1940 horn relay

K

Kentf1003

Senior Member
Building a 1940 Ford pickup. I ordered a horn relay on line several months ago (don't remember the company now). It has a sticker on it that says 6V, but when I examined it closely there was a 12v stamped into the metal cover. Any chance that it will work correctly on 6v?

Also, the terminals are stamped H, B, and S. I assume they stand for Horn, Battery and Switch? Thanks Barners.
 

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Since a relay is simply an electrically activated switch, and 6v wires and connectors are heavier then 12v, I would be concerned that the internal contacts and parts in the relay you have might be too light. It would probably work, but for how long?
 
Authentic relays are readily available... I have to ask why chance an incorrect relay?
 
Also original ones are frequently easily cleaned up and put back to work, as with headlight switches and such. You bend back the tabs, and unless you see massive damage in there like burned up winding just polish the contacts, clean everything, and put it back where it lived.
 
You can easily test the relay with 6 volts by hooking up the B (battery) terminal to one battery post, the H (horn) terminal to a test light, and touch the S (switch) side to the other battery post. If it clicks and the test light comes on it works.
 
I used a similar relay to get mine working. I ran heavier gauge wire to BAT and HORN terminals (#10 I think) and lighter to switch (#12) It seems to work fine so far.
 
I took the relay apart to look inside. The coil wire is very small gauge, but I believe most windings are fine wire. The only thing left is heavy connection terminals. The wiring going to it is same size as original.

Yes, I would gladly clean up an original used 6V horn relay but haven't located one. (The NOS ones on ebay are over priced.)
 
Had to eat my words. Just purchased an NOS one on ebay at a reasonable price. It is for an early 6v Ford. Nice to see that Made in the USA stamp.
 
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