Howdy all,
Glad I found this forum. I am an EE and befuddled a bit. I have a brand new UTV that has the battery in the back of the machine. So I ran a main to the front from the battery to a solenoid that is triggered by the KEY. The 4awg goes from battery to 100a thermal, to solenoid, to fuse block, then to the devices.
I was using a 150amp continuous (generic) duty solenoid with 12v trigger 4 post. I am very OCD wiring and everything is soldered and ground very well. I have a few LED light bars connected to the fuse panel only. BUT this problem is happening when there is zero draw (all lights are off). I came back from maiden voyage and checked all my wiring and the solenoid was a metal housing one...and was very hot to touch...hotter than what I thought was normal. I know that the 12v generates heat due to keeping the circuit closed...so warm is ok...hot is not. I figured I had a bad solenoid or a real cheap one!
So I purchased a new one (The White-Rodgers 120-105711 12V DC Solenoid features SPNO terminal, and continuous duty cycling with contact rating of 100 Amps and an inrush of 400 Amps. Temperature range: -20 degrees to +120 degrees F. Water resistant and dust resistant. Coil resistance 16 ohms.)
This one is 100amp continuous too and very well made. I wired it all up and and made sure all was good. I took the fam for a ride and came back, it was hot to the touch! I did not have any draw or the lights on! I got my temp gun and shot it...it was showing 145f on the gun down low by the double small posts that take 12v to close the circuit when the key is on.
I did not have any draw on the solenoid! I just took out the volt meter and tested the voltage across the solenoid that triggers it from the key switch and it was 14.3volts. This solenoid is 12v...could the extra 2v being causing all the heat? I am wired to the T and testing this will all hooked up but nothing on accessory wise to make the solenoid heat up like this. Is this normal? The specs say 120f max?
Long winded but I like to show the whole picture because I have tried all I know from years of wiring.
Thank you for the help!
Steve
Glad I found this forum. I am an EE and befuddled a bit. I have a brand new UTV that has the battery in the back of the machine. So I ran a main to the front from the battery to a solenoid that is triggered by the KEY. The 4awg goes from battery to 100a thermal, to solenoid, to fuse block, then to the devices.
I was using a 150amp continuous (generic) duty solenoid with 12v trigger 4 post. I am very OCD wiring and everything is soldered and ground very well. I have a few LED light bars connected to the fuse panel only. BUT this problem is happening when there is zero draw (all lights are off). I came back from maiden voyage and checked all my wiring and the solenoid was a metal housing one...and was very hot to touch...hotter than what I thought was normal. I know that the 12v generates heat due to keeping the circuit closed...so warm is ok...hot is not. I figured I had a bad solenoid or a real cheap one!
So I purchased a new one (The White-Rodgers 120-105711 12V DC Solenoid features SPNO terminal, and continuous duty cycling with contact rating of 100 Amps and an inrush of 400 Amps. Temperature range: -20 degrees to +120 degrees F. Water resistant and dust resistant. Coil resistance 16 ohms.)
This one is 100amp continuous too and very well made. I wired it all up and and made sure all was good. I took the fam for a ride and came back, it was hot to the touch! I did not have any draw or the lights on! I got my temp gun and shot it...it was showing 145f on the gun down low by the double small posts that take 12v to close the circuit when the key is on.
I did not have any draw on the solenoid! I just took out the volt meter and tested the voltage across the solenoid that triggers it from the key switch and it was 14.3volts. This solenoid is 12v...could the extra 2v being causing all the heat? I am wired to the T and testing this will all hooked up but nothing on accessory wise to make the solenoid heat up like this. Is this normal? The specs say 120f max?
Long winded but I like to show the whole picture because I have tried all I know from years of wiring.
Thank you for the help!
Steve