Hi, I run a painless remote master disconnect. Basically a solinoid, with Battery and Alt wired to one side and the power to the car on the other. Pretty trick setup just flip a switch in the dash and the entire car is dead in case of emergency.

anyway my question is that the solonoid gets pretty hot...is that normal?
thanks

anyway my question is that the solonoid gets pretty hot...is that normal? thanksDefine hot?

If you can hold on to it for min of 2 seconds, its warm, its okay. Bath water is usually 108*F.
If you sear the skin in a microsecond, its hot!

The solenoid itself will get warm due to current being used to energize the coil to pull in the contacts.

I'd buy a second solenoid and throw it into the tool box for a ready replacement. Contacts do get carboned up creating a resistance when hot and would kill the electrical system.

I have three of these ( http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=pacpac200&store=&catid=7848 ) in my car and they do get warm. I have only had one fail and what I did was make the wires a tad long where they connect to the solenoid and should the part fail I can connect both wires to one stud until the part gets replaced or if I had to I could do this jumpering on the side of the road (keep a wrench in the car to loosen and tighten the nuts).
It is from the coil inside the relay creating most of the heat. Some heat will be from the other contact points.
Do not try and get cheap and replace it with a Ford starter solenoid (same function) as these are only made for intermittent use. I tried those before and they worked for about 1/2 hour being energized before the coil wire burnt up inside and it failed.
Jim