- Home
- Product Categories
- Kits
- SparkFun Beefcake Relay Control Kit (Ver. 1.6)
SparkFun Beefcake Relay Control Kit (Ver. 1.6)
Your 5 volt system can wield great power with this big beefy relay board. How does 20 amps at 220VAC sound? The SparkFun Beefcake Relay Control Kit contains all the parts you need to get your high-power load under control.
The heart of the board is a sealed, SPDT-NO 20A Relay. The relay is controlled by 5V logic through a transistor and an LED tells you when the relay is closed. This is a kit, so it comes as through-hole parts with assembly required which makes for some nice soldering practice. Screw terminal connectors on either side of the board make it easy to incorporate into your project.
Note: There are some pretty beefy traces connecting the relay to the load pins, but the 2-pin terminals are only rated for 8A max! If you plan on connecting a larger load you'll need to solder directly to the board. As always with high current and voltage, play it safe and use your judgment when deciding how much of a load you want to put on a board.
Note: Although we have revised this PCB to provide better isolation for the high voltage traces, this board is really meant for someone with some experience. If you're uncomfortable soldering or dealing with high voltage, please checkout the PowerSwitch Tail II. The PowerSwitch Tail II is fully enclosed making it a lot safer.
- Schematic
- Eagle Files
- Datasheet (JQX-15F/005-1Z1)
- Relay Tutorial
- Parts Wishlist
- GitHub
SparkFun Beefcake Relay Control Kit (Ver. 1.6) Product Help and Resources
Beefcake Relay Control Hookup Guide
June 2, 2016
This is a guide for assembling and basic use of the Beefcake Relay Control board
Core Skill: Soldering
This skill defines how difficult the soldering is on a particular product. It might be a couple simple solder joints, or require special reflow tools.
Skill Level: Rookie - The number of pins increases, and you will have to determine polarity of components and some of the components might be a bit trickier or close together. You might need solder wick or flux.
See all skill levels
Core Skill: DIY
Whether it's for assembling a kit, hacking an enclosure, or creating your own parts; the DIY skill is all about knowing how to use tools and the techniques associated with them.
Skill Level: Noob - Basic assembly is required. You may need to provide your own basic tools like a screwdriver, hammer or scissors. Power tools or custom parts are not required. Instructions will be included and easy to follow. Sewing may be required, but only with included patterns.
See all skill levels
Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping
If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Competent - You will be required to reference a datasheet or schematic to know how to use a component. Your knowledge of a datasheet will only require basic features like power requirements, pinouts, or communications type. Also, you may need a power supply that?s greater than 12V or more than 1A worth of current.
See all skill levels
Comments
Looking for answers to technical questions?
We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.
Customer Reviews
4.1 out of 5
Based on 16 ratings:
1 of 1 found this helpful:
Bought two, one doesn't work
Admittedly, I haven't soldered much since college, but this was fun to build. One star for fun. Minus one star for having to build the kit, I'd have paid an extra dollar or two to have it built for me.
I bought two kits, and one of them was missing the 10k-ohm resister and instead had three 1k's in the package (verified under a very strong magnifying glass and lots of lightning). I have plenty of resistors, but by sheer luck I had a 10k resistor small enough to fit on this board.
After assembly, one kit works perfectly (one more star), the other ... not so much. The relay clicks when I send a high signal, but there's no connectivity on the load side of the relay and the LED doesn't light up. I tested several points on the bottom of the circuit and compared it against the working kit I'd assembled, but no love.
So, one package had a bad resistor, the other had a bad relay... kinda defeats the purpose. Minus two stars since I didn't really have a way to test this before assembly.
I needed one of these for a hackathon that Intel put on in Denver recently, and it's a good thing I bought two since one had a bad relay.
Next time I want to spend this much on a relay, I'll spend the extra two dollars and buy the $9.90 pre-assembled Grove SPDT.
As an aside, big props to the support team at SparkFun trying to track down the package. It was marked "delivered" by USPS on a Friday but wasn't actually delivered until the following Tuesday or Wednesday. SparkFun was willing to replace the parts for free thinking the package had been lost -- they even got on the phone with USPS to find out what had happened.
4 of 4 found this helpful:
Works well for my needs
I really like this little guy. It works well for most of my needs. However, I'd much prefer it also expose the NC contact. For one of my applications where I need to default to ON, I need to cut the load tracing and add a wire to the NC contact. Nearly every other "similar" offering exposes both contacts. It's just odd this one does not. That being said, this works better for me than any other I've tried at this price point.
