Airhorn Compressor Question?

[n805aquaholic]

So it looks like my cheapo air compressor died after ~2yrs of being mounted on the undercarriage of my explorer... Now I'm looking at trying to mount the replacement somewhere near the jack in the semi-interior of the car. Anyway, here's my question:

-If I use a 100% duty air compressor, does that mean I can forget about using an air tank and just connect the compressor directly to the horn?

(I hope this forum was the right place to put this question, if not, sorry!)

 

[turborich]

NO, It means that the compressor can run non stop (100% duty cycle) If it were a 50% duty cycle then for every 30 minutes of run time it should have at least 30 minutes to cool down.

You still need a tank, solenoid, pressure switch & all of that good stuff.

Check out this Hornblasters install I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDUAmfMa2-A

 

[n805aquaholic]

HELL yeah! That's rad, I love how the train horn blasts aren't so staccato. Is that because there's like 5 horns so the sound builds up more slowly as the air gets flowing? Mine is a stutter-tone, , but I like the train horn sound.
I imagine a 1.5 gallon tank is tiny for a train horn?
And do you have any suggestions for companies that sell air compressors alone? I'm looking at something like this now:
http://bit.ly/J1Ol9i

 

[turborich]

Viair makes good stuff. That's what comes in the Hornblaster kits. 1.5 gallon tank at 150 psi will do just fine if you are tight on space. The only difference is the blast time of the horn. You should be able to get a solid 5-7 seconds out of a 1.5 gallon tank depending on how much air your horns use.

The GMC in the video only has a 2.5 gallon air tank. It's also using 1/2" air lines and a 1/2" solenoid. This is what gets the huge amount of air to the horns. Those 1/4" air lines are pretty restrictive.

Here is my Lincoln Mark VIII, I could only fit a small air tank on it but it still got the job done at 165 psi. Everything was tucked up under the rear bumper area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqxB65NuseQ

Here's another Van I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZPp5LcYfH8

 

[n805aquaholic]

I'll have to get a video of mine up.
I just found my electrical problem after bench-testing the compressor. The compressor's power wire had pinched and singed, so I was still getting 12V, but not the whole 10A...
I understand the idea of 1/2" hoses for train horns, and I'm kicking around the idea for after I get paid this summer =]