Installing Buell Air Horns on an AT34  

My American Tug 34 came with the dual-trumpet AFI electric horn, and frankly, they were always a disappointment. After about a year 1 horn failed, and the other gradually failed over the next 2 years. These things are made in China , imported under several different brand-names and riveted-together so you can’t fix the damn things! I think the newer boats now have the single-trumpet version, which will probably fail in half the time….

After some research, and even more heart-searching, I ordered the Buell Air Horn setup that Tomco offer as an option on both models. Expensive, but WELL worth it.

Kurt was kind enough to send me the parts list that Tomco use if you order this option on a new boat:

I called Buell in Lyons IL (800-422-8355) and spoke to John in Tech Support. He confirmed the part numbers, then kindly offered to sell me the package directly. It came to $980 including shipping to North Carolina . The package included both horns, the horn bracket, the compressor/tank, the solenoid, 50 feet of air hose and all of the hose fittings.  It did not include the breaker or duplex wire, I purchased those separately at a marine chandlery. That was way less than the list price from their dealers, and even less than Fisheries Supply. And, of course, considerably less than the option charge on a new boat….

They have a website: http://www.buellairhorns.com  (Be aware that the website is a bit noisy when you go to it, as they sound a horn when it comes up.)  The setup we installed is under ‘Marine’ then ‘Duplex’. You can hear them when you click on the Duplex link, but it is WAY louder in person than on the website….

It took me about 2 days to install everything.

Installation:

Compressor:

The combined compressor/air tank is kind of large (25in long X 8in wide X 14in high) and heavy (about 15 lbs). I installed it vertically, on the rear bulkhead of the engine room, mounted to a large piece of Starboard. The photo below was taken from the starboard side of the engine, looking aft. The black hose is the air line: the 2 clear hoses are the AC water outlets.

My first choice would have been on the flat surface aft of the water heater, but I have my toolbox mounted there.

  Air Hose:

I ordered 50 feet of 3/8 inch air hose, and ended up using about 47 feet in total.

Running the air hose was probably the hardest part of the whole installation.  From the compressor I ran it bundled to the engine room wires to the center of the forward bulkhead, then up behind the electrical panel. From there, I took it through the raceway between the helm and the chart-table to the area under the defroster vents, then up the starboard Mullion (the removable vertical trim piece between the front windows) to the overhead.  From there, I took it straight aft (following the RADAR and other wires) to the inside of the stack.

The kit that Buell sent included screw-together compression fittings for the air hose.  I used pipe sealant (like plumbers use) on the threads when tightening the fittings – as recommended by Buell.

The hose is thick, and a tight fit in some places, but it will go. Really….

Solenoid:

I mounted this inside the stack, in the area behind the circular access plate. It is wired to the original horn wires (red/yellow pair) that used to power the horn. Now they just operate the solenoid. The inlet air hose connects to one side, and a short (2 – 3 foot) length runs thru holes in the stack to the horns themselves.

Horns:

Boy – are these babies gorgeous, or what??   (Or maybe I just need to get out more…)

I mounted them a little further forward than the original horns, so I could move the mount up and get the horns angling slightly downwards for drainage.

All of the plumbing is internal – I had to drill a 7/8 inch hole thru the stack to run the air hose fitting.

Janet made ‘covers’ of mosquito-netting to prevent critters (mud-daubers mostly) from taking up residence inside.

Electrical:

I installed a 25A Blue Seas breaker in the 12V Distribution panel in the pilothouse, and ran a 12 gauge duplex (2-wire) wires down to the compressor in the engine room. This beast draws 18A when it runs, so it needs a fairly heavy wire.

Since the horn switch now only controls the solenoid, I was able to replace the 15A fuse in the helm panel with a 4A fuse. (The fuse is under the round grey ‘screw-head’ to the right of the switch).

I had previously replaced the button with something easier to see and find in a hurry !! The grey cover pulls straight off, and I found a white cover (by Cole-Hersee, who make these switches for Blue Seas ) in a chandlery in Key West and painted it Red.  I think they also make Red ones.

Testing:

It takes around 3-4 min to build-up 120lbs of air pressure, which is sufficient to run the horns a few time before it cuts-in again.

You need to ensure that the air hose fittings on the air hose and the input side of the solenoid are completely air tight.  We used soapy water to test and also listened for air leaks.  According to Buell, the compressor should only need to cycle once a week or so to keep the required air pressure for the horns.  

Final 'clean-up':

Installing the new horns forward of where the old ones were meant that we also had to replace our neat stripes around the stack.  West Marine sells this tape (Seafit Premium Striping Tape). You'll need a roll of 1 inch and a roll of 1/2 inch tape.  They didn't have the 1/2 inch in our dark red color, so I ended up buying the 1 inch and cutting it in half - a process I don't necessarily recommend. The old tape peels off pretty easily.  I used 'Goo Gone' to remove the tape residue and then rubbing alcohol to make sure the surface was clean before installing the new tape.  

Conclusion:

OK, so was it worth the expense (around $1100 in total) and effort ???

Yup – you bet. These horns are truly beautiful, and extremely loud. Other boats on the ICW now really pay attention if I need them to.

I always used to replace the stock horns on my motorcycles for safety reasons, and I feel the same way about these.

When (its not ‘if’) your wimpy AFI horn fails, strongly consider these - even if it means not eating for a week or two.

And have I mentioned that they’re LOUD ?????

Cleaning:

The guys at Buell suggest only using window cleaner or soapy water to clean the chrome horns.  Anything more abrasive (such as polish) will eventually wear through the chrome.  If the horns are angled downwards, you can also gently wash them out with fresh water to remove any salt that may have gotten in when you are out splashing around in the salty water.

Jeremy Bell. AT34 #48 “Tardis”
Sounding like a ‘real Tug’ now.