I'll pass your comment along for future consideration if we revise this product. Thanks!
4 of 4 found this helpful:
Fun toy, but only as a toy
I hope that Sparkfun designs this properly in the next revision. Observe clearance distances. Put on a decent terminal block. Use thicker copper. Orient the relay 180 degrees. Use a better impulse snubbing circuit than the current diode. And use a better relay part. And make sure it works well on 3.3v signal voltage.
The good of this is that it is simple. But there are so many design issues with this board, and the relay, at least the one I had, didn't last long - my application was to control an RV thermostat (12V, electronic load, 150MA) - I needed isolation between the power supply of the RV and the power supply for my micro for other reasons, and thought this looked simple. It failed after maybe 60 days of use (probably 20-50 relay operations a day). I can hear it click when it is signaled to open/close, but I have to "thump" it to make it do something. I've since replaced this with a cheap DC SSR (which I basically use like a big optoisolator) and my life is better again - but relays are great because, unlike the SSR, they have little voltage drop and don't need the cooling at higher amperages that the SSRs do. So this product fills a need, but is just badly designed. Sparkfun, show the future electronics students how to do this right in the next design!
Also, this should use a diffused LED, not the clear non-diffused one it comes with. The only time you should ever use a non-diffused LED is when you have some sort of diffuser in front of it, which is obviously not the common case here. Sure, that's an easy change if you have a reasonable parts drawer, but not everyone does.
If you aren't controlling anything critical and just want to switch moderate currents with an Arduino or something for experimentation or fun, this is a great product - I'd just recommend avoiding hooking it to line voltage. It's a toy and should be treated that way until Sparkfun redesigns it a bit.
2 of 3 found this helpful:
Great Quality, Very Difficult Assembly
The quality of these relays are fantastic, I trust them much more than the alternatives you can find online from Chinese distributors. However, even for a person somewhat experienced at soldering it can pose a real challenge due to the size of the pins from the relay.
This would be best sold as a preassembled unit to assure proper connections when dealing with such high voltages/amperages.
Works great.
It would be nice if it came with a terminal with a higher current rating, say 15-20A.
A review and a suggestion to SFE.
"Click." If you know which end of a soldering iron to hold on to and can tell orange from brown, this is a simple way of getting your microcontroller to switch high voltages and/or currents.
Suggestion to SFE: Next rev, why not simplify the BOM and use the same connector type as the LV/LC side? That way the HV/HC side can be set up as NC-COM-NO and satisfy people who want connected devices to default to "powered" (Or if they want one device to be on when the other is off.)
Well put together kit.
The kit has everything you need to make your own Relay Control. Very easy to build and works just as advertised.
Great product, good price
This was thought out very well. It was easy to solder and get up and running. I really like the LED that indicates when the switch is closed, so you can do testing without have a load attached.
Nice little module
Easy to use with Arduino or any other 5V microcontroller. Does exactly what it should do. Easy kit to solder -- not much to it.
I swapped out the included LED for one with a diffuse lens, which makes it easier to see.
I also soldered the diode directly across the relay coil for better snubbing (lower noise injected back into the power supply), but that is not necessary.
Great little board
The board layout and silkscreening is excellent. Assembly went without any issues. Initial testing of the board seems to indicate that all is well as far as operation is concerned, but I have not had the opportunity to utilize it in the real world yet. I think that the only limiting factor might be is to insure that the load does not exceed the capacity of the relay. I bought two, and would not hesitate to purchase this product again.
small but powerful!
I purchase about 15 of these over the year and each one has worked perfectly. Using them to control lamps and rope lights and other AC devices. Very easy to interface with other circuits Thank you for a great product. Will purchase some more in the future.
Nice Kit, relatively easy to assemble and works fine
I was curious if this kit could be used in a project I have been working on, so I bought one to evaluate. Absent any specific instructions, I carefully studied the silkscreen and product photographs to determine the placement of the resistors and diode.
I am relatively novice when it come to soldering, but starting with the shortest components, I worked my way up to soldering the relay with no problems in about 1/2 an hour after opening the kit.
A simple test sketch indicates the relay is working fine. I learned a few things from this kit and would recommend it to others.
Great kit
I have ordered 2 of these. One is for a refrigerator that freezes everything and the other is for my new keezer (kegarator) project. Both are currently being controled by Pro Trinket's from Adafruit. The kits are working fine as far as I can tell. My only issue is the direct soldering of the electrical wire to the board takes quite a bit of heat due to the large traces. Other than not being pretty after that, things are fine though.
Very pleased with these!
