solenoid acting up

[GARY MINKER]

This is one of the best replies I have ever read Gary --- On Mon, 6/8/09, Wayne Kotila wrote: From: Wayne Kotila Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] solenoid acting up To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, June 8, 2009, 11:50 AM A solenoid is basically an electro magnet, when it is energized it creates a magnetic field that pulls up on the inner stem of the water valve and this opens the valve to allow the antifreeze to flow past the valve. when the solenoid is de-energized the inner stem (if the valve is clean and working properly) goes back to it's normal position which closes off the valve and stops the antifreeze from passing. If you have the winter/summer switch set to winter and your front heat switch set to heat and the chassis heat thermostat on and the temp lever up and the ignition on, your solenoids for the heat functions should be energized. You can test the solenoids a couple different ways, you may be able to feel the solenoid vibrate slightly or even make a slight hum ( some do and some don't ) or you can take a clamp style ampmeter and clamp it around the the 12 volt power wire to the solenoid and see if your getting an amp draw. There are 2 wires to the solenoid, a power and a neutral, you have to be on the power wire to get the reading and you have tohave the clamp around 1 wire only, if you have it around both wires you won't get an amp reading. Another way to see if it's working is to slidethe solenoid off the water valve stem it's mounted on and see if you can feel the magnetic pull as you slide it off and when you slide it back on you may even hear the water valve pull open. another way is If you have the solenoid valve off of the water valve stem and you put the metal end of a phillips screwdriver in the hole in the solenoid that slides down on the water valve stem, if the solenoid is working you will feel a strong magnetic pull on the screwdriver. Remember for any of these tests you have to have power to the solenoid and if you have the correct switch's on and the ignition on and you know that you have12 volt power at the solenoid then you will be able to determine if the solenoid works. Good Luck Wayne 1985PT40 From: Michael <michael3536@ gmail.com> To: WanderlodgeForum@ yahoogroups. com Sent: Sunday, June 7, 2009 8:34:50 PM Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] solenoid acting up How do you test a test solenoid? my A/T switch does not completely shut off the power to the dash I got out my meter and performed these tests; #1 found it had 3.8 to 4.5 volts still passing through the relay when switched off and went to "0" only when I activated another switch with a larger draw like the (mirror heat) The step extend switch just changes the tone of a low voltage chatter. #2 with load wire disconnected from the switch, it seemed to workconsistently, showing only .01 or.02 VDC on the meter. I'm not sure what that means or how I should really test it.... why would it work without a load? I've checked temperature of the relay when left on and gets up to 120+ degrees. Is that normal? I hate to lose all that energy to heat. Thanks for any help