atec77 > wrote:
>On 2/11/2011 5:45 PM, Bernd Felsche wrote:
>> Something I don't know ... and can't seem to find out all that
>> easily.
>>
>> I'm trying to figure out the current draw by the starter solenoid,
>> (not the starter motor) at terminal 50.
>>
>> It's powered through the ignition switch in the Golf GTI but the 4mm
>> wiring has me baffled. That's too much current to go through a
>> little ignition switch if the wire is sized for current capacity.
>>
>> So I assume it's sized to avoid voltage drop, which leaves me none
>> the wiser regarding the current actually drawn by the starter
>> solenoid.
>Is it direct activation or relay switched ?

Direct. 4mm wire from the battery to the switch and all the way back
to the strater - via a couple of connections through the central
electrics backplane. Madness.

> usually a solenoid like that draws upwards of 8 or 10 amps possibly
>more in a foulcan , doesn't the solenoid have to drive the engagement
>mechanism?

It has to start. Once it gets going, the contacts of the solenoid
close and the tarter current runs a holding coil in parallel with
the one powered through the key switch.
--
/"\ Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning, Perth, Western Australia
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