I've used a number of these for Electric Imp based control needs and they've worked flawlessly. I hope these continue to be offered so I don't have to find an alternative.
Works
The device was put together with ease and worked as expected. These will be used on my CNC machine that I am building from the ground up.
Seems to work good, but LEDs didn't work
The board seems to work well. It was relatively easy to put together. The only issue I had was that none of the LEDs in the four kits I purchased worked, even by themselves in a breadboard. I ended up using my own LEDs which seemed to work just fine... maybe a bad batch?
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/JTN1AS-TMP-F-DC5V/255-1487-ND/303481 This relay has the same form factor but the high current comes out on spade lugs in addition to the solder traces. I have seen many many boards with this style of relay (mostly on PTAC window air conditioners/electric heaters) where the high current pins eventually burn out of the PCB because the trace isn't deep enough and heats right around the relay pins. The spade lugs don't seem to have this problem.
Sparkfun and crew - please get an engineer on staff that has done line voltage designs. It seems obvious that there is a disconnect somewhere. As other have pointed out, your second try still doesn't make sense. When people use these things in projects, they want to know you have sweated the safety details.
Sorry, I like what you guys do in general.
Can you elaborate the danger here? Is this product completely unsafe? Or just in some cases?
I see a lot of concerning comments here, so I'd like to understand exactly what the risks are.
The design of this board is not perfect, which we are aware of, and it is in the system getting revised. As with any AC circuit, safety precautions do need to be taken to prevent injury, especially in a kit such as this where you could potentially have exposed wires. However, we do also sell several hundred kits each month and have only had a couple returns in the last year on them due to malfunctions. If you don't feel comfortable with the high voltage circuit, we definitely do recommend the Powerswitch Tail II as recommended above in the product description.
That relay should be rotated 180 degrees.
Sparkfun just released a new revision on 2/10/11 - has the relay problem been corrected in this new version?
No, that revision is this product page which you're on right now. It's not yet been corrected.
This will remove a few centimeters of copper. Joel saw this shortly after he sent v1.6 to production. v1.7 is already in the works.
You guys should really consider doing design reviews before putting products up on your site.
Yes, and although it's a lot better than the previous design, it really should have more clearance between the mounting holes and the live area, it's still way too close for mains voltages (especially for using it for 220V-250V mains).
could not agree more
For those wondering why the relay should be rotated 180 degrees, I'm assuming it's because it provides further isolation between the LV and HV sides with little rework. The HV terminals would be closer to HV traces and the LV terminals closer to LV traces.
Yes, that's why, this should be better isolated. Funny, the Eagle files show the relay rotated around!
I agree. It's the first thing I noticed.
An important point for power relay drive. Supressing the coil flyback with a freewheeling diode D1, is a poor practice. This prevents the relay from being able to open as entusiastically as it should. Ideally the circuit would use a zener in series with D1 (to limit the flyback to maybe 2x the rail voltage) and appropriate protection for the LED. Along the lines of http://relays.te.com/appnotes/app_pdfs/13c3311.pdf
Seriously this company rocks for all that you guys do, and develop, to make things easier for the newbs.
for NC hack, drill out the NO terminal using a 3/16" bit. Solder relay. Lastly run short insulated wire of proper size from NC terminal on relay to the large output terminal hole.
Watch out for the error in the description and datasheet attached. They changed the relay from a SPST-NO to a SPDT switch. The datasheet attached on this page is for the old product. Check out the actual part under the parts wishlist or this: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10924 . I wasn't paying attention when i ordered replacement relays from another site since i was looking at the parts on this page.
Quick question, What board revision is currently shipping? Thanks
Could you guys please put Version numbers on the boards so we can tell what board is showing?
In my .brd files, I put a piece of text down on the silkscreen with $Revision$ in it. Then I enable svn:keywords on that .brd file. Subversion will then insert the version control revision right onto my silkscreen. It is seriously handy...
(I believe Git has a similar feature)
I'd like to drive this with an ESP8266-1 gpio pin. I see some notes about 3.3V compatibility, but I won't have 5V, just 3.3V.
Suggestions?
Thanks, Chris.
Hi Chris, One solution would be to power your ESP8266 with 5V regulated down to 3.3V. Then you could control the flow of the 5V to the Beefcake Relay with a MOSFET controlled via the GPIO pin on the ESP8266. You also might be able to create a voltage ladder that steps the 3.3V up to 5V, though I have no clue if that would actually work. Your last option is to find a different relay that has a lower threshold for switching. Hope that helps.
