My 92 Regency has a bank of 12, 12 volt relays. I think they are pretty typical of most Barth relays. I am trouble shooting the horn. When I manually activate the relay, the horn sounds, but the horn button on the steering wheel does not activate the horn.

My questions:
1. Is the function of a relay to allow a lower amperage circuit to control a higher amperage circuit?
2. Do the Barth mechanical relays have issues with operation which requires some kind of maintenance?
3. Does anyone have a diagram of the connections on these relays?
4. What other information does anyone have that is useful regarding these relays?
5. The horn button should be fairly trouble free, but I cannot remove the ring around the button to check it (Gillig Chassis). Does it screw off or snap off?

Bill H - Have you any familiarity with Barth relays?

Bill G

[This message has been edited by goodwinw (edited May 01, 2005).]

quote:

Originally posted by goodwinw:
My 92 Regency has a bank of 12, 12 volt relays. I think they are pretty typical of most Barth relays. I am trouble shooting the horn. When I manually activate the relay, the horn sounds, but the horn button on the steering wheel does not activate the horn.

My questions:
1. Is the function of a relay to allow a lower amperage circuit to control a higher amperage circuit?
2. Do the Barth mechanical relays have issues with operation which requires some kind of maintenance?
3. Does anyone have a diagram of the connections on these relays?
4. What other information does anyone have that is useful regarding these relays?
5. The horn button should be fairly trouble free, but I cannot remove the ring around the button to check it (Gillig Chassis). Does it screw off or snap off?

Bill H - Have you any familiarity with Barth relays?

Bill G

[This message has been edited by goodwinw (edited May 01, 2005).]

Bill, I have no experience with Barth relays, as gassers seem not to have them.

You are correct in question 1. A relay allows a light wire to control a heavy wire cricuit.

Thje following is based on general experience and may not be Barth-specific, but may be helpful:

If your horn circuit is typical, the horn button or ring provides a ground that closes the relay. The coil has two terminals, one is hot and the other is ground. If the hot term is hot all the time, then the horn button provides a ground to make the coil into an electromagnet and close the circuit. Use a meter to see if the horn wire is being grounded when the button or ring is depressed.

Try using a jumper to ground the coil of the relay and see if the relay closes.

bill h

I did check wires and connections last Sunday with a 12 volt light probe. I connected the alligator clip on the probe to a ground bar and found the wires coming out of the steering column. When I poked the horn wire the horn beeped. Up to this point, pushing the horn button did nothing. After the probe set the horn off it began working again. The only thing that I can think of is that corrosion built up in one of the wire connections and my moving the wires created a better connection. I also cleaned the air solenoid and the air horns are working better than ever as well.

As you well know, bad grounds and poor connections are the bane of 12 volt circuits. On our older coaches this becomes an ever present problem.

Bill G

Don't you love it when you have fixed something and don't know HOW? I have learned to say MAYBE!

When I purchased our Regency the owner showed me all and about, and when he opened the front left compartment and showed me all the relays I was impressed with all the neatly wired relays. I was surprised though that he had a neatly folded black trash bag laying over the relays. I could just picture moisture problems, but to my surprise none was there. He seemed to really be a fan of the RED spray that aids in corrosion fighting so all relays are sprayed red. He insisted that I put the folded bag back over the relays, and I can tell you it has not been a problem. He gave me several new relays too, it seems everytime he purchased a small part he bought a spare or two.

Hope your problem is behind you.

Dale,

Things seem to be good for now. I plan to go through all the connections to clean them and then coat them with dielectric grease before reconnecting.

Does anyone see a problem with this plan?

Bill G

[This message has been edited by goodwinw (edited May 07, 2005).]