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Today I was watchin zip ties and bias plies and I saw him jump the solenoid with a ratchet bare handed
first I thought he was gonna shock himself but nah he also later used his leatherman to do the same thing
is this really possible? When I learned how to jump a solenoid I was told to use a screwdriver and never touch anything other than the handle
heres a pic
heres the video too
What's the difference between the ratchet and attaching the positive battery terminal? I prefer to use my Copenhagen can on the Ford solenoid as its always convenient.
sure it's possible.... but pretty stupid .. leaves nice Arc Marks on your tools and if it happens to be near a battery that is Out Gassing you could kiss yer but good bye...... Just saying...
Nah, not much of a shock... and if you're jumping the solenoid, not the battery, it won't even arc much.
You MIGHT get a tingle if you're still attached to the coil in the solenoid when current is interrupted
and the field in the coil collapses. Just a tingle, tho
Now, touch the negative terminal of a coil with the engine running,
thinking, 'ah, it's only 12 volts' and THAT will make a finger twitch!
12 volt auto batteries won't "shock" someone the way high voltage will. What it will do though, is instantly turn anything electrically conductive e.g. a wedding band or metal watch strap, into red hot molten metal. From all accounts this Sucks Really Bad.
Be careful around batteries, they are absolutely nothing to fool with, there is a tremendous amount of energy stored inside.
Zip ties and Bias Ply's is pretty entertaining. There is a surge of Ford pride every time he fires up that old Slave Lake truck. LMAO
Now, a lot of what he does is "hold my beer and watch this". There actually is a bit of science behind jumping the solenoid with bare metal tools and not getting shocked. Trick is to remain connected to the battery connection, not the coil connection, i.e. stay connected to the big post and lift off the small post. Reason is, the collapsing magnetic field will generate that spike in the coil of the solenoid when the circuit is broken. The battery is not affected.
I did the same quite a few times on my dad's '87 until we got the key switch working, though usually with a screwdriver. If the solenoid itself is good but your wiring/key switch/inhibitor isn't working right, you can jump from the battery cable connection to the control post (the one with the wire that pushes on). That'll engage the solenoid and make the starter go without the sparks and drama.
Fun fact about electricity: it will always follow the path of least resistance. So as long as that path isn't through you, you'll be fine. Probably won't even feel anything.
Last edited by BOvalF250; Jan 21, 2020 at 03:40 PM.
Reason: typo
2 ways to Jump it....... 1st off from Battery terminal to the S post ,,, IF the Coil in the Relay is Failed this won't work.... 2nd way across the 2 large Posts, you will get a larger EMF kick from the Starter solenoid than you get from the Relay coil.
this is why Remote starter switches are handy.... I guess in an emergency you do what ya gotta do.
Granted it's not likely 12 volts would hurt you under normal circumstances due to skin resistance being high and we all know Ohm's law (for sure we in the field do)
get that wrench across the battery terminals and This is what Happens........................................... .......
Fun fact about electricity: it will always follow the path of least resistance. So as long as that path isn't through you, you'll be fine. Probably won't even feel anything.
Bing, bing, bing...^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is the correct answer.
so it is possible huh, and when i talked about jumping the solenoid i meant the 2 big posts looks like i wont have to worry about getting shocked from it
You can shock yourself with 12v if you want but you'll need to use your tongue to feel it.Try sticking your tongue on the screw driver while jumping it next time.It's possible but not recommended.