In this product why there are no capacitors used? as in following product (arduino relay shield) https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12093
Trying to understand the purpose of the diode 1N4148. I believe it's there to protect any kind of reverse current, but even if we had removed it from the circuit, how could possibly there be any reverse current flowing from the BJT collector to RAW? May be I am missing something here. Any explanation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I might have found my answer. "collapsing magnetic field produces a substantial voltage transient in its effort to disperse the stored energy and oppose the sudden change of current flow"
The relay is clicking on by itself when connected to the Sparkfun Pro Micro. There is no button attached. Can Anybody explain why this might be happening and how to mitigate it?
It works fine, although I agree with everyone else - rotate the relay 180 degrees! I'd also replace the clear LED with a diffused one (anytime you have an LED visible directly, it should be diffused - the only time you should use clear ones is when you are sending the light through something else) - but that's not a particularly big deal (and easily user-swappable!). FWIW, I'm switching it with 3.3V but powering it with 5V, and that seems to do just fine.
bought one of these quite a while ago and finally got around to soldering it together and playing with it a bit. My thoughts over all were that it was fun to put together and combined with the schematic && other info && forum posts this is a great little kit to start getting a sense of how to you a transistor to control a relay via Micro-controller or some other controlling source. Nice one!
When using this with my Arduino and an LCD display, the relay opening (turning off) will sometimes cause my LCD to display nothing. It will not display anything again until the Arduino is reset. Do I need a protection diode somewhere on my breadboard to fix this? If so what kind? This behavior can be observed only when the relay goes into the off position, and it doesn't do it every time, am I correct in believing voltage is somehow surging to the LCD after the relay opens?
If diode D1 is properly installed, there shouldn't be any voltage "surge" when the relay changes state.
What am I missing? I just put together two of these. I'm running each one off of its own power supply (one of your 5vds usb power supplies), which is stated at 1A out. I definitely have 5vdc coming into the terminal on the beefcake, but neither of the units are switching. No click, no led, nothing.
I'm not doing anything weird; I'm using each relay to control a 120 A outlet. So, I have my hot (black) connected to the load, and it goes to an outlet. The other side of the outlet goes to the white return wire. I'm slaving off of the 120 A input to drive the power supply, but that shouldn't affect the relay. It's all pretty simple stuff, so I figure I must be missing something or doing something stupid.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Note: those 5mm pitch screw terminals (for the load) max out at 14 gauge wires. My house is wired with standard 12 gauge romex. ... So: confirm your wire gauge, if you're wiring directly into your house.
Can I use this with a 12v DC power supply?
How many of these fans can I hook up on one beefcake if I wire directly to the board? My math says 6, but with start-up current I'm not sure.
Can someone let me know how many volts / amps the wall wart power supply should have that I plan on connecting to this device? Want to make sure I have enough power for the circuit and relay.
Thanks!!!
Ok, someone make sense of all this for me. I just want to switch small loads on regular 110V household electric. I'm thinking stuff like a lamp, ceiling light, small electrics, etc. I don't have experience with mains stuff yet, but I have to start somewhere. I've seen the PSTII but frankly it's too much $$ to drop on a single relay. Can someone tell me if this is ok to plug and play? I really want to use these with my arduino, but the comments always scare me away.
Can I run a 24v DC system through this and step down to 5v through my controller to switch it on and off?
There are a few issues with this board that we can see - the terminal blocks are really the weakest link that we can see. Sure it won't meet creepage and clearance, but the little terminal blocks are just scary! We've seen this sort of block loosen over time, and I wouldn't trust it not to heat up if you were passing any current through it. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use the power switch tail, which should protect against a lot of these issues!
Having an issue where the LED lights, but the relay does not switch. Ideas?
Might have burnt the relay. I had an issue when i was hot-switching the relay and then heard it sizzle and it started smoking. Do you still hear it click? If it doesn't then there might be something wrong with it.
Still operates fine when I have it rigged to be controlled by an arduino pin. The problem occurs when I set it up with an analog circuit I have set up. Perhaps it is an issue of insufficient current?
Updated: I see what is going on here. The relay is drawing the current directly from the 5v bus. You still need the amp to close the relay, but it's not coming through the arduino, it's right off the 5v. You're never going to get more than 5 amps from USB. You need a bigger power supply, like a beefy transformer.
This begs a bigger question, though -- what are you doing with these 14 mains level relays? If you are trying to run 14 things off of one household circuit, the "you're gonna have a bad time" times are just starting. Don't burn your house down.
