What causes Spikes and Transients?
A. Very high voltages, both positive and negative voltages, are generated whenever a magnetic field collapses around in inductor. That’s the technical explanation. But what does it mean? Let’s take engine starting as an example, although the same thing happens with lots of other things on your boat. When you press the ‘start’ button to start the engine, what happens? First, the start button activates a ‘solenoid’. The ‘solenoid’ is an electrical relay that can safely handle the large amount of current needed to start the engine. The activated ‘solenoid’ sends current rushing into the starter motor. The starter motor begins to spin the engine and causes it to spring to life. But, we are not interested in the engine itself, but rather the starter and its solenoid. Because the starter motor must work hard to spin the engine, it requires a large amount of power from the battery. This builds up a very large magnetic field. When you let go of the starter switch, this magnetic field has to go
