Ok, new to the thread and very train horny (waaap waaap) at the moment.
I have loads of questions to ask the almighty community so here’s a few…ahem;
1) On the basis that most of the air tanks in the UK have 1/4" ports or valves or whatever they’re called (why god damn you, why ) can you use, buy or create a makeshift ‘Y’ hose splitter to merge x2 puny 1/4"'s into a single 1/2"? And if so is this going to sacrifice pressure?
2) Where (if anywhere) can you buy individual nathan bells? I’ve now got a K3HA later to be installed but under my false floor I’m wondering if turning it (over the course of a few years) into a K6 or K8 is going to make it more tuneful as well as punishing in the Db department?
3) Does co2 compression (assuming I can find any in the UK or any USA retailer who can ship them) mean smaller tanks + higher efficiency? The maximus 5 (a nathan K5 with c02) has been said in a few places to be louder because of this?
4) What kinda additional things are/can be done to increase the distance of nathans chimes?
5) Leslies, who thinks they’re gonna be extinct and no longer produced beyond another several months or a year?
yes you can get Y junctions that go twin 1/4" to single 1/2". If you’re feeding twin 1/4" lines to merge them, that’s a reasonable option to get higher flow rates.
2)Buying single bells can best be done through eBay, Horn & Whistle Board, or some vendors that specialise in trainhorns like HB or RTH Occasionally have them. Your best bet is through private collectors though.
BTW… Creating more and more horns into one ginormous frankenhorn has been done before … and yes it sounds awful, so I’d do some research before you waste your money.
3)No - more likely you’ll lose efficiency. High pressure regulators don’t flow the huge volumes of air required by genuine train horns. If going to CO2 or similar, your best to have a header tank in between. Basically treat the gas like a compressor substitute.
4)when you say distance, you mean loudness? … Man, if an Airchime at full song can’t satisfy, there’s something wrong!
5)Leslie Controls and Microprecission pretty much hold the duopoly in the train horn business world wide. No reason to think that’ll change in the short to medium term.
1) I can’t seem to find those ‘Y junctions’, can you either suggest better search terms I can use of provide a link as an example please.
Frankenhorn……OMG scary
2) When I said distance, yes I meant being heard even further away. I’d be more than satisfied with the nathans of course, but others on here (not that I bookmarked the pages) and other forums + youtube have mentioned things done to make them even louder. If it was never going to cost loads, then I just figured what the hell. Oh and nathans don’t sing, they’re evil menaces to society and they squark at people lol
3) Are there actually bells manufactured then to turn a nathan k3/k5ha into a k6ha? If not I’ll just aim for k5HA.
4) If people believe the k3’s to be louder on the basis of them being fed more air, then wouldn’t feeding 3 of their bells 5 gallons and the other 3 another 5 overcome this and allow them to be louder (as well as more tuneful) or are the extra soundwaves/frequencies cancelling some of the volume out?
There’s a stack of options - I suggest maybe track down a local hose and fittings store or a truck workshop to point you at some retailers.
To make horns louder; two options: A) increase air flow, either through bigger pressures or larger diameter fittings and hose; or B) On an Airchime you can artificially increase the venturi intake hole (by drilling it out) - very risky business and destroys the horn IMO.
Larger pressures (i.e. those above manufacturer recommended) will prematurely wear the nozzles and diaphragms inside the horns. Nozzle repair can only be done with a lathe, diaphragms are less tricky but can be costly. No need as far as I’m concerned. A K5 or K3 will permanently damage someone’s hearing at close proximity. Why you’d want to go beyond that is of no gain. Get the right air setup and you can’t ask for more volume - seriously.
The K6 is an invention by Real Trainhorns by adding the 1L (detuned to make it sound reasonable). The fact that people tag a “H” or an “L” to it is silly because there is no high or low mount factory manifold for an airchime. Each horn has to be mounted on a custom bracket, which he also makes and sells.
If you’re just getting started and you’ve got a K5HA - you can’t ask for better. They’re a magnificent horn and huuugely loud if you give them the right air, so spend up on your air system before throwing away more money on horn mods that won’t give you much more than what you’ve already got.
As per point 1; more air generally means more output but only up to a certain point. The decibel curves really flatten out once you increase pressures.
If you can get that K5 set up with at least all 1/2" pipes and air, a high flow valve (e.g. Graham White or clone), plus a nice big tank and good compressor, you’ll be in hog heaven. Seeing that you’re in the UK, catch up with “Stinkypete” or “Uk-Z28” on the forum here - they both have K5’s in the UK and can probably offer tips and advice on local gear especially.
Thats the most un-american thing you could ever say on this- the forum of crazies with a passion for loudest horn blasting lol…now hand over your american license for confiscation.
In all seriousness though I just wanted to eek every little bit out and mainly it was for being heard that extra bit further further than the average 3-4 miles (it interests me that the leslie R5SL can be heard from 5-6). But yer I’ll be happy and grateful for my end product and setup regardless.
Wow, thanks for clearing that up, now I’ve learnt something, thanks man. I know you can’t go necessarily by their advertising, but they’ve said on it’s item page it’s louder and can be heard further than the K5.
Actually all I have is the K3HA (sent to me mounted on the K5 manifold with the blocked 2 ports), but apparently through realtrainhorns.net it’s cheaper to order their refurbished ones as a K3HA first and add the extra bells after, so I am. The way I’m planning to have them mounted in my car they may not need those custom brackets, definitely can’t use the manifold though as basically they’re going to be poking through where the car reg backplate would be and fed from the car boot floor that they’ll sit on.
Yer I went to stinkypete’s shooting range (so to speak) and it was very impressive. Not been getting responses from him in the last couple of days, not aware of the other guy you mentioned, but stinkypete lives within 1hr of me. The valve, it just gives better and more natural control doesn’t it, volume is still the same as rocker switch controlled one?
Hi Train Horny
Just my two cents coming up
As i read this post last night you have a K3 on a K5 manifold at the mo just go with 1/2 " pipework and get as much air storage as poss to fit in yer vehicle
And have fun !!!
Over time yes you can pick up the other 2 bells to make it a K5
Then you could get some seperate manifolds and another bell to make the K6
As for loudness i dont think higher pressures and messing with the horn internals are worth the effort or risk as DBO has already said
Loudness/distance it can be heard from is all relevent to where you are and the people listening out for it ie built up areas- wind direction etc
Cant remember the max distance mine have been heard at = late evening mid summer i think was 6 miles and clear as day i was told
Hth
) can you use, buy or create a makeshift ‘Y’ hose splitter to merge x2 puny 1/4"'s into a single 1/2"? And if so is this going to sacrifice pressure?
I know you can’t go necessarily by their advertising, but they’ve said on it’s item page it’s louder and can be heard further than the K5.
