 days! It has been warm (upper 80's) and the only thing I can figure is that the horn button return spring didn't quite pop back and the heat shorted it out. It is converted to 12 volt with a Painless system. It still has the original 6 volt horn. Why did the fuse not blow? Do I need to find a 12 volt horn? Unhooked the battery in the meanwhile but the horn ring gave us trouble when wiring the 12 volt. Never quite worked right. Would stick if you pushed too hard, so I usually just give a quick tap when I blow the horn. Any thoughts guys? If it had waited and it shorted a half hour later, I would of left for work and would probably be out a Chevy Panel truck, 2013 Hyundai, and a new 2 stall garage with cool stuff inside! Brian.
MASTER KILL SWITCH for ANYTHING with an electrical system that sits for extended periods. Cheap and easy to install. One flip and entire system is dead.
I agree with Coilover. On both my old Hotrods, which also have Painless wiring, I have Moroso battery cut off switches that turn off all power. Cheap Insurance
Thanks guys. I had more friends tell me the same. Even though it is a new wiring system, there are still a few old components that the juice goes through. Do you think I should swap out the horn for a 12 volt? Thanks again. Brian
It did not pop the fuse because the horn was offering resistance, not a dead short. If the horn melted down and went to dead short, the fuse should have popped. Was the wire smoking or the horn?
Chebby, not real sure how long the horn was going off but less then a half hour. The horn itself was smoking. Rehooked the wire back, and it still works. Zig, first thing I told the wife was, "Grace of God was abundant today". If it had happened any time but then, who knows. Going shopping for a kill switch and may leave the horn disconnected until I can rebuild the horn button.
This is the switch I use and mount it on the floor within easy access when driving: http://www.jegs.com/i/Moroso/710/74101/10002/-1
<Magic> Smoke I'd never allow a circuit that didn't work properly to remain connected ~ fix that damn horn ring! . Meanwhilst , all you needs do for safety and fire prevention is : change where it gets it's power from to a circuit that's only live when the key is on . No need to have a battery disconect switch although they're nice .
Cut off switch I Wonder if you can explain me how to install your cut off switch. The one i use is connected directly on the battery + pole and i have to open up the floor Board cover and turn off the switch there. Using one like yours would make things easyer. Martinius.
Good question! Thanks for asking what I was going to ask! The nice thing about a kill switch is it would be hard for someone to drive away in your truck that shouldn't be...
BIg wire from battery + to switch pole, switch pole to existing + wire going to starter. It is just an interupt switch.
Cut off switch. Lakeroadster Good day to you. Wonder what parts number you used as this compagny have a lot of different models. Could you be so kind to show me how you connected it. A Picture would help a lot. Thanks on beforehand Martinius.
Thanks, Lakeroadster. That was the brand someone else had recommended also. I have disconnected the horn in the meanwhile and the same with the battery when I pull into the garage. I am going to search some threads on "horn rings". Thanks everyone. Brian.
Brian, I've got Napa Ecklin kill switches on both of my toys. The neat part about them is that they have a removable key that you can use if you want to make it a semi-antitheft device.
Battery Disconnect Switches Echlin is very good stuff indeed ! . Looky here : http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/R...ord&Nty=1&Dn=0&D=battery+switch&Dk=1&Dp=3&N=0 Five pages and counting .