I was wondering if someone could help me out with a problem I'm having. I have the relay controlled by a pin of my uC. I was positioning my circuit components (I wasn't working on a live circuit, just moving it) when I heard a big zap. I think the 120VAC pins bridged. My uC was connected to my computer with an FTDI cable and after the big zap, the computer turned off and now won't start. Is this because something crazy got sent up to the computer over the cable (I don't think so) or because the bridged relay drew a ton of current from the power strip and triggered something that immediately cut power to the computer?
Hello, I got 14 of these, and they are great. Recommend them 100%.
I want to put something on the rear to protect from any sort of shock. Would something like a glue gun over specific pins on the rear do the job? If so, which pins are needed?
Whether there's a shock hazard or not totally depends on the voltage you're switching with the relay. But in any case, your hot glue solution is a great one; some blobs over the pins with super-fat copper traces (between the relay and the "load" connector, see the bare-board pictures above) should do the trick (but be careful anyway!)
Hello, if I got 14 of these and a Arduino Mega, does anyone see any issues with this? I will also have other items attached to the mega, but from what I understand these Beefcakes do not draw much power from the Ardunio itself.
Would it then use 14 analogue pins on the mega?
That's correct, they will not draw much power from the pin you're using to control them. You use digital outputs (not analog) to control the relays.
Hi Mike, I have finally connected this all up nice and happy. The only problem is they are not happy.
When I start turning them on, after 5, the LED turns on, but you do not hear the click of the Relay, then if I turn the first one off, the 6th relay then clicks on. Its like the Mega can only power 5 at a time.
WHen there are none on, I check the 5v, and its reading 4.98v. When I have 5 on, its reading 3.8v, with it going down a little with each one. I have the Mega powered by USB and a 5v 2amp plug.
Can you think of what I am doing wrong?
thanks
I think I have worked out each relay takes the 5v @ 1amp. That seems huge. To power 14 of them, I dont know how I will do it.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Are you sure your transistor is oriented right? It should only require a few mA to open the transistor on this board. It sounds like there is an assembly problem.
Can anyone suggest a microcontroller for this? I was looking but most of the ones i see (Arduino) can only output 40 mA and the relay requires 180 mA
That's what the transistor is there for. It turns on with a weak signal from a microcontroller pin (a few mA), and does the hard work of switching the higher current that the relay requires. You can connect this to your Arduino (or pretty much anything else) without issues.
Ok. Im a little new to this and just wanted to make sure. Thanks!
No problem at all, please feel free to ask ANY questions and we'll do our best to help you out. Have fun!
Is there any reason this won't work? To use the double-throw capability of the relay, I soldered tabs to the three high-current pins of the relay, sandwiched between the PC board and the relay body, and hanging out over the sides of the PC board. I will solder or screw 14ga. stranded wires to the tabs. I want to control a 220v, low current load. It is the control circuit for a gas-fired spa heater.
hi i would like to use this relay to control some load on my rc car...my question is what must i do to use a 3rd channel signal from my receiver to control the really....i tried just hooking it up but the relay just stays closed...can't seem to control it...would it be that my receiver puts out a digital signal like that to a servo?
any help that would steer me in the right direction....thanx
It would also be nice if there was an NC option (normally closed, apply control voltage to interrupt power). It would require the high-voltage side to have a three-terminal block, and one extra trace.
I would be worried about the safety issues with that. It's very counter-intuitive when someone inexperienced has a board that "work" (meaning the relay isn't interrupting the circuit) when the power to it is OFF, and I could see people getting hurt with that.
Has this been updated to revision 1.7 yet?
For those wishing to use a lower voltage signal to energize the coil (e.g. 3.3v as per a few comments) change the resistor network feeding the transistor base so that it provides more current - though be sure to limit the current to something your signal can source. There is a good writeup of the calculations here: http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/transistor/tran_4.html. If you are switching this thing with something sensitive you might think about swapping out the transistor with an optoisolator e.g. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/314?
