Relays – Electronic Parts Sourcing

Relays are essentially electrically operated switches. They consist of a coil of wire that is wrapped around an iron core, generating a magnetic field when an electrical current passes through it. Although other methods are sometimes used, a majority of the time relays use an electromagnet to operate a switching mechanism mechanically. Relays are used in scenarios where a circuit or several circuits need to be controlled by one signal. There are many types of relays that are used in slightly different applications. These include latching, reed, mercury-wetted, mercury, polarized, machine tool, coaxial, contactor, solid state, buchholz, forced-guided contacts, and overload protection relays. However, the overall general idea is that they protect electrical circuits from overload or faults.