Bruce wrote in
news
Re these 12 VDC continuous duty contractors available from the auto
parts with the capacity to carry starting amperage. Can you elaborate
a bit as I could sure use some of these to wire my power up/down
anchor winch.


You don't need continuous duty for anchor winch contactors. Any 12V
starter solenoid will work just fine. Last time I looked, Ford was still
using them on their cars...(c; That should make them really cheap.

The only difference between a 350A starting solenoid and a 350A
continuous-duty solenoid is how the coil is wound...and cooled. Both of
them will crank a diesel from the house batteries. The starting solenoid
will overheat after about 30-40 minutes of being "on". The continuous
duty coil is larger with better cooling, costs a little more to produce.

I'm using a 200A, continuous-duty solenoid to power the entire electronic
suite bus on Liohheart. It draws about 1/4A to power its coil, which is
left on for days at a time at sea. A red light over its power switch
lights up the cabin at night and reminds my captain to shut off the
electronics throughout Lionheart when he goes home. Only the emergency
VHF (an Icom M59) and the Icom M802 HF radio are separately wired. Push
the "electronics power knob" in and the boat shuts down, en masse. Works
great.

You won't overhead starter solenoid coils running the winches up and
down.....

Larry
--
While in Mexico, I didn't have to press 1 for Spanish.
While in Iran, I didn't have to press 1 for Farsi, either.
It just isn't fair.