solenoid issue

[ryan h1]

i have a 96 coachman and i couldnt get the power to the chasis. when i tried to turn on the power by the battery disconnect switch all it would do is click. i narrowed it down to the intellitec solenoid. i got a standard ford starter solenoid from my local parts store but it doesnt have the relay on. my question is what purpose does the relay serve and can it function properly without,as long as all wires are properly connected?

 

[Ned]

A starter relay is designed for a very short duty cycle while the Intellitec relay is made for continuous duty.  They are not interchangeable.

 

[ryan h1]

thank you for your help

 

[John From Detroit]

Another concern, the ford Starter solenoid is only "On" when power is applied to the coil, it will burn out in just a few mintues.

They make continous duty versions (look the same but the coil is different) but the Intelletec is something else stil.

It is a LATCHING (Magnetic latch) type. The coil is enegerized ONLY when changing state, a magnet holds it either ON or OFF.  You may need to replace with same make model.

Until then....

Get one of those blade switches.. Using heavy wire (Starter cable?) hook two leads, one each, to the two LARGE terminals on that intelletec solenoid, run them to the manual switch.  Operation is obvious,, Or a roatery (Perko Marine type) switch will work too.,

 

[Old Bounder]

i have a 96 coachman and i couldnt get the power to the chasis. when i tried to turn on the power by the battery disconnect switch all it would do is click. i narrowed it down to the intellitec solenoid. i got a standard ford starter solenoid from my local parts store but it doesnt have the relay on. my question is what purpose does the relay serve and can it function properly without,as long as all wires are properly connected?

Ryan, both the Intellitec disconnect solenoid and Ford starter solenoid, are relays.  The solenoid is simply the mechanism used to move the relay electrical contacts.  The Fore solenoid/relay that you purchased will not operate correctly in your application because, as John mentioned, it will not latch in the correctly in the ON or OFF condition.  The Intellitec solenoid/relay is designed to require a reversing electrical current to turn it ON and OFF.l

To further determine that the Intellitec disconnect relay is your only problem, you can:

• simply remove the two small wires from the small terminals and tape them up to prevent shorting.
• Remove one of the two large wires (cables) from the it's large terminals and move it to the other large terminal with the existing cable on it.

The system should now operate as though the disconnect switch was in the USE position.