Here are some items that may be useful for your mods.

I have been looking for a better way to terminate Bosch pattern SPDT automotive relays used in my mods. In the past, I have successfully used individual spade terminals on the relay pins but I've never felt that they were as secure as I would like them to be.

I recently found these relay sockets in a catalog from www.allelectronics.com
Many thanks to John Griggs for recommending this site!

They appear to be well made, they hold the relay securely and they are prewired with heavy gauge wire that should be sufficient for most automotive mods.



The first type accepts an individual SPDT relay. A slick feature is that these can be ganged together in groups as large as you need. There is a kind of tongue and groove arrangement that holds one socket to the next. I have ganged three together in the top of the photo to show how it works:





The second type holds two SPDT relays and cannot be ganged together. These are handy since a lot of mods in the How-to's use a pair of relays. The socket has a nice large flat area that is good for mounting the relay pack with double sided tape. There are also two Ford blower motor relays in the photo. I like these because they are a heavy duty OEM part designed to switch a 40A circuit and they are often less expensive than the off-brands at auto parts stores.



Part numbers:

Single Socket: SRLY-2 (www.allelectronics.com) $2.00 ea
Double Socket: SRLY-4 (www.allelectronics.com) $3.00 ea
Blower Relay: FOAZ-14N089-A (Ford dealer) $7.00 ea

 

honestly i had no clue about what you are talking about.

 

Woah... Very Cool, never thought about that. Obviously...

 

Many How-To's for doing popular Ranger mods use relays as logic changers or to switch high amperage circuits. Examples would be AutoLamps, EATC, Auxiliary Lighting and Electric Fan, to mention a few. These sockets make a neat and easy way to wire and mount the relays.

 

okay i get it, its like the little fuse i put in the line with my KCs just that these will handle much more right??

 

The relay allows you to use a low amp-rated dash switch to switch a high amperage circuit like your driving lights. Your KC's came with the relay and harness if you bought them new.

My post is about the relay sockets that make it easy to mount and wire relays you might need to do various mods that you would wire yourself.

 

you lost me again.



im a hands on type on guy. I do it once myself and its set in my brain for good.




and im tired.



EDIT:how come none of the really ingenious guys have AOL instant messenger?? everyone else does!!


you heard me bob and john, get AIM or i will...



do nothing

 

A little switch switches a bigger switch (the relay) to turn on the lights, so there is not a lot of power in the dash.

Those would have come in hady when i wired my lights, haha i was actually wondering if they made a socket like this..

 

AIM and cell phones - instruments of the underworld!

 

Along with the internet...

 

"It takes instruments to make music"

-someone smart





okay i said that, I just made it up but you should really get AOL instant messenger. the underworld is inevitable.

 

Amen! Unfortunately they somehow managed to slip a cell phone into my pocket when I wasn't looking, give me 15 email accounts which I can't remember the passwords for and one of those AIM things too..

Don't they make PCB mount sockets for most relays? I know we put pins in boards when I was designing them, but that's when we paid for spinning our own. I think they have through-hole mount sockets that you could use for wire wrapped boards too.

These don't look watertight or anything, what's the advantage? Do you wire them to harnesses directly or down to a circuit board?

Not that relays go bad that often anyhow, so hard wiring them in isn't that bad, is it?

 

These are standalone relay sockets for bosch pattern "automotive" relays like the one in your Ranger for the heater blower motor. I have seen PC-mount relay sockets but never for this type relay.

The advantage is that the relay mounts securely and you don't need to use a 1/4" spade terminal for each individual pin. The sockets are prewired so you make the connections away from the relay.

 

geez gil, i know a thing or 2 as well.

why do you think they keep me around? i used to just argue with john all the time over stuff.

bob i never argue with, he uses words that are too large for me

 

But do you have AIM?? That's the real question.

 

i do have AIM, and i know how to use it!!! a cell phone too. but im not so good with the cell phone. the buttons confuse me

 

That's why Gil likes you best.

 

haha, him and the rest of........ well..... just him i guess

 

i like those relay sockets though, esp the ones you can clip together, makes for a very clean install. do they have any kind of mounting tabs on them?

 

No, I am going to use double sided tape. The double socket model has a nice big flat area on one side - perfect for mounting with the tape.

 

I still don't get all this relay,fuse and switch stuff and what applications they are used for. I did some reading on the basics of all this but can't seem to put all of this together. Any suggestions besides getting some additional brain cells?

 

Fuse- a safety device that fails, usually by melting. It is a deliberate 'weak link' to protect a circuit by limiting its maximum current flow.

Switch - a device to complete or open a circuit, like a wall switch in a house.

Relay- an electromagnetic switch that allows you switch one circuit or circuit segment by controlling the current flow through another circuit. One common type of automotive relay is a single pole/double throw (SPDT) like the picture below. The numbers in the diagram are just arbitrary pin numbers and they don't have any electrical meaning. Applying sufficient voltage across the relay's coil (pins 85 and 86), will make or break continuity at the relay's switch contacts.


Zero volts across 85,86 => continuity from 30 to 87A.
12v across 85,86 => continuity from 30 to 87



There are many applications for relays: http://www.the12volt.com/relays/relays.asp

 

I guess it's really the relay part I'm confused on. It's just not clicking in my brain. All my electronics knowledge is VERY old school.

 

Let me give it a shot.

A relay is like a electromagnetic switch that allows a small amp circuit to control a larger one.

Example from my truck: I wanted my large off-road lights to come on with my high beams. But, I didn't want the lights to sap power off my high beam circuit and dim my highbeams. I also wanted the offroad lights to have their own seperate circuit to the battery. Soo.. I have a relay that is activated by the highbeam circuit, and it "turns on " the seperate circuit for my off-road lights. The relay draws very little power, so the highbeam circuit isn't effected by it.

In Bob's example, #85 & #85 is the circuit that activates the relay. A small voltage across that circuit will cause a magnetic field to close the circuit between #30 and #87, thus making power flow. At rest (without voltage), the circuit between #30 and #87A is made. This means you can use the relay to either send power down #87 or #87A. Think of the power as river, and the relay allows you to divert it by remote control.

 

BTW, parts express is also a good place to find electronic goodies

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=330-075

Here's some goodies you can do with relays:

http://www.partsexpress.com/resources/relays.html

A cool ideal that I thought up while looking at those would be an interesting anti-theft device. One relay point goes to the radio auto antenna lead and activates the relay, while the other contols the ignition circuit. That way, the truck won't start without the radio on. If you have a headunit with removeable faceplate; it means no way to start the truck. Kinda a useless idea, but my mind works that way.