Ever Wonder Why A Solenoid Dies

[Loneranger]

I had a solenoid stop working on my trim motor. It would click but would only intermittently make contact to start the motor. As you can see from the pictures the contact plates have a fair amount of corrosion on them.

The contact wires are broken in the above picture but they were making good contact before I dismantled the solenoid. I broke them off taking the thing apart and did not take pictures until after I had it in pieces.

Trust me they are not worth the effort to pry apart and clean the contacts although I do think I could get it working again.
John

 

[Skuza]

Hmmm. I guess if you were in a pinch thats a good thing to know. I always try to disassemble bad parts to try and see exactly why they went bad. Thanks!

 

[Loneranger]

Glad you liked them. I can now take a picture of an impeller with all but 2 vanes gone from my generator but that does not really have the mystery factor that a solenoid does.

John

 

[fc3]

Figured on contact arcing. Not surprised that the contacts aren't self-wiping. bastards.

 

[Loneranger]

Interesting, how does self wiping contacts work?

John

 

[William Miller]

Had a starter selenoid apart a few months ago. It was on an old corvette.
The arching was bad enough to weld the contacts together. The starter wouldn't stop turning. I took it apart to see what happened. I was able to easily clean up the two contacts (Ends of the bolts.) and flipped the copper washer over.

I don't think I'd do this on a boat. But as someone mentioned. It is nice to know that it is possible.