1935 pickup horn capacitor
- Thread starter jdjj
- Start date
petehoovie
Well-known member
Are you 6 or 12 volts???
petehoovie
Well-known member
Found this in quote from koates in an old thread from 2016:
koates
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Melbourne Australia.
Posts: 2,185
Re: 1935 horns
Mark, Your 1935 6 volt Sparton horns should not be operated on direct 12 volts. Severe arching across the contacts will burn them out much more quickly and the horns tone will be sadly lacking. A suitable resistor should be fitted in the supply wire to each horn to lower the voltage and current drawn. Resistors are available from MACS part number is 28-62259-1 for a 6 amp draw or experiment and make your own. Also that original capacitor connected across the contacts in each horn to reduce contacts arching would have long ago lost its specifications to do the job properly. Purchase new capacitors from an electronics store or on line. Specs for the capacitor are 400 to 600 volts and .2 mfd. Now some people connect both horns in series instead of the original parallel wiring. This has the effect of reducing the current (amps) going through each horn. But with two sets of contacts of both horns operating in series one tends to effect the operation of the other and so the horns sound somewhat OFF tune and not a good idea at all in my opinion. They were designed to operate on 6 volts to produce a nice sound and tone and any variation on this is out of spec. Regards, Kevin.
The thread > https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1369886
And then there is this from koates:
koates
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Melbourne Australia.
Posts: 2,185
Re: Points adjusting in 35-36 Beep horn
Yep, what Dave Slater says is correct. I have an original Sparton horns shop manual and it states the capacitor is .2mfd at around 400 volts rating. Some horns had a wire wound resistor of 3 ohms, but I would use the capacitor. I have tested quite a few Ford Sparton horn capacitors and every one has been faulty or useless. Need to fit a new one. They are on ebay from china for a dollar or so. Regards, Kevin.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1533795&postcount=19
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2362473
koates
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Melbourne Australia.
Posts: 2,185
Mark, Your 1935 6 volt Sparton horns should not be operated on direct 12 volts. Severe arching across the contacts will burn them out much more quickly and the horns tone will be sadly lacking. A suitable resistor should be fitted in the supply wire to each horn to lower the voltage and current drawn. Resistors are available from MACS part number is 28-62259-1 for a 6 amp draw or experiment and make your own. Also that original capacitor connected across the contacts in each horn to reduce contacts arching would have long ago lost its specifications to do the job properly. Purchase new capacitors from an electronics store or on line. Specs for the capacitor are 400 to 600 volts and .2 mfd. Now some people connect both horns in series instead of the original parallel wiring. This has the effect of reducing the current (amps) going through each horn. But with two sets of contacts of both horns operating in series one tends to effect the operation of the other and so the horns sound somewhat OFF tune and not a good idea at all in my opinion. They were designed to operate on 6 volts to produce a nice sound and tone and any variation on this is out of spec. Regards, Kevin.
The thread > https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1369886
And then there is this from koates:
koates
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Melbourne Australia.
Posts: 2,185
Yep, what Dave Slater says is correct. I have an original Sparton horns shop manual and it states the capacitor is .2mfd at around 400 volts rating. Some horns had a wire wound resistor of 3 ohms, but I would use the capacitor. I have tested quite a few Ford Sparton horn capacitors and every one has been faulty or useless. Need to fit a new one. They are on ebay from china for a dollar or so. Regards, Kevin.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1533795&postcount=19
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2362473
Last edited: