Wiring Up a Relay

I have been learning about wiring up electronics lately, and it was mentioned to use a relay. Since I had never wired up a relay before, I decided to give it my best shot.

Can anyone tell me if this is correct or not? (The relay wiring diagram doesn't exist, but they are labelled in the picture below)



Below is the wiring diagram for the switch:

 

Really going to need to have more information. Relays are not all identical, so knowing which terminal is which would be VERY important. For example I have 2 relays that I use to replace turn signal flashers for use with LED lights. They both LOOK identical, but are internally wired differently. Plug in the wrong relay, and nothing will happen. Could you give a better picture of the relay itself, and any identifying marks near the terminals?

 

I can give you the numbers on the terminals if that would help. Each one was labelled on the package as I have labelled them on the picture.

Also, I am running it to a CB radio. It all works fine without a relay in the mix. And I haven't tried it with the relay yet.

 

How is this? I just made it.

I have no idea what to do with the "source power" terminal on the switch. I feel like connecting it to the battery would defeat the purpose of the relay, but I don't really know. EDIT: Connect it and use a low amp fuse.

EDIT: Updated; Now correct:

 

OK, the "source" power is what you will use to switch on the relay. Since it is simply energizing a relay you can use a low-current application. The only way the switch will operate the relay is if you have a source voltage to the switch.

Your wiring above however is incorrect. The switch's "LED Negative" terminal should go to ground. That terminal is simply used to ground the light on the switch. It serves no direct purpose in control of the relay. You have most of the other terminal connections correct. It should look like this switch below.



This is of course for a lighting system, but it can be used for any application of a relay. If you look at the "Switch" connections, it would be like yours where "Supply" would be your "source", "Earth" would be your "LED ground" and "Load" would be to the relay. Pay CAREFUL attention to how things connect to the specific terminals of the relay. Terminals 85 and 86 will ALWAYS be relay control. The switch however can be used on either the ground side, or the power side of the relay. Different applications can be used, but keeping it as shown above will simplify things. Terminal 30 will go to your higher current, fused battery supply, and terminal 87 is for whatever you are going to power with the relay. (It can be lights, an electric motor, compressor, whatever you are wanting to control with the relay.

 

First of all, do yourself a favor and use different color wires. It makes any repair work down the road 100x easier. Now, the only way you can tell which wire does what is to follow them all back.

Second, I think I'm reading your diagram differently than BamaToy so, based on how I'm reading it, I would say it will work. 85, Switch negative and accessory negative need to go to ground, which I think is what your diagram is trying to show.

 

Awesome, thanks for the info.

I should have somehow shown that the LED neg, relay ground, and accessory neg were all grounded to the same ground point.

Also, I couldn't see your image, but I updated the diagram above based on your feedback.

 

For a simple wiring diagram, I believe the way you drew it was correct. In a wiring diagram, intersecting lines mean they're connected, if they're not connected then usually a hoop is drawn over the wire to show that one is solid and jumps over the other but is not connected to it.

 

Yeah when I actually install it I am using black red yellow. I just have a LOT of red, so that's what I am testing with.

 

Yeah, it all depends on where you went to learn wiring diagrams. lol. I have seen them both ways, like you have mentioned as well as how I was looking at it. Where I learned wiring diagrams (which was MANY years ago) if two wires intersected, but did not have a "point of intersection" or a dot where they intersected, then it was not considered a connection. Yes, many current diagrams now show a "jump over" where wires do not actually connect. I have been so used to seeing things the old way that that was how my mind took it with his diagram. Yep, looks good.

 

Very true, all in how you learned it

 

I just opened up Visio and tried to use common sense lol...

Glad it was readable!

 

Just since I was curious, I opened up the wiring diagrams in Mitchell1's ProDemand software. They show two wires that cross are NOT connected unless there is a connection dot. I guess it all depends on the application and who writes the wiring diagram. I never really paid attention to the differences until we started talking about it here! lol.