And another. Stripping apart the quad start relay

I remember when solenoids had a little rubber cap on the bottom you could press in to actuate them manually - no screw-driver required.. I got one of the silver sealed solenoids off ebay last year to use in my spot-welder project (uses a 12V lead-acid battery, copper rods, boy-racer speaker cable and a 555 timer). It's handy for making up 18650 battery packs.

Gordo

Yes my thinking was a normal kettle capable of boiling just over a cup full 8f needed. That would soft finish. I.e heat up quickly but slow as it reaches say 80 to 95°C and switch off without turning a lot of power into steam. A constant water boiler (I have a baby Belco in my shed.) Uses a lot of power all the time. :) Love your videos. Keep smiling keep safe.

The plunger oushes the contacts open in its relaxed state. The spring behind the contacts closes them when the coil is activated and the plunger retracts.

Big Clive

What, no sand? I'm a little disappointed.

Michael Thompson

Surprising ! Yep stabbing hands is an ‘occupational hazard’ doing things like that

RDM

"Gloves would have been helpful"... uh huh... Also it's getting to the time of year where the air dries your (and my) skin out... gloves will do lots of good things 😁

Ryan Coleman

Or, you could just buy a kettle with variable temperature setting. Mine has settings for 95C to 40C in 5 degree increments. Using 95 gets it just close to boiling without wasting energy.

AlfaGuy

It looks like the spring action closes the contact rather than holding it open. Is there a small permanent magnet at the top that holds the contacts open? Was that what was holding the assembly in the steel shell when you were pulling it out? If that's the way it works, the coil would be to cancel the effect of the permanent magnet and allow the spring to close the relay.

Dave Davies

I have had an idea for a project that might be fun? Turning water into steam is very expensive energy wise. If I boil my kettle a few times but do not use the water the level drops considerably. Indicating a lot of power loss through too much heat being apploed before the bimetal strip they all use clicks off the power. My suggestion is a device that sits between the plug socket and the kettle socket. As the temperature approaches boiling point is backs off the power (SCR and temp sensor placed on the kettle) so it slows down the power being supplied to stop the over boiling of the water. It may need to have a lock out if the kettle dose not click off. Ideally this should be built into the kettles these days. It would repay the extra cost in a few months by reducing the power used. Just food for thought?

I am disappointed there is no Chinese sand!

Lostngone

Not at all what I had expected either! I believe you are right about the reverse construction being to band stuck contacts apart! I have had a starter solenoid weld shut on a vehicle in the past and the destruction was devastating.

HarveyB