Need source for A horn rewind

[modela@aol.com]

Horn wire shorted out on a sharp metal edge in the wire harness hole of the light switch which suddenly starting blowing the horn continuously. Before I could pull over and pull a fuse or horn wire the horn finally quit by burning up the horn's commutator windings.
It is well beyond any of my home repairs and the armature probably needs to be replaced with a new armature or have this one rewound.

I found out today that the gentlemen in Cadillac, MI who is the recommended go-to source for horn repairs has had recent health issues and is extremely backed up with lots of back logged horns for repair.

Who else is out there with the ability to refurbish the Sparton type A horn?

Signed Hornless in Illinois

 

[Marshall V. Daut]

A couple months ago I was in the same boat as you: my contact people who used to repair horns for me had either died or were no longer in the business. Posting my dilemma, a number of readers here suggested I rewind the horn myself, even though I am a complete dunce when it comes to electrical issues. In desperation, I ordered the correct insulated wire and followed George Sage's rewinding tutorial. The first time was a bit tedious for me because I am also not the world's best solderer. Four wires need to be resoldered after rewinding the field coils, so I dived in with both feet and was able to make acceptable solder joints. Testing the horn afterwards - and crossing my fingers - I was pleasantly surprised how well the horn worked and sounded. I deviated from Sage's procedure by wrapping the field coils 48 times instead of 40, as recommended by some on this website. A nice, deep throaty sound resulted.
Cutting to the chase here, try doing this yourself. The horn I did had fried wires and what I feared might be a toasted armature. I cleaned the commutator plates and ran a toothpick between them in order to avoid any shorting out. Ugly-looking as the armature was, it ended up being o.k. The whole shebang to repair this horn cost me $20 for a spool of wire that can do many horns and some soldering supplies. That's a WHOLE cheaper than the $140 plus two-way postage I was paying someone else to do this job, although they did do other dress up things to make the insides look nice. If you are only concerned with making your horn work again, skip the internal cosmetics and rewire the field coils yourself. If I can do it, ANYBODY can...
Follow this link to see how George Sage does his horns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80HheWrv2_s
Marshall

 

[Marshall V. Daut]

By the way, here's what I started out with. If your horn looks this brutal and burned up inside, don't give up hope. You may be able to save it by rewinding the field coils.
Marshall

 

[Bob Bidonde]

While you have your horn apart, do this maintenance.

 

[kbinde2]

Some of the younger enthusiastic "A-ers", are eventually going to have to learn these skills to keep this hobby viable. Rewinding horns or total rebuild, speedometer refurbish, babbitt skills, making a complete wire loom with correct connections, etc..
We can probably buy reproduction of most, and have it shipped to our door in a week or less, and struggle with once again having to make a part fit, or in some cases even to get it to work properly.. sorry, just an opinion.! kb

 

[katy]

Hornless in Illinois, A picture of the horn inards would help.

 

[modela@aol.com]

Here is the picture. Wires broken and copper contacts are not fastened.

 

[JayJay]

View attachment 569230

Here is the picture. Wires broken and copper contacts are not fastened.

Ooooh, that looks like the commutator let loose. It musta got really, really hot!

Any self-respecting electric motor repair shop should be able to handle that. Unfortunately, around here the motor repair shops won't touch anything automotive, but that may not be the case elsewhere.