NOTE: You do NOT need to change the resistor resistor network feeding the base of the transistor. If you look at the schematic, this uses a 2N3904 bjt which has a turn-on voltage of 0.7v, and Beta=100. That means that the base-current, as it stands, is ~2.53mA (with 1k/10k combo) when 3.3V is applied to the input (3.3-0.7=2.6V across R2). This means that the base is allowing up to 253mA to flow through the collector (Ic=Beta*Ib). BUT, since the coil in this relay has R=27Ohm...even if you had a full 5V drop across your coil, your max current will be 185.2mA (e.g. the relay turn-on current, per the datasheet). So basically, 3.3V on the input is STILL enough for the base...it's the Vcc("RAW" on schematic) that matters. ----------------------> 1.) Hook up a separate 5V supply (maybe strip a 5V usb wall plug/knob or use arduino 5V source) to JP2-pin3 ----------------------> 2.) Hook your 3.3V arduino digital output to JP2-pin2. Hookup the grounds, and you should be good. The flyback diode will protect your 5V supply. See for yourself: SIMULATOR
How much current is required to run those ? I have a project with a power supply providing only 1000mA and im using a LCD screen with some LED and 4 of thoses relays. One of them doesnt seem to work when assembled on my project but work fine alone. I tried to switch relay connection and what ever position this relay is, its always the same one that doesnt work. The red LED is on but no contact. I think theirs not enough of 1000mA for everything.
so, how much current will it draw ?
Thank !
According to the Tyco data sheet, depending on the particular relay model used it's either 185mA or 200mA, so assume 200mA and you're safe. The relay in the picture doesn't look like the quality Tyco brand one, it appears to be a cheaper Chinese knock-off, so the actual coil current may be different. 4 of these on at once is going to be dragging around 800mA. If you move the relay around and it's always that same one that doesn't work, then there must be something wrong with that unit - suggest you contact SF customer service. If you're using these near a micro, you should really decouple the supply by (as a bare minimum) having a decent electrolytic cap (at least a few hundred uF) near the relay's supply lines and at least one small cap around 0.1uF too. Isolating the micro power supply further would be advised if you want to avoid noise problems.
Can I switch this with 12V instead of 5V? The relay's datasheet looks like it can handle it, but can the pcb?
You can switch 12V on the output, but you wouldn't want to put 12V on the coil side (shown on the circuit diagram above as 'RAW'). The relay they are using has a 5V coil and 12V will not do it any good, it will get very hot and likely fail at some point. You could buy another relay in the same brand and configuration, but with a 12V coil and fit it to this board, that should work fine(see the data sheet for 12V coil version), but you would want to increase the resistor in the Base circuit (R2) to about 2k2 (2200 Ohms). The LED resistor should be OK as is, but you could also increase that to 1k8 or 2k2 if you like.
I am a total newbie here, so please forgive my simple questions. I am looking to build a relay switch that will turn off the main load when the 5V power is supplied.
The application is I am looking to cut A/C line power to a trickle charger for a generator battery when the generator is running.
Generator --> DC Transformer --|
The instructions for the trickle charger indicate that the charger should be removed when the generator is running. So currently, I have to unplug the charger before starting the generator, and I want to remove that step to simplify startup for my family.
My question is, can this project be retrofitted to allow the 5V current to turn off the main load, rather than turn it on? If not, is there a similar project (or finished product) that I should consider?
Thanks!
This PCB can't do that directly, but the relay itself can. (There are three pins that the relay can connect together, but only ever two at a time. Hence one is normally not connected (open, NO) and one is normally connected (closed, NC). When you apply power to the coil side of things the paddle will switch spots.) This PCB ignores the NC pin in favor of switching the NO pin. Normal behavior for what it's designed to do.
Anyways: To accomplish what you are going for you would have to use the pin not currently in use with this board. I'd heartily recommend getting somebody who has experience with and understands the dangers of 120 AC on a PCB to whip up the design for you. Should only take a few minutes, and then you can get the board fabbed by BatchPCB.
And on that note: You might want to consider the PowerSwitch Tail II and call it good: It's a safer product already in a nice enclosure that'll eliminate having to deal with mains power in the open air. Trouble is you'd still be dealing with the whole 3-to-12-volts-activates-my-output bit. Could always crack it open and see what can be done about it. :-)
OK. So I got this relay a few months ago for a project I was planning but didn't read through the comments. I am wanting it to run a 115v, 1.5amp compressor. I know the compressor spikes but thought this relay would be plenty.
Is this relay safe for my application?
Also, is it only a problem if I use screws in the mounting holes? I am planning on housing the relay in a plastic box (an old laptop power supply box). Would this help with safety?
Any help would be appreciated. I want to leave this circuit on for long lengths of time and don't want it to have a good chance of burning my apartment down!
It will work, but you'd be better off using a proper contactor if it's a long-term thing and you want to be extra sure. You can think of a contactor as a big industrial relay, designed for proper big industrial loads. You can get them in various ratings and coil voltages, but I'd suggest going for a 20A one if you go that way. They are also significantly more expensive than this, but you sound like you want peace of mind. The problem would be finding one with a 5V coil, as the lowest you are likely to find is a 24V, but you can use a smaller relay (or this one) as a pilot relay to switch 110V to the contactor coil and use a 110V coil (which are readily available) on the contactor. They are also a fair bit bigger, however there are good compact ones, but they are a bit harder to find. If you want to go that way let me know and I can point you in the right direction.
