solenoid acting up

[Wayne Kotila]

Hi Shane: If you were talking about aDC motor, swapping the positive and ground would change the direction of the motor but this is a solenoid and it is either energized or it is not energized and like a light bulb, you can swap the two wires and the light bulb will still light, It is either on or off, there is no reverse. Thewater valve is normally closed to flow andthey usually use a spring in the valvethat holdsthe diaphragm closed, when you energize the solenoid it creates a strong magnetic field (and it will still energize the same if the wireswere reversed), this magnetismpulls an internal rod in the valve up and opens the diaphragm to allow the antifreeze to flow.So your Sporlan is either open or closed and if the solenoid isn't energized the Sporlan valve should be in it's normally closed position and not allow flow and ifitis allowing flow,then problem is with the Sporlan valve, not the solenoid. You can pull the solenoid off the Sporlan valve and see if you are getting hot antifreeze flow past the valve and if you are, after it cools downyou could just disassemble the valve, clean it and make shure any pinholes or passage aren't plugged and look for any problems, like a bad diaphragm or spring, (if applicable). My guess would be that it is just dirty. Did you check to seethat when yourfront heat switch on the dash is offthat there is no 12volt power at the solenoid on the Sporlan valve? If the switch was just put thru the dash hole backwards when youflipped the switchto offthe solenoidwould actually be on and when the switch is in the on position the solenoid would be off. Wayne 1985PT40 From: sfedeli3 <sfedeli3@...> To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 7:59:58 AM Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: solenoid acting up Hi Wayne, If the polarity is reversed on the Sporlan, will it force the rod closed, as opposed to opening it? I always thought that when you reversed the flow of electrons, the induction field reversed too- or does that only apply to AC? Shane Fedeli 85PT40 Hershey, PA --- In "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com", Wayne Kotila wrote: > > 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@ ...> > To: "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.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 >