Community Forums

JJH3rd · 03-08-2014, 12:37 PM

On top of our '05 Dolphin we have a pair of impressive looking horns but I have never heard so much as a peep much less a blast from them. Thanks to this site, I know were I can get replacements horns, but before I do that I wanted some sage advise on trouble shooting the "no-sound-from-big-nonhonking-horns" problem from the wise guys & gals on this forum.

My step1 is to determine if power is getting to the horns. I "ASS-U-ME" that on my gasser, the horn pad in the center of the steering wheel operates all horns (the two on top and the two inside the front cap, which BTW DO work). I believe this to be so because there is no other button that I can find that indicates "press here for roof horns".

So, suggestions please?

pagosajoe · 03-08-2014, 12:50 PM

Certainly could be an electrical issue. Others have reported that their air horns are plugged with insects/dirt/detritus from having been driven through such stuff. After cleaning them out, some of them say they worked. Just a thought...

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f105/dolp...ns-144446.html

Others say there's a city/country switch on their coach:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f105/air-horns-56541.html

Maybe it's hiding?

cannon man · 03-08-2014, 02:03 PM

had same problem with ours they are not very loud. get up on ladder n you may hear them. the 2 lower ones seem to drownd them out.
dave

JJH3rd · 03-09-2014, 11:35 AM

Unfortunately, when I need to use the "big horns" the offending party won't be anywhere near them

(at least I hope they won't

).

Whiskyradio · 03-09-2014, 06:25 PM

I have to hold down the horn for just a second before the big air horns sound off.

ruffian · 03-09-2014, 09:05 PM

As usual, I don't understand what I need to know.

Did I read you had a "gasser"? Those look like "air horns" so where is the air coming from. If not air, then, like the others have said, try to find the fuse and follow the wires from the horn back to somewhere with DC.

Do you have a small DC compressor under the dash that supplies air to the horns?

My Monaco has electric and air horns. The electric switch on the wheel and the air horn switch is on a panel left of the drivers seat.

87Rockwood · 03-09-2014, 09:16 PM

Our 87 Rockwood has a switch on the dash to turn on/off the air horns. It really turns on the air compressor for the air horns which in turn are sounded with the steering wheel horn button. The compressor is mounted on the outside fire wall under the hood.

Arch Hoagland · 03-09-2014, 09:23 PM

The last thing I would do is buy new horns.
You need to determine if these are air horns and then determine where the air supply comes from.

My gas rig has Hadley air horns and consists of a compressor, air tank and a solenoid that sends air to the horns.

The solenoid goes bad on these and when it's bad you have no horn. I know.

Mine quit working and after cleaning the solenoid several times I just replaced it and have had no more problems.

You will see clear plastic air lines in the engine compartment that go up to your roof for the horns if that is indeed what you have.

My air horns are operated from a switch mounted in the center of the dashboard. They are NOT connected to the regular horn.

So you first need to determine if these are air horns.

tedgard01 · 03-09-2014, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJH3rd

On top of our '05 Dolphin we have a pair of impressive looking horns but I have never heard so much as a peep much less a blast from them..... So, suggestions please?

Nope... But I thought I'd mention that my '05 Dolphin also came with a similar set. I have never heard them either.... Oh well, I just traded it in on a new coach, so I assume I will never hear them either...

Good luck getting them working!

deSanford · 03-09-2014, 09:36 PM

I have a switch that will allow the steering wheel horn to make a little new years paper horn sound. My other horn sounds like a 167,000 lb train. It consists of 5 air horns that operate on about 125 PSI. It helps when cars are joining the freeway from on ramps and the driver has NO turn signal on and doesn't even look to see if there is any on coming traffic. I'm usually in the "slow" lane when this occurs. One short BLAST and I think they will begin looking in the future when they are merging into traffic. deSanford

Tahiti16 · 03-10-2014, 11:01 AM

I have 06 Dolphin and horn worked good new but very loud anymore. They are electric and they do operate from the center horn button. I believe the plugged with bugs and stuff is the issue. One quick check unplug the ones under the hood you should hear something.

GREGORYJ · 03-10-2014, 11:14 PM

The Dolphin roof horns are electric, not air. Mine also didn't work. I dis-assemble them the clean all the road dirt and bugs. I found the 2 gaskets on each side of the metal plate that vibrates to creat the horn sound had weathered and fell out in pieces. I purchased sheet of universal gasket material of a similar thickness and cut 4 new gaskets with scissors. I partly assembled and tried. They worked, but very poorly. I believe with the back chrome cover off, you will see an adjustment screw with locking compound on it. I cracked the screw/lock nut loose. Then while appling power to each horn, turned the screw till the horn made the maximum sound, than applied locking compound as before. This adjusted the gap between the horn's metal speaker plate and a transformer that makes the plate vibrate and cause the horn's sound. It was easier the tune one horn at a time and to also dis-connect the 2 lower horns behind the grille. I took a small 12V battery (from ATV) up on the roof to power each horn. They now sound like they did when new. In my case the replacement gaskets thickness may have been different than the original gaskets which then requires the horns to be re-tuned.

pjgolpher · 03-11-2014, 11:27 AM

We have an '05 Dolphin LX, have the same horns on top which don't make a sound. I just had the coach in for some work and had them checked out. Mine have no wires connected to them. There are no wires running to them. I have a compressor above the propane tank for the brakes for the dinghy, so I'm going to have Air Horns hooked up where the regular horns are now. Hope this helps.

luvmydolphin · 03-15-2014, 08:41 AM

Had the same problem on my 99 Dolphin. Took the horns apart (Trumpets were full of bug remains, road dirt, etc). Also the diaphrams at the back of the horns were very rusty. Used steel wool to clean up the diaphrams as best I could as well as hosing out the Trumpets and the horns worked great. Very loud and train like. Worked great until one trip where the awning let go and took them out (as well as most everything else on the roof). Thanks to insurance the horns were replaced (the replacement horns were Marine horns). Now horns are very loud. Not sure on cost but know that the guys that put her back together said they were quite expensive.