Solenoid or Relay

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
  #1  
Old 11-11-2006, 10:02 PM
John with beastly 302's Avatar
John with beastly 302
John with beastly 302 is offline
Senior User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Central Coast, California
Posts: 294
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Question Solenoid or Relay

Well this is the trouble. The fuse that protects the Blower circuit on my 91 F-250 started to melt the plastic around the fuse block and 30 amp fuse. I work at A diesel repair shop and one of my co workers advized me to just run a in line fuse because the reason the fuse had done that was because of a bad connection. So I did I found the wire that goes to the Blower switch and ran a hot wire from the hot side of the Starter solenoid. Wanting not to drain the battery down when the ignition switch was off I installed a starter solenoid and ran a control wire of another solenoid that conttrols power to a trailer battery.

The problem is that the solenoid gets hot.

Also How many amps should this particular blower motor pull?

Why in the first place would cause a fuse to melt the surounding plastic but not blow the fuse?

What would you guys recomend I do At this point?

Thanks
John

 
  #2  
Old 11-12-2006, 12:09 AM
Bdox's Avatar
Bdox
Bdox is offline
Fleet Owner

Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Posts: 28,609
Received 12 Likes on 11 Posts
I'd say your friend was most likely correct about the poor connection, and you have already made the right moves. As to the solenoid getting hot... what kind did you use? A certain amount of heat is normal. It is generated by the coil that closes the contacts, not by the current flow through the contacts. If it is always on with the key, it's bound to get hot. A smaller relay will draw less than a 'starter solenoid' that in it's usual application is a momentary contact switch rather than a "continuous duty" type of relay. If your blower is fused for 30amps, a thirty amp relay will suffice just as long as it is rated for continuous duty.
 
  #3  
Old 11-12-2006, 02:13 PM
Franklin2's Avatar
Franklin2
Franklin2 is online now
Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Virginia
Posts: 53,724
Likes: 0
Received 1,725 Likes on 1,395 Posts
Yes, ditch the solenoid that is not made for continuos duty, and go to walmart or the parts store and get a 30 amp bosch type foglamp relay to do the same thing as the solenoid you installed.
 
  #4  
Old 11-12-2006, 06:38 PM
Torque1st's Avatar
Torque1st
Torque1st is offline
Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
Likes: 0
Received 27 Likes on 27 Posts
There are continuous duty solenoid/relays that look like the old Ford starter solenoids and usually have a metal case but they are much more expensive than a simple Bosh relay.

The blower fuse went up in smoke on my 85 E150 when it was about 10 years old. It was a bad crimped connection on the wire. I don't like crimped connections, -have had way too many fail. It charred the fuse panel and melted some of the wires. Damn exciting when it smoked driving down the road and lucky I did not have a fire. I bought a HD blade fuse holder and epoxied it into the fuse panel. replaced and solder-spliced the wires needed, no crimps! I also used a blade type circuit breaker to replace the fuse. It is still working last time I checked although I have not driven that vehicle for a year.
 

Last edited by Torque1st; 11-12-2006 at 06:45 PM.




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:16 PM.