Tell Me All About Relays

In recent news, TE Connectivity, a global manufacturer that specializes in making products for harsh environment, came out with their newest relay product design. This relay is built to their company standards with an outer-covering that manages harsh lamp and motor loads.

Relays are switches that close and open electronically or electromechanically. Relays are managed when an electrical circuit opens and closes by the contact of another circuit. Relays are used when there is a need to manage a low-powered signal or only one signal. For example, relays were used for early computers and telephones. If you need something that requires higher power like electric motors, you will want to investigate getting a contactor instead of a relay.

These new relays were created for marine, defense, and aerospace applications. As a result, they were built for tough power switching and can handle large loads with a restrictive 35A/28Vdc load rate.

The TE Connectivity’s CII FC-335 series relays were created to meet MIL-PRF-6106 military standards. This means relays with this specification have the environmental and electrical requirements to be mounted on the structure of a missile, ship, aircraft, and other vehicles, directly. These requirements are needed to be able to use guidance and navigation systems, ground support equipment, power distribution, weapons systems, and fuel pumps.

Since relays both have a bundle across two contract pairs, they are made with double built contacts. This allows the relays a stable performance as well as less wear and tear.

Fun Facts:

• Solder-sealed relays are said to be less stable than all-welded construction.
• You can get these relays in terminal block configurations, 28Vdc coil configurations, solder hook configurations, and 115Vac coil configurations.
• Relay Coils need a lot less current than most accessories.
• A relay can act as multiple switches. That way you can deal with the complications of all the wiring where the relay is at instead of the having to deal with those devices from their specific locations.
• Certain relays can be used to deal with radio frequencies, which makes the relay a form of an amplifier.