One important thing is whether it will be switching on and off frequently, like when it reaches pressure and later bleeds down below the air pressure setting. If it's on and off all the time, you would be better off with a real contactor. But if it's just 'on' and the compressor pressure switch does all the switching on and off, then it should be OK.
DON'T use metal screws to mount this board if you are fitting it to a plastic case. Either use a properly Earthed metal case or use Nylon standoffs or similar. I've complained and complained to SF that the creepage distances are too small and they still are in this revised model. Stick with Nylon supports and you should be fine.
You would also be well advised to add an appropriately rated fuse or circuit breaker in series the incoming live wire before this relay, that will give you a bit of extra protection. Leave a note if you want more details and I'll try to check in every now and then.
Any hints on connecting a bank of 16 of these to a RasberryPi?
Top of my head... You'd want something to isolate the RPi from any potentially catastrophic voltages (via an optoisolator or similar) and you'd need to either level-shift things up or get a relay that will trigger at 3V3. (Personally I'd go with the former.) I know SparkFun carries some larger relay boards but they have their own restrictions.
An external supply to actuate the relays would be good as well, since the on-board regulator will go nuts if you try pushing a bunch of relays with it. Wouldn't want to subject your USB brick to that kind of load or the RPi to that much noise either. (Remember: The Raspberry Pi has NO 5V REGULATOR, so anything you put back on that line will cause issues back on the Pi.)
If you are switching a lot of 120 then I'd recommend going with the spade-type connectors for the relays - That way you don't have to worry about getting the PCB right, plus it'll cut out the cost of any terminal connectors you'd need. Still have to be careful about the control side of the relay though.
Do you sell an enclosure this will fit in? I like to be able to enclose any high voltage connections.
Will this work with the following fan: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DAYTON-Shaded-Pole-Blower-4C447
Or motors in general?
This board will handle AC or DC resistive ("lamp") or inductive ("motor") loads up to the weakest link in the circuit (the relay can handle 20A, but the screw terminals can only handle 8A). Because your motor is less than 2A (starting current might be a bit more), you should be fine. Be careful when working with 120VAC, and good luck!
Though you are talking about the limit being the screw terminals, some might incorrectly gather from this that the inductive rating of the relay is 20A and the only limiting factor is the screw terminals and may be inclined to solder wires on thinking (incorrectly) it would then handle 20A with an inductive load. Like any switching device, including big industrial contactors, the rating for inductive loads is much lower than the resistive or 'general purpose' ratings, it has to be or else the inductive spike will cause (more) arcing and can easily weld the contacts together if over the ratings. Also, many parts of the world are running 230-250V, so this has to be taken into account and suitably derate the contacts.
For those that don't understand, this means if you increase the voltage you are switching, you need to drop your expectations of the safe switching capacity of these (or any other) relay accordingly. Likewise if you are switching inductive loads (eg. motors, ballasts, anything with a coil), like others have advised here, you need to drop the rating considerably (see the data sheet to get some idea). Likewise when switching DC, as it's harder on the contacts when switching DC (especially opening the contacts with an inductive load). As I've said in other postings (and others have said too), the way the relay is orientated on the board is very poor, mixes the high and low voltage areas and the clearances are still too close for comfort, especially when it's going out to a hobby market where probably the majority of the users really have very little (if any) knowledge of working with high voltages and loads.
Hey Sparkfun, is the bundled relay included with this kit SPST or SPDT? I ordered this kit and a separate COM-10924, which is listed as SPDT. The two relays look identical, and the parts list for this beefcake kit points to the COM-10924.
Can I use this kit for a SPDT application?
Anyone know what is currently being sold, is it v1.6 or v1.7? If it is still v1.6 is there an ETA on v1.7? Thanks.
I ordered one a couple weeks ago and the one I received appears to be v1.6, since the relay hasn't been rotated back to the preferred position yet.
Can this PCB handle the same current and voltage as the Relay? Can it really handle 240VAC at 20A?
I still recommend using Quick Connect Automotive Relays. They can handle the current, they're easy to connect to and you dont have to worry about your PCB frying under the AC load.
Also can the board work with 3.3V?
