www.iFourWinns.com

I am once again soliciting the help of my fellow Four Winns boating bretheren. I installed a new dual horn on my Vista a couple weeks ago. I was sick and tired of the "sick goose" sounding factory horn that Four Winns installed (and besides, it quit working) so I bought a new one from West Marine. Really simple to install, right? Cut off the old, connect the new. Easy done. The new horn works and sounds great..........when it works. I did have to go from the 3 amp fuse that was in it to a 15 amp fuse as recommended by the manufacturer.

Here's the issue. The horn will work while underway or at idle speed, however when the engine is turned off and I am sitting at anchor, the horn doesn't work. It will work while plugged in at the dock and the engine is off. When I push the horn switch while at anchor, I can hear a "popping" or "cracking" sound in the stereo speakers, but the horn won't blow (hate it when that happens). I will even occasionly get a real real quick horn sound but not a full fledged blast.

So what's the "dealio"? Is it simply that the battery is not supplying enough amps? Am I just an idiot here? Does this new horn draw too many amps? Am I using words that make absolutely zero electrical sense?

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"Where Da Go"
2002 248 Vista
Lafayette, IN
http://blueoceanlife.worldventures.biz

It sounds like you are voltage starved. If you put a VOM on the horn, what is the voltage under your varying power conditions? My guess is that you will be well below 12 volts. Assuming a dual battery system, does it happen in all battery positions?

FYI, we chased what we thought was a weird DC issue on our 258 until FW confirmed that battery one is not tied to the alternator in the current wiring of the boat. It is only charged by shore power. Not too happy with that and we will be working on it after the summer.

Good Luck with your horn issue. Let us know what you find.

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Jnizi

2007 Vista 338 "Better Yet"
Previously:
2007 Vista 258 " Just Right"
2005 Horizon 230

Sounds both voltage starved and current supply might be your limiting factor. Did they spec the gauge wire to use vs. distance? It sounds like you cut and spliced to the existing wire which I know is rather small gauge. I bet you would blow that 3A oem fuse in a heartbeat which is spec'd for the oem horn's wire/ current draw. Sounds like you might want to rewire this thing completely. Ive debated this mod too, but I might just have to get a train horn since i yanked the macerator theres room for a compressor. Probably won't do it since running the air line would likely be a major PITA.

If I were to rewire this stupid thing, how would I go about it without totally tearing the boat apart? Also, what guage wire would you use?

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"Where Da Go"
2002 248 Vista
Lafayette, IN
http://blueoceanlife.worldventures.biz

How much power does it draw and what is the length of the cable run?

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Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

You should be able to run new wire, leaving the existing horn wiring in place. Judging by the manufacturer's recomendation of a 15A fuse, the draw has to be less than that. In the Horizon series, I see FW use 14 gauge wire on long runs with fuse rating up to 20A. If you use 105C rated marine wiring, I'd think you could get by with 12 guage wire, unless the run is ridiculous in length.

One odd thing, in the 2007 Horizon 220/240/260 boats, the horn wiring is 14 gauge, and the fuse is 10A.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

Walt's right on the money, make sure the wire is of sufficiently thick enough gauge to support the max draw. All too often the wiring in boats and cars is designed to provide "just enough" power for only the factory equipment. Add anything to the circuit and the voltage drops. The solution is usually to run new, heavier gauge wire for BOTH the positive and the negative. In a car grounding it easy but in a boat you do need to pull that wire too (yellow color for DC ground).

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Ok, sounds similar to my symptoms but with the factory horn which is an electrical trumpet. I need them to diagnose my issue for this as well. I hope the wires are not too small, but the breaker does pop regularly.

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

Ok, this weekend, I picked up another symptom. When I press the horn switch, my volt meter on the dash drops dramatically. Any ideas here? Bueler? Bueler?

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"Where Da Go"
2002 248 Vista
Lafayette, IN
http://blueoceanlife.worldventures.biz

Keep the horn, and replace the boat.

Seriously, sounds like you got a short somewhere. If you're getting a big voltage drop on such small gauge wire, I'd worry that the wire is not adequately protected by the larger fuse. Something's gotta give.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

Would a poor connection where I attached the new horn cause my problems?

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"Where Da Go"
2002 248 Vista
Lafayette, IN
http://blueoceanlife.worldventures.biz

Define "poor connection". On a boat you should always, and I mean ALWAYS, be using marine-grade crimped connections. Do not use solder, it's too brittle to withstand all the vibration in a boat. And likewise NEVER use wire nuts as they'll just corrode like crazy. The best way to make good connections is to use a ratcheting crimper, pick up one cheap off fleabay.

As to your horn problem, have you tried using a fresh piece of wire running straight from the battery to the horn? Let's rule out that it isn't the new horn. Then work your way back the circuit. I'd then run the wire straight from the battery to the dash switch. This would let you know if it's the wire running from the switch to the horn. It's a simple process of elimination. At some point you're going to find a bad connection. Either corrosion inside a connector, a loose or frayed wire into a connector or even bad wire.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

If the original wire was sized up to carry only a maximum of 3A, but was originally in good condition, so not causing a large voltage drop, when you operated your new horn with the engine running /maximum voltage taking, for the sake of arguement 3 - 4 times that current (i.e. still below the 15A fuse capacity) that current may have been high enough to damage it's conductors or it's insulation. Either on the feed or earth/ ground side, or in fact even both. So now, damaged wiring after the fuse may well be causing a voltage drop or a short.

I had a similar thing on my first car; the previous owner had wired 4 x 55 W spotlamps through the (very thin) instrument wiring, the 20A melted the whole dashboard loom, not a pretty sight!

If your voltmeter now drops dramatically when the horn button is depressed, it tends to point either towards:
- a voltage drop / high resistance due to the wiring before the voltmeter, or
- a short somewhere after the switch. It's strange if it's a direct short that it's not blowing the 15A fuse, so it suggests the former.

Graham