Man-horns

Nordhavn does a really good job on nearly all aspects of their boat builds, but like all manufacturers, there are a few "what were they thinking" features.  The ship's horns are a good example.  Yes, they are Kahlenbergs, but they are the smallest whimpiest model they make, and rated for boats up to 30' or something like that.   And they make more of a quack than a honk.  Upgrading has been on the list, and was finally triggered by the radar upgrade since the new open array would whack into the old horns where they were located.  So last month I removed the old horns and sold them, and just received the replacements.

Step one was to replace the air compressor and air tank.  The new horns need more air than the old ones, so the whole system needed to be replaced.  This was also a great opportunity to convert from a 12V compressor to a 24V compressor.  It was really silly that the boat was set up for a 12V compressor since 24V makes much more sense for a heavy load appliance like this.  It was a bit of a pain to move the circuit in the breaker panel, but worth while.

Here's a picture of the new compressor and air tank.  They live under the fly bridge settee.

Air compress under fly bridge settee

Air compressor

Air tank under settee

Air tank

Today I hung the new horns and finished the air line plumbing and wiring.  Access into the stack can be very difficult in certain areas.  I had to borrow this ladder to access a removable louvered panel on the back side.  Through that I was able to attach the solenoid air valve, pipe fittings, and wiring.  This access panel was also the key to finally getting the old radar cable out, and will be instrumental in fitting the new one.  I'm slowly getting more comfortable with the heights involved in all this.

New horns