I am seeing the voltage drop on the voltmeter at the instrument panel at the back of the cockpit. My solenoid looks really shiny so I figured it is probably pretty new... but maybe it's a dud?
My engine starts reliably right now so I'm wondering if the voltage drop is "normal". Still I think I'll hit up my aircraft mechanic friend to check the button and the downstream wiring. There were definitely several factors adding to it to reduce the reliability of the whole system. Removing some of them to keep the voltage hitting the solenoid above 10 volts seems to be the answer. However, I'm just wondering if I should see any voltage drop at all.
I'm used to keeping my batteries on the charger because my old ones were pretty bad. I will try keeping the charger off for a couple of weeks to see how it goes. In general, I am using the engine only a couple of minutes at a time to motor in and out on Wednesday nights. Of course I just used it a bunch this last week cruising in the Gulf Islands.
Lakesailor... what you are describing sounds very similar to what I was experiencing. Check all the connections in the ignition system right down to the connection at the solenoid and see where that gets you.
