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RelayTutorial|kentronix

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RelayTutorial
31MAR
OfthemanycomponentsIhaveencountered,IcansaythatRELAYswerethemostexciting,
breathtaking,andfunexperience.IfyouarenowinthestageoflearningthiscomponentIwould
liketoadvicethatyoumustbeextracarefulbecauseinthiscomponent,youaredealingwithyour
mainoutletsupply,thatis,the220vsource.

Arelayworksthesameasthetransistorsdo.Byusingasmallercurrent,youcontrolalarger
current.Transistorscontrollowcurrents(usuallyinmilliamps)andisusuallyinDC.Relaysonthe
otherhand,cancontrolcurrentsintheACrangebyusingDC.BycontrolImeanswitchingitON
andOFF.

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OnetypeofexampleIhavehereismyElectronicCardKeySwitch(http://e
kendro.com/2010/12/15/electroniccardkeyswitch/)project.Youcanclickthelinkforyoutosee
whatitlookslike.Theschematic,wheretherelayisplacedisshownonthatpagealso.Bythat
example,wecannoticethatwewereabletocontrolanACbulbbyusingaDCvoltagefromthe
LDR.

ThatshowRelayscometowork.

So,howtousearelay?

Analogy:

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Hereishowweviewittobesimple.Ifavoltageispresentonthecontrolpinsoftherelay,thenthe
relayisturnedon.TheACswitchisnowmovedtotheotherandcompletestheAClooptherefore
turningonanydevice.

Step1:Firststepyoushoulddoistoknowhowmuchpoweryourloadisconsuming.TheAClamp
onthecardswitchisrated20Watts.Howmuchpowerdoesyourloadrequire?

Step2:Knowthecapacityoftherelay.ExaminetheRELAYsspecification.Forexampleinthe
picturebelow,theRELAYisrated2.4kWmultiplythecurrentandthevoltagethenyougettheP
forPOWER.Inthiscase,P=VxI=240vx10A=2400W,thatstheamountofpowertherelaycan
handle.Theotherspecslikeshowsthesame.ItmayvaryifyouarecontrollingDCliketheone
statedonthebottom.

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Step3:Pins.BasicRELAYsareinSPDTtype.SPDTorSinglePoleDoubleThrowisakindofswitch
thathastwoends>

DPDT

.TherearealsoSPST

(SinglePoleSingleThrow)or

(DoubleThrowDoubleThrow)typesofrelay.

AnSPDTRelayconsistsof5pins:2pinsforCONTROLand3PinsfortheSWITCHING.A
diagramisshownbelowillustratingtheNO(NormallyOpened)SwitchorNC(NormallyClosed)
Switch.

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WhentheRELAYisturnedon,theNCpinOpensandtheNOpinCloses.Soifyouwanttoturnon
thebulbwiththepresenceofacontrolvoltage,thenconnectittotheNOterminal.Ifyouwantto
turnoffthebulbwhenthecontrolvoltageispresent,thenconnectittotheNCterminal.Easy!

BelowisapictureonconnectingtherelaytotheNOterminalmeaningthebulbturnsonifcontrol
voltageispresent.

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Note:NotallrelaysNCandNOterminalsarelocatedasshownabove,Isuggestyoushouldtest
itscontinuityfirstifitsconnectedwithoutthepresenceofcontrolvoltage,thenitsNC.VeryEasy!

Step4:Knowthecontrolvoltage.Knowthecontrolvoltageofyourrelay.Ifthespecsshowsa6V
thenyourVCCmustbeequalto6volts,maybehigherorlower,butnottoomuch.Sameconcept
goesfor12V,24Vandsoon.

Step5:Useatransistor.Ifyouarecontrollingtherelayusinglowvoltages,useatransistor.For
example,connectingthepinofamicrocontrollertoarelayof12Vcontrolvoltagewontdoanything
totherelay,becausethemicrocontrollerslogichighoutputisonly5volts.Incaseslikethese,use
atransistor.

Belowisasimpledrivercircuitfromamicrocontrollertorelayusingtransistor.

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Thefollowingvaluesmustbedetermined:Icollector,Ibase,Rbase.

ThestepsondeterminingthesevaluesareexactlythesametothestepsondeterminingtheDC
MotorDriver(http://ekendro.com/2011/03/22/howtodriveamotorusingmcu/)Circuit.Kindly
viewthetopicbysimplyclickingthelink.

Note:Neverforgettheflywheeldiode,itprotectsyourtransistorfrombackemfstherelaydraws.Also,the
ControlPinsdoesnthaveanypolarity,youcanjoltthemanypositionyouwant.

OnceyouhaveitallsolvedandconnectedthenIguessyouarereadytoturniton.Justbevery
carefultonotSHORTtheACLinesbecauseItellyouBOOM!

DuringmyfirsttryonusingarelayIwasdrownedwithnervousnessandexcitementbecauseit
washonestlymyfirsttimemessingupwith220volts!Butthenwhenthe220vfluorescentbulb
turnedon,Ifeltcompletelyfulfilledandsatisfied.Iknowforsureyouwillfeelthesamewaytoo.
Goodluckandhavefun

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2Comments
Postedbyk3ndroonMarch31,2011inTutorials
Tags:ekendro,ekendro.com,ken,kendrick,relay,villaruel

2responsestoRelayTutorial
k3ndro
July10,2011at7:18pm
Relaysdoesnthavepolarities!!
Reply
vipul
October27,2012at4:19pm
sir,pleasetellthat,howidoconnectVCC&GD
Reply

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