[AT] What is a Relay?

[Ricky Prescott]

I burned the lights our trying to haul home the IH 460 I bought.  Ricky
----- Original Message -----
From: "Spencer Yost" <yostsw at atis.net>
To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 10:48 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] What is a Relay?


> Relays are just a remote switch that uses a very small electric current
> called a control current to "operate" the switch.  Control current
present?
> - The relay is "on".  Control current off? - The relay is "off".  In fact,
> the solenoid  on the starter of your tractor is just one big fat honking
> relay.
>
> When it comes to lights, they draw quite a bit of power so adding lights
> (whether trailer or auxiliary lights) to a circuit sometimes requires your
> wiring be beefier than it currently is or the wiring will catch on fire.
> If your wiring isn't beefy enough, a common work-around is to create a
> separate circuit wired directly to the battery (with its own in-line fuse)
> and then use a relay wired to the original circuit as the "switch".  The
> current required to operate the relay is minuscule so there is, for all
> intents and purposes, not an additional load on the original lighting
> circuit.
>
> BTW, this is a common trick to add field lights to antique tractors so I
am
> not going to add the "OT" label to the subject line,
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Spencer Yost
> Owner, ATIS
> Plow the Net!
> http://www.atis.net
>
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
> On 12/10/2004 at 9:03 AM Ricky Prescott wrote:
>
> >How does a Relay switch work?  My lights on my truck went out.  It burned
> >up the plug that goes into the switch.  I rewired it. My Mechanic said I
> >need to install a relay so when I hook up my trailer lights it won't burn
> >up the plug again.  I am wondering what I need.  The wiring in the  old
> >dodge is not heavy enough to handle all the amps the trailer lights draw.
> >I hope I made this clear.  Thanks, Ricky
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>
>
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