Solenoids,what's the difference?

[haventaclue]

Hi,I have a stupid question about solenoids.I have a beautiful Merc800 without the luxury of power tilt.But I do have access to a couple of trim solenoids,don't ask .I also have a not so beautiful Yamaha 85 AET of '81 vintage which does have PTT,but no solenoids.Previous owner had hard wired with standard domestic cable.I was considering using the merc solenoids.Yes? No?
I also noticed different part #'s for different motors.Is it just the bolt up pattern that is different or is there a specific difference in the internal construction? Considering that I thought that a solenoid is,basically, a switch

 

[joe5701]

I think what your refering to are relays. A solenoid for a trim motor basically uses a small current to activate a magnet to create contact on a larger current. A relay on a power trim setup switches the current between differant places. eg on a trim relay there is a main power supply that on its own transfers power to the normally closed circuit when you give the small solenoid inside the relay power it switches main power supply to another circuit (normally open), There are many other types of relays but i think they are the ones you are looking at. I'm no electrician thats just my understanding of them, Hope this helps correct me if I'm wrong.
Joe

 

[joe5701]

so yes those spare merc relays you have should be ok to use on the yamaha.

 

[haventaclue]

Thanks joe5701,that's what I was thinking.I have a good working knowledge of electrics, trial and error.But due to the down turn in the economy,I can't afford those kind o' errors