Horn Relay Amperage?

I cannot find info for amperage of the horn relay. Thank you!

 

The relay probably has a higher amp rating than the wire and fuse. So if your looking to put an aftermarket horn, I'd use the wire gauge and/or fuse rating. But, there is no spec I can find on the amp rating from the horn relay part#. Go by the fuse as that's always the lowest / safest rating to use. Remember the fuse is there to protect the wire not the device at the end.

 

Installing the Walmart mexican horns? "La Cucaracha, la Cucaracha!"

 

First have to find interior dingleberries.

 

OP what are you trying to add to the horn circuit?

 

I have a pair of Hella red horns just sitting on my bench. I have them in my '85 GMC K3500 plow truck, for 15+ years and people really notice.

 

2 Hellas will be fine off stock circuit.
Why not go QUADS?

 

Cuz I only have a pair. But they ain't blue

 

Those look like the Hella Supertone (something or other), I believe they need a 15amp circuit. OEM is 10amp if I remember correctly. I'm sure you'll get away with running them (if you remove OEM horns from the circuit) as it's not like you run the horn for long durations of time. But be aware, the perfect install would be to use the OEM circuit to trigger your own relay, with 15A fuse & wiring.

 

Bolted up and honking!

 

Wire them up for use with your stock horns, or are the on a switch of their own ?

 

I did not use a relay'd harness this time. I am not laying on the horn all the time.

 

You'll find that you may eventually pop your horn fuse if you do lay on it. Those horns do draw roughly 12 amps if I remember right, and the stock circuit is fused at 10.

It won't blow the first time you do it, just be aware that a good long honk will. Or potentially, "wear and tear" over a lifetime of beeping will pop it.

Fuses can be fickle, especially so close to their rating. They are designed to withstand "transients" or sudden spikes in current. How much a 10A fuse puts up with intermittent 12A loads is really a crapshoot, in my experience.

 

This. My wife's Mazda only came with a high tone. The same Japanese domestic car came with high and low. The circuit is 15A. I added the low horn, and it still pops the fuse every couple of years and she doesnt use the horn much. A fuse is easy enough to replace though.

 

Yep! I have relayed many setups for lights, etc for a long time, so if I need to upgrade it, easily done. My last 2 vehicles, the OEM wiring system had no problems with these horns.

 

When I had them on my Subaru, I used an auxiliary circuit with the OEM wiring as the relay trigger. The relay setup would result in the horns being their actual full loudness. It also allowed me to connect everything up without cutting into the wiring.

I eventually removed them as I found them to be too jarring for traffic. They definitely had their use when someone was aggressively merging into my lane and I wanted to let them know what I thought about that, but more than once when I was on the highway and a car drifted into my lane when I tapped the horn it jolted them enough that I was worried they may spin out. It made me too uncomfortable. If I had them on a toggle, that would have been more reasonable.

But for what amounts to a few dollars in parts, throw them on an auxiliary circuit to truly let them rip.

 

Sorry to revive an old thread but I am trying to do something similar: instead of horns that use higher amperage I plan to use a small 12v compressor that rated 16amps to send air through an air horn that I made.

Correct me if I’m wrong but the horn’s relay is 20amps and the fuse is 10amps. Would changing the fuse to 20amps safely let me power the small compressor using the OEM wiring of the stock horn?