warning buzzer, 3-pole replacement, cheap source

[pcrussell50]

going through a boat i bought after only a cursory inspection. one of the things i go to check is the overheat warning buzzer, so i do the usual... i jumper from the brown wire coming out of the sensor in the head, to the hot positive lug on the solenoid... and all i get is a weak chirp... continued...

the motor is a v4 crossflow outboard, but with a hotfoot throttle and billet shifter and the warning buzzer mounted under the dash. i have no idea where the guy who restored and modified this hydrostream viper boat got the warning buzzer, but i want to find out. when i look at the ones that are mounted inside the remote controls, those things are INSANELY expensive for what they are.

so i go under the dash and remove the buzzer to test it directly against a fresh battery, in case there are some bad connections between the sensor on the motor and the sensor under the dash. before it test it, i inspect it, and find some dirt or detritus in the speaker "bell", so i poke and blow it out. some kind of bug, maybe? now i throw it on a fresh battery, directly, not through the boat's circuits, AND? same thing just a chirp. i can get the chirp to repeat if i detach power, the put it back on again... chirp! remove, reattach... chirp! repeat.

anyway, i cannot believe both how hard these things are to find and how expensive they are. since it's now installed under the dash, i don't feel like i need any special svelte shapes that have to fit inside a remote. i reckon all i need is any old 3-pole horn, but i don't even know how to search for one.

any ideas?

-peter

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: warning buzzer, 3-pole replacement, cheap source

You state....."so i do the usual... i jumper from the brown wire coming out of the sensor in the head, to the hot positive lug on the solenoid... and all i get is a weak chirp".

That's not the usual.

To test the warning horn, have the key turned to the ON position, then simply ground the tan wire connection at the heat sensor which completes the circuit resulting in having the horn sound if all is as it should be.

 

[guitman32]

Re: warning buzzer, 3-pole replacement, cheap source

Ive got an '85 175 Evinrude and Im in a similar situation, thought I would post a picture of the warning buzzer installed under my console...not sure if this is OEM or aftermarket, but I know it only has two (2) leads (one to ingnition and a brown to the sensor):

There are no numeric marking on the buzzer that I can find.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: warning buzzer, 3-pole replacement, cheap source

If your wiring is 1996 or later, the horn will not operate with just the key to ON. The motor has to be running and the SystemCheck gauge operational.

If yours is a 1995 or earlier, then the horn should sound with the key ON and the engine tan wire grounded.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: warning buzzer, 3-pole replacement, cheap source

...not sure if this is OEM or aftermarket, but I know it only has two (2) leads (one to ingnition and a brown to the sensor):

Your buzzer is not the factory one, somebody made a substitution

 

[pcrussell50]

Re: warning buzzer, 3-pole replacement, cheap source

i guess what i'm asking, guys, is now that i have the buzzer out of the boat, and have jumped straight to a fresh battery i keep in the garage for testing things, all it does is a single chirp per-application of power. if i open my test circuit and then close it again, i get another single chirp.

my buzzer/horn is the the 3-pole kind, with two spades and a black wire with one end of a bullet connector.

i have not heard of a single source for these other than an oem parts dealer, where it will be $40-something.

i find it hard to believe that i can't use some kind of cheap, 12v horn from a motorcycle or a car.

-peter

 

[pcrussell50]

Breakthrough, Re: warning buzzer, 3-pole replacement, cheap source

Breakthrough, Re: warning buzzer, 3-pole replacement, cheap source

ok, i now think the buzzer/horn is ok... remember, it's the kind that has a black wire with a bullet connector, and two spades.

yesterday, when i took out the horn and tested it on a fresh battery, i put the black wire on the negative terminal... of course, and i put the spade with the [+] sign onto the positive terminal, [of course]... and all i got was a single "chirp" from the horn.

well, today, i did the same thing... only this time, i took the unused spade, the one that the tan sensor wire goes to, and when i grounded that*, the horn sounded loud and continuously. again and again.

*Joe Reeves said:

To test the warning horn, have the key turned to the ON position, then simply ground the tan wire connection at the heat sensor which completes the circuit resulting in having the horn sound if all is as it should be.

You're right, Joe. This is what made the horn work on my test rig. Thanks.

so i guess i don't really need a new horn now.

off to go put it back in the boat's harness and test it again. fingers crossed.


-peter