Blowing Relay's....

Any help would be great here...

I have fitted a relay and wiring for a pair of LR front spot ights - nothing unique just run of the mill stuff... the power comes from an auxullairy fuse box mounted in the knee space below the steering wheel where my other fuse boxes (the originals) are....

I turned the lights on - (LR Switches) and no problems - worked for about 3 minutes then stopped...

in the day time checked all the fuses - no problems - then tried the switch - relay not clicking - checked the voltages from the switch - all correct and at the input to the relay...

Seems like its a blown relay...

Its a 35amp 12v standard auto relay - pins 35 36 86 85 (??? or similar)...

Any help much appreciated... is it just a cheap relay or could it be something else...

Tony.

either a duff relay or the feed from terminal 87 to the lights is shorting out and burning the relay out, this shouldn't happen though as terminal 30 should be a fused live feed

sometimes on large loads they need to put a suppresor diode across the coils to protect them...
Also check the amount of current they pull possible they are pulling more then the 35 amp rating

I've had problems with cheap relays blowing or sticking on after a few months. I put it down to them not liking the amount of vibration they get on a deepender.

Treworgey 90 said:

I've had problems with cheap relays blowing or sticking on after a few months. I put it down to them not liking the amount of vibration they get on a deepender.

Click to expand...

I think the vibrations cause the contacts to chatter, leading to arcing and burn-out or welding together of the contacts.

Thanks foks.. I'll check the current they draw and replace the relay - there aren't any shorts - checked already...

What is a suppressing doide ? I have a radio shack here - will they sell them? how does it work?

Thanks, Tony.

Watts = Amps X Volts

2x130w lights = amps x 12 v

260/12= Amps

21.6 Amps

2 x130w driving lights should only draw 21.6 amps

got an ammeter?

Where I buy the Relays from sells them , unfortunately they have no numbers or specs on them (unsure about radio scrap)we use them on almost all we install (They are 20 cents) so cheap insurance to prevent troubles down the line ...