Loud K#5 Bell

[cold-steel-iron]

I have a K5la that has a screaming Big Bore #5 bell that is so bloody loud and is the first one to speak and the last to speak does anybody know how to calm it down? Any help is appreciated and thanks

[cold-steel-iron]

So the manifold on this particular horn has threads in the air outlets on the #4 and #5 bell positions and they definitely were either done from the factory or at some point added along time ago because they have a lot of soot in the threads. So I had a few P horn restricters and took one and it threaded in the outlet perfectly so I am going to try this remedy

[cold-steel-iron]

Some pictures

[cold-steel-iron]

Well it helped a little but still overpowering. Any other ideas?

[epederson]

Interesting. I’m assuming that the threads were made for plugs so that the horn could be run as a 3 chime?

[epederson]

You could restrict the foot of the 5 bell using a set screw just like the manifold base restrictors you have.

[cold-steel-iron]

Yeah I think that would work. I took the diaphragms out and they are kinda bent and there was debris on the nozzle so im going to replace the diaphragms with better ones and clean the nozzle and hope that helps. I am kinda nervous using a set screw that would be the last ditch effort. Ill post the outcome here and thanks!

[Railgeek]

You could put more preload on the 5 bell by putting pieces of printer paper behind the second diaphragm. This makes it harder to blow with the same air pressure.

[Mafarnz]

Those restrictors have a larger orifice than the inlet on the bell foot so they won't make any difference until that hole is smaller.

Normally the restrictor is placed in the bell rather than the manifold. This is quite common from the factory on the big bore #5 bells, though I've never heard of a 4A being restricted from the factory. Typically this is done with a 1/4" brass plug that is drilled out. Normal K bell orifice is 1/8", so try something smaller than that for the plugs. Brass plugs are cheap and easy to work with, aluminum even more so.

[cold-steel-iron]

Great ideas Ill try the paper behind the diaphragm first and maybe last resort the bell foot restrictor. Thanks for all the suggestions