Thanks for the help on the starter contactor.  The essence of the question was whether the continuous duty relay was appropriately rated for use as a starter contactor, and the answer was clearly "no".  This has been supported by a discussion of the current ratings, an explanation as to why the intermittent duty relay is rated to a higher level than the continuous duty relay, and first-hand experience "relayed" by someone who unsuccessfully did what I was suggesting. 

 

Rarely do I find such a unanimity of opinion on this list.  Thanks greatly.

 

Oh, and I especially appreciate the link from Greyhawk to the pre-wired stuff from B&C.  I'll probably just buy those and use my "current" ones, which don't have suppression diodes installed, as spares.  (I'll also have to surf the B&C web site and see what other goodies they have, now that I'm in the wiring mode...)

 

- Rob Wolf

LNC2

(Wiring up the engine and instruments for a first engine start this spring/summer/whatever)