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DC Horn

PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:36 pm
by shane BBoys
Hi I’ve a dc horn and I’ve fitted a Scootopia Varitronic with a DC line for a battery. I’m planning on fitting a battery in the glove box to feed a Lucas spot, the question is how do I make the horn work from the light switch, battery? A quick sketch would suffice.
Cheers Shane.

Re: DC Horn

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:06 am
by Toddy
You should just need a Brown live Feed from the headset block if you are running Full DC and you haven't got a brown coming out of your Loom at the usual place near the horn to go with the earth from your switch

Re: DC Horn

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:26 am
by coaster
Toddy wrote:You should just need a Brown live Feed from the headset block if you are running Full DC and you haven't got a brown coming out of your Loom at the usual place near the horn to go with the earth from your switch


Toddy's on the right track, the horn button connects one side of the horn to earth to complete the circuit to sound the horn, with the other terminal on the horn being connected to the brown feed from the stator. In your case, you need to remove and insulate the AC feed at the horn and then run a wire to the positive feed from your battery. That will mean that your horn is permanently live which isnt really a problem but you could fit a kill switch if you wanted.

In terms of running your Pathfinder though, did you realize that you will have only limited battery capacity to run it? maybe only an hour or less depending on the size of the battery and the trickle charge from the ststor will take many hours of running to replace the charge. You will need to recharge it using a mains powered charger on a regular basis. A better way is a full DC conversion where all pwoer from the stator is fed to the battery. Also. you wouldnt need to make ony wiring mods other than connecting the battery to the lighting circuit. Im not sure that you can convert the Scootopia stator for DC operation though.

Re: DC Horn

PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2020 1:07 am
by vegansydney
coaster wrote:Im not sure that you can convert the Scootopia stator for DC operation though.

The Scootopia stator looks to be a IDM clone and their website states the CDI is compatible with Varitronics. If this the case, then they can be converted to full DC. These instructions were posted over a decade ago by Captain Pugwash and Scootronics has since made a video showing how convert IDM type stators to full DC with increased output.

Re: DC Horn

PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:22 am
by missing lynx
Is the dc horn just a direct replacement for the ac one or are you fitting something a bit more fancy like air horns or alpine horns? If it's the later you will need a horn relay which requires 4 wires in 1 earth the white from the horn,a power feed from the loom and power from the battery + a full dc system ( otherwise a couple of blasts and your batteries flat)

Re: DC Horn

PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2020 4:06 pm
by shane BBoys
It’s a new build, which I’m not far off finishing ( my 1st self build )
I know I could have gone full DC but opted for Varitronic. It’s a straight DC horn nothing fancy I know I can run the white cable to the horn and run a cable from a battery to the horn to make a complete circuit ( I think this is correct? )

Cheers Shane.

Re: DC Horn

PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:35 am
by MK Monty
You are running AC with a trickle charge to a Battery so disconnect the brown that goes to the horne on the way up to the headset and bring in a DC supply via the battery. as you say