wonder magnet .com question

[artv]

hello everybody I have a question about your magnet motor experiment .In the exp. you power the solenoid on and off to attract to the mags .My problem is I used an old solenoid off a gm car starter and my wires from battery burned up plus windings on solenoid got very hot ,is there any way to prevent this over heating...........thnx for your time

[ghurd]

Add more resistance. 
A power resistor to limit the current in series with the solenoid, possibly a 5 ohm 50W.
G-

[artv]

hi ghurd thanx for the reply .but I thought resistance was the cause of heat I'm trying to reduce it.I should let you know  that I'm using a car battery for supply may be this is the problem

[ghurd]

Power (heat) is I^2R= watts.

Increasing the resistance reduces the amps, which reduces the heat.

The coil has low resistance, so the current is very high.

Check out Ohm's Law, and Watt's Law.  That's the 1st place to start for everything.
G-

[artv]

thanx ghurd been looking over my old school books does that old ryhme stil stand for colour coding resistors can't remember how it goes but can I salvage parts from old equipment ..........what is a 5 ohm 50watt resistor look like......"bad boys something good girls"

[ghurd]

What gives?  Violet.

There are many 'looks' of resistors, but it will be a lot larger than your thumb.
A 25W will be about the size of your thumb.

[artv]

thanx ........I'll tear into some of my treasures' see what I can come up with .....any suggestions as to what types of old electronic equip. have valuable components ...........I have micro-wave transformers lots of wire caps, resistors,and transistors alll seem small