building and working with electronics question? ohms and resistor?

Question

Im building thise race track thing and there is a relay circuit. what it is when the light turns green it also triggers a relay to a release cylinode ( electric motor) which in turn lets the cars go. ANy way the problem is the motor draws to much current and the rely for the light sequence stays suck rather than returning to the stop red. So if I piinch the bare wire with my had it causes some resitance (queston 1 : how do i mesure the amount of resistance im giving). this pinch allows the relay to set, as well as it resets fine with out the motor. Question 2: Ive got a 9-18volt dc motor 1.98 A max , Im powering it with a 1 second burst of a 5vdc load,
how many ohm resitor should I use?

Answer 1

The easier way to solve this problem might be to install a rather large electrolytic capacitor in the unswitched power circuit near the solenoid (not cylinode) to provide additional current flow when the circuit initially triggers.

Also, make certain that your solenoid and relay coil both have snubber diodes connected across them in reverse polarity to the power supply in order to dissipate the reverse voltage spike which is generated when the power to the solenoid or relay coil is removed. This spike can interfere with logic circuit operation and even destroy circuit components.

WK