I just picked these horns up the other day. I tried to run them with a 3/8" od air line with a 1/4" air solenoid valve. With about 110 psi, I was very dissapointed… I was looking at the valve and the orifice size is a pewney 1/16"… I know that is my “weakest link.” If I could get a much larger valve and retained using my 3/8 od air line… can I expect good performance with my horns? Or should I run 1/2" lines all the way through… If the gain is minimal, I would really like to stay with the 3/8" lines. The hose length is less than 4 feet total length… Or could I cheat by using a high pressure tank (200 psi) and with all the pressure drops, I would see a supply pressure to the horns I would guess… 120 psi???
I am using a 5 gallon Craftsman portable air tank. I’m thinking of throwing away the charge port/air line to fill tires and working the tank with custom fittings. Can these tanks take a 200 psi pressure without blowing up? The pressure relief valve is rated at 135psi… Bad idea?
Running 1/2" lines would increase the loudness alot. I had the same exact horns, and they were very loud…almost as loud as a real train… But I didn’t like the overall sound they made…therefore I sold them this week. You may be happy with them on 1/2"…they are loud. However, I bet you will buy some Nathans after a couple of years.
If from a “low restriction” 3/8" lines to 1/2" is a big difference, I will start buying up 1/2" lines/fittings… I want the best sound out of these horns. Yes, eventually I plan to get Nathans, but not right now. Thanks for the info…
Auright! I just got my 1/2 lines, fittings, and valve… What is a good pressure to run the Unitied Pacific horns? Would 150psi at 1/2 lines be perfect or should I run them at 200psi? Any help/advise would be appreciated…
Sorry, another question… I hooked up a 1/2 pipe tee on my 5 gallon craftsman portable air tank. Originally it had a 135psi relief valve…If I stick a 200psi pressure relief valve, is there a chance that tank will blow up if I run a 200psi pump on there? Looking for a 380C or 480C… I would assume (like air hoses) there would be a burst pressure rating of some sort in the neighborhood of 300psi on the tank? I would hate to risk my life on that… Thanks everyone!
I just tried out the horns with 1/2" all the way at a 100psi… HOLY CRAP!!! I was scared to poop (you know the word)!!! I swear from the 1/4" pipe valve sound to now… I had to change my underwears! And the horn was facing away from me! Haaa haaaa. Wish I had a vid to share with you what I went through! Haaa haaaa. I am very satisfied with the sound at 100psi… I will charge up to 150psi and see how they sound. I don’t think I really need a 200psi air source. I would say it was a 3X louder now than before… I am a happy camper right now…
I just got my united pacific 3 bells the other day.I am using a 10 gallon tank, 1/2" line and a blow gun for the valve.The blow gun seems to give great control of the horns for a cheap price.I am current running about 140lbs pressure and they are wicked loud…some friends of mine said they heard them a couple miles away.Someday I would like to have some K5’s, but for now I am more than satisfied with these horns from Air Horns of Texas!
Auright! Nice to hear you love your UP’s… I will try to take pictures of my cheap set up, that sounds nutz! Craftsman 5 gal. 1/2 all the way. Waiting for a viair pump. Let’s make some noise!!!
I also forgot to mention that I use an old A/C compressor to charge my tank…works pretty well…I have a filter on the intake and keeps the comp oiled…I hope to get a video of a runby on youtube soon.
Wow, that is really engenious! How quick does the a/c compressor fill the tanks? I bet the CFM is way higher than Viair can put out with their biggest compressor…
At an idle it takes a while to build up 120 from 0,But running 55mph down the road(approx 1800 to 2000rpm’s)the compressor can do it in a minute or less…I have thought about installing a 150 psi cutoff pressure switch so I don’t have to turn it on andd off myself…
They play D# F# and A# which is the same as the K3L, S3K and the extremely rare J3 snow plow horn. They have a VERY nice tone to them and with a bigger valve, can be an excellent starting horn.
I actually ended up taking apart a 1.5hp craftsman compressor with a 2 gallon tank. I seperated the tank and the compressor. I adjusted the cut in and cut out pressures to about 100 and 145. I installed the components with my 5 gallon tank (total of 7 gallons now) and ordered a 1,500/3,000peak inverter to power the compressor.
The compressor puts out 2.4cfm at 90 psi. I really hope this will work for me. Compressor was free and inverter was $65 from E Bay… I will try to take some pictures of my budget build.
Still waiting for the inverter to arrive. I hope it will keep up with the compressor. On the lable it is rated at 10 amps. Amps times volts = 1,100 watts. Plus there are 2 huge capacitors on the pump, this shoud lower the spike. Stay tuned with my results…
Upgraded my entire system to 1/2" line yesterday.Installed a larger valve and am more than pleased withe results…louder than ever!Also put in a tee before. The train valve so I can run my grovers as well…The upgrade solved the “sluggish” issue I mentioned in another thread…They scream as soon as I touch the valve now!
I tried the inverter… FAIL! Rrrrrrr. I even tried to drain the tank to 0psi. Still won’t run my compressor… Here are some pictures of my set up…In the center of the toolbox foward facing is the compressor motor seperated from the 2 gallon tank. On the right side of the toolbox (rear half) is the 2 gallon tank. The right side foward facing is the 5 gallon Craftsman air tank (used for airing up tires.) It was fun putting everything together. The theory was there, but it did not work out. I got my 12 dc pump from E Bay and hooked it up. It works like a champ, except the 150psi pressure cut out switch does not work… Good thing I added a 150 psi pressure releif valve… Haaa haaa. Just waiting for another pressure cut off switch… Other than that, I’m wanting some nathans’s… Haaaaa haaaa
