Horn Rebuild

[entomologist2004]

II have a 62 ghia convertibee with the large bolt apart horns that are not working. I opened my horns up and cleaned the contacts and they still do not work. They "Clunk" but not "Honk" when tested with a 6 volt inverter. Itried adjustin gthe conact screw all the way in both directions to no avail... would testing without the relay cause this problen? Thanks any resources on how to fix these and woud be greatly appreciated , I need someting other than wild shouting keep from getting run down....
Walt

[74Ghia]

I know this sounds silly but there appears to be something with those horns in that they only beep when installed. I had to install mine in position and then play with the adjusting screws to get the sound I wanted. Unbolt one horn from the chassis/pan and no Beep Beep. Ain'y it wierd??
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Allen C.

2012 Silverado
53 FiberFab MG TD Replica (VW)

Life is hard and its harder if you're stupid.

[Gary]

Check out this thread from days past.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=279896#279896
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West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)

[entomologist2004]

Awesome resources . I think the problem is that they are not breaking the point contact when they fire. I am going to stick them in the car and test them again, if they still don't work I will take them arpart and try to make sure it all lines up and follow all of the directions provided...Now all I need to do is find a decent Dash Pad!!!!

[Gary]

Contact Mike, user ID HouseofGhia. He has an excellent reproduction pad right now.

Here is the example he posted in the Samba Gallery:

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West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)

[snookerdude]

if you are reallly using an inveter then that is you problem. they convert d/c to a/c. if you are using a recterfier then probably it does not provide enough amperage. horns are pretty demanding. hook them up to a live battery for a bench test. i've noticet the tuning is different when on the bench from when on the brackets in the car. the pitch goes up in the car.

[EdW]

[Banzai KG]

[EdW]

While we're talking horns, if anyone has any "Klaxon" horns available, pm me as I'm very interested. My ghia is a '73.
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20‰

[entomologist2004]

I only hope it rubs off on my female passengers!!!

I used the....

And you tried performing these cleaning/adjustments?
"Hella 6V Horn (B31VW1-6V) repair and maintenance": http://www2.lut.fi/~hosia/horns.html

Here is what happened, as an FYI to others...I took the contact points out and cleaned them with emory paper, when I returned them the feramic disk that is hit by the large steel plate was too far to the side so it didn't break the contact and just kept the plate pinned to the magnet when power was applied, hence the "Klunk" . Then I set them up properly but had them so out of adjustment that the plate was separating the contact points without power, so I got no response at all, nothing nada, toss em out .....

The key was testing the resistence, it was an open circuit. I turned the adjuster on the back till it zeroed out the ohm meter and viola... Even using the inverter they are so loud you can hear them, probably too well, from the street when my house is closed up tight.

That'll get 'em to put the cell phone down!!!!

Thanks to everyone, they really are a thing of beauty.

Oh another tip...if you open the horns up you can drop the connector posts out and tap the back side. I used a couple of brass machine screws and double nuts to recreate the spade ends that were broken off. The barrels that theyused are hex shaped so the fit a drill press vice very nicely. You have to be careful not to drill into the threads that the other side uses fo the contact plates...but it worked like a charm, dare I say, better than factory .....
Walt

[tchaika]

I just fixed my horn today using the info on the above website. The points were corroded, cleaning them brought it back to life. People should do this if they have an original horn, it's an easy job.
Some things I learned... my horn clunked when I got it back together, like the above poster, it was because the magnet was getting pulled in, but missing the little tab that makes it pull the points open on the way down.
It was because I had put the phenolic/plastic/whatever strip between the points in upside down, so there was no way for the permanent magnet assembly to pull the points down and open them.
Also, to get the points in the right ballpark, adjust them up until the horn plate sits slighting above the horn body, then adjust them down until they are about level.
You don't need a test meter to figure out if you have broken connections, you can just pull out one of the tail light bulbs and see if it lights up across any connection that you suspect.

These things are really well built, worth fixing over putting in some crappy replacement.

[Snoop Bob]

[EverettB]

[Snoop Bob]

OK, cool. Something is definitely better than nothing, but the pics were really good. Regardless, the info is informative and complete and should be helpful to others.
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[John Moxon]

You should find this of use: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4819237#4819237
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John.
Judson Supercharger Information on The Samba
My 1958 Shorrock Supercharged Karmann Ghia
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[Snoop Bob]

[John Moxon]

[Snoop Bob]

[h2odrx]

here is one"6volt"
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[albertb]

Hi, any information on who can repair Hella Horns 6 volt and 12 volt ?