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solenoid question
By Goose, Section Mechanical Posted on Mon Oct 31, 2005 at 03:42:29 AM MST
rewind my solenoid?

I want to remove the coil in a ford solenoid and rewind it for 120VAC. Can somebody tell me what size wire to use and how do I figure out the number of wraps?

solenoid question | 7 comments (7 topical)

Re: solenoid question (3.00 / 0) (#1)
by TomW on Sun Oct 30, 2005 at 09:22:03 PM MST

Goose;

Seems much more practical to just figure out what size limiting resistance to drop the 120 volts to 12 volts at the necessary current than rewind the solenoid.

Maybe you could elaborate on what you are actually trying to do and how it relates to R.E. and this board?

It is getting so that all manner of totally unrelated questions get posted here simply because the folks can answer them. But thats another rant.

Re: solenoid question (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by ghurd on Sun Oct 30, 2005 at 10:54:02 PM MST

It would be far easier, and probably cheaper and more reliable, to use a 120VAC relay coil.
If nothing else, use a 120VAC coil to control a 12VDC Ford coil.
G-
Ghurd.info

Re: solenoid question (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by Flux on Mon Oct 31, 2005 at 12:38:30 AM MST

A solenoid designed for dc probably won't work properly on ac. It will not be laminated and will have no shading bands. On ac it will probably rattle and get hot.

As a rough starting point to wind for 120v dc use 10 times as many turns of 1/10 cross sectional area. You will need to feed it from a rectifier and remember that it will be very short time rated. For continuous use you will need a series resistor and a pair of economy contacts to insert the resistor when it has operated.

As ghurd said, it would be far better to find something designed for 120v ac.

Flux

[ Parent ]

Re: solenoid question (3.00 / 0) (#5)
by Goose on Mon Oct 31, 2005 at 06:37:04 PM MST

Thanks Flux,

The first time I posted this question, it got removed. This time was the second time I posted it, and somebody removed part of the question. (I told exactly what I was going to try and do). I figured any kind of rewinding question would be related and be a part of learning. I quess the moderators dont' agree.

Maybe somebody can tell me if there is a message board I can go to where I can ask questions that don't directly relate to RE? I have been living on this board for the last month and you just start to trust certain peoples opinions. But everytime I think about posting a message I feel like I am a little kid again and I am going to get yelled at. Some of the people on this board are very rude to people telling them to do a search. Sometimes a search is very time consuming.

As for the solenoid, I would like to use the real thing, something like a motor switch, or magnetic contactor, I'm not sure the correct term. But they are very expensive for the higher amp ratings. I was just trying to figure out a way to make one that I can afford. I will try to find something else. Thanks

Goose
[ Parent ]

Re: solenoid question (3.00 / 0) (#6)
by Lurker 417 on Mon Oct 31, 2005 at 07:07:22 PM MST

Well, Goose, you spelled solenoid correctly. Several times, in fact. That's worth 150 points at least, in my book.

I agree about the attitude that shows up here so often. Sometimes it seems like it depends on who is on duty, or what mood that particular moderator is in. If somebody wants to answer your question, I can't see a good reason not to let them. I found it interesting, and at least as relevent to the purpose of this board as a lot of other things that no one gets yelled at for posting. I have tried searching the board, and even going to Google to search it can be very frustrating.

It's kind of like when I was a kid, and I'd go to the car wash with my father. He would send me over to the gas station across the street with some dollar bills, to get quarters. There were no change machines at car washes in them days. The old guy at the station was really testy about providing change for the car wash. It really ticked him off. Well, he finally retired, and the new owner just made sure he kept plenty of quarters on hand. No bid deal, he'd say. My parents even started buying gas there again.

[ Parent ]

Re: solenoid question (3.00 / 0) (#7)
by Bruce S on Fri Nov 25, 2005 at 11:15:51 AM MST

Goose and Lurker;
If the moderator's don't mind; I would like to take a little time on this subject.
I'm not a moderator of Admin of this board, but do understand if they chose not to allow something on their forums.
I can also say that their have been times when I've been short/rude on the forums, even went so fat as to apologize once.
It's not that people are rude personally or anything like that.
The problems come from seeing questions pop up that are in the wrong place or not enough information is given to give a trustworthy/reliable answer.
Lately there's been a huge influx of that on this board and the people looking for the short answer are usually the ones doing the loudest complaining.

The Admin and moderators do not to the best of my knowledge get paid for being here.
And the people taking the time to answer questions are doing it out of their own time and lessons learned, which is what makes this one of the best known boards across the world. Just take a gander at where some are hailing from.

Long before I put anything on this forum, I spent well over a year reading the past posts making sure that I had either something to contribute or could ask a question that I truly couldn't find an answer for.

There are individuals on this board who are still in school ( which includes my 14 year old daughter) who do take the time to deeply research the board looking for answers before putting up questions.

What flips my trigger is when I can plainly see that someone did not take the time to do a complete search.
Sometimes it even takes asking the question the right way to find what you're looking for.

If you see that you're post got removed or moved to the right section then don't take ofence at the board you can email the Admin and ask why, they do answer.
There have been times when I've type for 30mins only to see the whole thing disappear, this is not the moderator or Admins fault but merely the nature of the 'net. I now type mine up in word before posting them, make life easier and spell check helps me look like I can type.

Hope this helps in some of the understanding as to why tempers can get short at times.

BTW: if you were to google this board you would find that Tom, G- , Norm, Zubbly, electro-, Ed, and a host of other are more than willing to help any time. But even they have limits.

Bruce S
Note to Admin:
I know this may need to be put in the rants area, but I figured this was a good place to start.BWS

[ Parent ]

Re: solenoid question (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by Opera House on Mon Oct 31, 2005 at 06:12:20 AM MST

How about just using a transformer to 12V and rectifyong it? There is one problem that no one has mentioned. This solenoid is momentary duty and the coil would likely overheat if used continuously. The solution would be to have a very large electrolytic in parallel with a resistor. This would all be in series with the coil. Hold current is in the order of 1/4 the pull in current. No need to waste all that energy! There are also neat PWM coil driver ICs that do this. I have taken these Ford solenoids apart. You can not drive them with AC.

solenoid question | 7 comments (7 topical)

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