Replacing 34' Trawler horn

[Earl34Mainship]

My 2005 34T Mainship has dual horns and the lower frequency horn is corroded beyond repair. Using the remaining horn, I squeak by sailboats and Norhavns when I overtake them... I've looked on line for a dual horn made in the US, but so far have only found auto/truck horns or horns like AFI that are made in Taiwan. I did find Kahlengerg horns but their site provides a price quote upon request . I want the shorter horns so I don't have to drill a hole to mount the brace. Maybe someone has bought a dual horn (air or elec) they're satisfied with and can provide information and/or a web site. Or if someone has bought a junk horn, please let me know that also.

Thanks,

Earl

 

[Steve]

About a year and a half ago I bought a West Marine dual horn About $150.00 I doubt it is made in the USA. but I am happy with it, it is loud and has a nice tone.
It is 12V.

 

[Earl34Mainship]

Thanks Steve... WM's horns are AFI (Taiwan) and their WM branded horns also are made in Taiwan... maybe someone has found a reasonable priced US made horn... thanks for your reply...

Earl

 

[CPseudonym]

Don't let the Kahlenburg website quoted prices fool you, they are cheaper at the retailer. If you contact your retailer via email for quotes they may discount below their own advertised price too.

 

[Earl34Mainship]

Thanks Craig... I'll go back to their site and explore it... I thought the price would be much too high, but it's worth checking... Thanks very much.. will post what I find...

earl

 

[Chrisjs]

You can often pick up a used Kahlenburg or Buell air horn on EBay for reasonable money. We installed a dual Buell air horn from Ebay (ex ambulance I think) sounds like a large freighter when it blows!! Great in New England fog - fitted with an automatic sounder.

 

[Larry M]

Earl: I don't where they're made but check out Klein Air horns. They make a train horn. This came from their web site.

"If you're looking for the loudest, nastiest horn there is, look no further. The Kleinn Model 630 is the ultimate train horn...The Trumpets mount separately for easy installation and the 630 can be upgraded with the BlastMaster Upgrade Kit to make it go even LOUDER!"

Train Horn - Model 630

 

[Earl34Mainship]

Thanks... i'll check ebay... I looked earlier and didn't see any boat horns... would like to find a freighter horn sound..

thanks...

et

 

[Earl34Mainship]

Thanks L & L... i'll check this out.. loud is good....

et

 

[CPseudonym]

Good tip about eBay Chris, hadn't thought of it. I'll watch for a couple months as I plan on upgrading in December so have time to shop. If nothing pops up by November I'll email a couple retailers I know and order one.

 

[koliver]

If you go to a truckshop you can get a real horn for far less than the Kahlenberg of Buell price. I replaced the horns on my motorhome with Hadley truck horns, at $100 each, but you need a source of air to drive them.
On my boat I had a pair of airhorns driven by a small 12v compressor. When I hooked the old Motorhome horns to that compressor, it was only powerful enough to drive one of them. I bought a dual set of airhorns at Harbour Freight ($15) and used that compressor to drive the second motorhome horn, but it wasn't strong enough to give a good loud tone. I will go back to HF for their triple airhorn package ($20) and will borrow that compressor for the second Motorhome horn.
The result, so far, is a much louder horn (only the lower pitched one is connected) than I had before, and I also have the HF dual high pitched horns on the same switch, so I now get more noise and a more interesting noise than I had before. It can only get better when I get the last modification in play.
The Hadley truck horns on the motorhome are also a big improvement, so if you went straight to those for your boat, you should win the horn wars in your area.
I also have a set of HF duals in my dinghy, where they are surprisingly loud, though tucked away inside the console.

 

[rbcooper]

Horn frequency requirements COLREGS

Just be aware that the COLREGS specify a requirement for frequency of the horn for different boat lengths. 12 - 75 meters = 250 - 700 Hz.

Allows alot of leeway but some of the larger ship fog horns may not conform to the COLREG specification

 

[Earl34Mainship]

Thanks koliver... i'll also check this out... I was planning on a much less complicated install and i'm sure that a horn like this on my 13'Whaler would get attention...

et

 

[Earl34Mainship]

good requirement to keep in mind... and I would probably meet the code enforcement guy who knew about COLREGS...

 

[hollywood8118]

good requirement to keep in mind... and I would probably meet the code enforcement guy who knew about COLREGS...

Highly unlikely... and are they going to have the meter to actually test the sound so a infraction would hold up in court?

The louder the better!
HOLLYWOOD

 

[FF]

If a small compressor will make the pressure , just not the volume an old propane tank is a cheap air tank.