Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): lawn chief solenoid issues, negative battery cable, battery cables

Question
I have a lawn chief 440 12.5 i/c39 it keeps burning up the solenoid. Do you know what may be causing this?

Answer
Pretty unusual to keep burning up solenoids.  The mower is quite old so I'd suspect bad battery cables could be the problem.  If the old cables have a lot of resistance then they could cause more current to pass through the solenoid heating it up.

How old is the battery?  Have you ever dis-connected all the large positive and negative battery cable connection with a wirebrush or sandpaper?

Do you have a volt meter to measure voltage drop across the cables?

Many times when electric components burn up due to heat the real problem was increased resistance in the circuit, which requires more current which creates more heat.  Pretty common in motorcycles as they have too small of wire in their circuits.  Changing to heavier or additional wire prevents many electrical components from failing, or at least prolongs their life.

Make sure the solenoid mounting connections are clean as well as the metal solenoid mount is the solenoid ground.

Let me know if you have a volt meter.

Eric