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Art In Mobile

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Joined
Jan 5, 2009
Posts
372
Yes my battery combination solenoid is not working. I replaced it, and added this West Marine boat windlass switch (see photo) rated at 500 amp for 10 seconds & 100 amp continuous for 24.99 & some wire & terminals which I soldered on between the plus battery terminals. It would be a great emergency jumper when you are traveling & don?t want to change the solenoid. I also replaced the battery combination solenoid & put an inline  dropping resistor. The only problem I can see is if I forget to turn off the switch I may run down the chassis battery. This should keep the pitting off the solenoid as the switch contacts spark first. Another thing that can be done with the switch contacts as they pit or film is I can rotate the switch key by hand to help clean the contacts. I had previously  mounted this switch to disconnect the inverter which for some reason on my Voyage was always drawing power to pull down a relay I could here click every time I hooked it up. Now I must make another 7/8 hole (the hardest part) for the inverter. Art
 

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Art, I try hard not to respond to threads on the Winnebago-Specific board, but couldn't resist a comment (query?) on this one.

IIRC, the solenoid in question is also your aux start path.  You correctly stated the current ratings of the switch, but I doubt that you used wire of a size sufficient to handle starter current if ever needed.  The switch will no doubt handle your charging requirements, but could be problematic in other cases. 
 
Very good point Lou.
In the photo below you can see I used two #8 strand marine wires soldered  into a 3/8 terminal on each end. (I had the # 8 lying around so I doubled it as I am cheap!)  Mine is a gasser & I have already had to start it thru this path. Wire didn't even get warm. The nice thing about the West Marine switch is that if you do have a diesel it has 3/8 studs so you can use a heavy wire. Thanks for reminding anyone who may also try this. Art
 

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