Stebel Horn- cheat on installation?

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I met another ST1300 owner who installed a Stebel Compact Horn in behind the right mirror as per suggestion on the sticky, but he plugged the wires of the Honda horn switch dirrectly onto the Stebel. He didn't use any relay or any additional fuse. The Stebel works, he said for years.
Is this installation a real shortcut? What is the draw back?
Kenny
 

SupraSabre

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I tired a 10amp fuse on a Stebel horn once... it blew the first time I hit the button.

So either he has a 20amp fuse on a 10amp wire and has managed to keep from shorting out his wires, or rewired it to handle the load?
 
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is it a real Stebel, or some other brand that is similar? The real Stebel appears to draw 18A, consistent with Bob's experience you'll need a 20A circuit (fuse and wiring) to power one safely.
 
OP
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Yes, it is a real Stebel. I actually help him to transfer it from a 2003 St1300 to a 2016 St1300. The Honda horn is fused at 15amp, along with the brake lights. Perhaps that is enough fuse for short bursts?
 
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Yes, that is where a lot of people mount it. And if he used wire that is too small to carry the 18 amp load without burning it up, it means he does not lean on the horn for long periods of time (a very nice, considerate and polite way to be). Wire that is too small for the load will last quite a while for short toots now and then (assuming the wire is over fused and that fuse does not blos).
 

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He's probably at greater risk of killing the horn button. The arcing and sparking of that load will likely eat up the contact area.

Not to mention that there may be enough resistance in the small gauge of the wiring to reduce the output of the horn. That may also be why an 18A load isn't popping a 15A fuse. A relay and adequate gauge wiring will let the horn compressor spin at its design spec.

Have him hit the horn while on the brakes. It would be bad enough if a blown fuse silenced the horn but to lose the brakelights as well? Does he have supplemental brake lights? I'm not usually a 'worst case scenario that will probably never happen but it could happen...' kind of guy. But assuming all the wiring is stock I'd really not want to use a high current device like that a) without a relay and appropriate wiring and 2) tied into any lighting circuit.
 
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I met another ST1300 owner who installed a Stebel Compact Horn in behind the right mirror as per suggestion on the sticky, but he plugged the wires of the Honda horn switch dirrectly onto the Stebel. He didn't use any relay or any additional fuse. The Stebel works, he said for years.
Is this installation a real shortcut? What is the draw back?
Kenny
That horn, along with the WoLo "Bad Boy" draws 18 amps. That is a lot. Too much for the stock horn circuit, I don't care if there is a 20amp fuse installed. Those wires appear to be 16ga, at the most, which is probably ok for such a short current distance, but the contacts, connectors, and switches were not designed for such a load. Better to isolate the horn circuit with a relay similar to what I have attached. 13 years for me, with never a missed honk.




Fuse block circuit.jpg
 

wjbertrand

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The other problem is that the horn may not be sounding as loudly as it should than if it were wired properly with a relay.


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Is this installation a real shortcut? What is the draw back?
Kenny

Replacing an oem fuse with a larger one is almost always a bad idea. They aren't generous with wire gauges.
18 amp demand also means a slightly slower spool up and less volume with under sized wire.
14awg is a squeak on the skinny side. #12 would be better.

TMI
There are online calculators for wire sizing.
One at random, http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html
3% or less voltage drop would be good target for the stebel.
 
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OP
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I have decided to buy a horn installation kit. The price of this one is very reasonable ( $15 cdn plus freight) . There is no short-cut in life. Thank you for all your input. Kenny
 

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Stebel horn installed with Wolo 20amp kit. It is LOUD. if I have to do it again, I would not need the Wolo kit. It is pretty straight forward. Thank you for all your input.
 

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