NOTE: You do NOT need to change the resistor resistor network feeding the base of the transistor. If you look at the schematic, this uses a 2N3904 bjt which has a turn-on voltage of 0.7v, and Beta=100. That means that the base-current, as it stands, is ~2.53mA (with 1k/10k combo) when 3.3V is applied to the input (3.3-0.7=2.6V across R2). This means that the base is allowing up to 253mA to flow through the collector (Ic=Beta*Ib). BUT, since the coil in this relay has R=27Ohm...even if you had a full 5V drop across your coil, your max current will be 185.2mA (e.g. the relay turn-on current, per the datasheet). So basically, 3.3V on the input is STILL enough for the base...it's the Vcc("RAW" on schematic) that matters. ----------------------> 1.) Hook up a separate 5V supply (maybe strip a 5V usb wall plug/knob or use arduino 5V source) to JP2-pin3 ----------------------> 2.) Hook your 3.3V arduino digital output to JP2-pin2. Hookup the grounds, and you should be good. The flyback diode will protect your 5V supply. See for yourself: SIMULATOR
You've made a mistake its 240VAC not 220VAC. Well That's what it says on the relay.
I'm not a total electrical newbie, but I wanted a little feedback, this guy should be able to handle either of these, right?
http://www.amazon.com/Cornet-Strobe-Light-Color-Filter/dp/B003KWNA98/ref=sr_1_5?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1335644069&sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.com/Chauvet-ST-2000S-Techno-Strobe/dp/B00021NWAC/ref=sr_1_3?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1335644069&sr=1-3 (as long as it's on 110?)
What are the dimensions of this assembled kit?
28mm (W) x 61mm (L) x 25mm (H)
Just getting into Relays and I am looking to control a 12V DC pump that is rated up 7.5A. I thought that a kit would be much easier / better than buying things piecemeal. Yay Sparkfun (again).
However, being a Relay newbie, I am still parsing through whether this "20 amp at 220VAC claim" means this is a dead end for me. I need 12V DC up to 7.5A. Seems that 8A is more common, but I really wanted a kit to help me get started.
Any ideas?
Shouldn't be a problem, you're not exceeding either the Amps or Volts ratings, and it doesn't care if it's AC or DC on the load side. Mostly you need to make sure you're not pulling more Amps than rated, and not exceeding the voltage either of course.
Edit
As AtWrk has now informed me, the above statement is wrong. I didn't think about the arcing issues that you don't have so much of with AC, given that it zero-crosses at 60hz. Doh. After looking around it looks like the derating is significant, up to a factor of 8. However, at 12V I'm not sure how bad an arc would be. Unfortunately I can't think of a safe way to use the encapsulated relay to find out, as it's not really possible to see the contacts.
Whether it's an AC or DC load makes a BIG difference in choosing a relay--particularly when it's an inductive DC load (e.g. a motor). DC loads are harder on the contacts so relays are typically rated much lower for DC than for AC, if at all.
Just a heads up for everyone. I know it says 5v but for kicks I tried to run the relay off 3.3v and it won't trigger. Not really a surprise but I wanted to give it a shot anyways.
NOTE: You CAN use 3.3V on the base input, but you need 5V at the JP2-pin3 to supply the relay. For this: you do NOT need to change the resistor resistor network feeding the base of the transistor. If you look at the schematic, this uses a 2N3904 bjt which has a turn-on voltage of 0.7v, and Beta=100. That means that the base-current, as it stands, is ~2.53mA (with 1k/10k combo) when 3.3V is applied to the input (3.3-0.7=2.6V across R2). This means that the base is allowing up to 253mA to flow through the collector (Ic=Beta*Ib). BUT, since the coil in this relay has R=27Ohm...even if you had a full 5V drop across your coil, your max current will be 185.2mA (e.g. the relay turn-on current, per the datasheet). So basically, 3.3V on the input is STILL enough for the base...it's the Vcc("RAW" on schematic) that matters. ----------------------> 1.) Hook up a separate 5V supply (maybe strip a 5V usb wall plug/knob or use arduino 5V source) to JP2-pin3 ----------------------> 2.) Hook your 3.3V arduino digital output to JP2-pin2. Hookup the grounds, and you should be good. The flyback diode will protect your 5V supply. See for yourself: SIMULATOR
Tried the same thing. Should have read here first... At least it didn't fry anything.
What is the ETA on the updated board? I have one of the previous generation (v1.5?) that I'd like to replace with something safer. I also have an unused v1.5 board, can I return that? I didn't realize how unsafe that version was.
I'd like to say that after emailing them, sparkfun has offered to replace my old version and components, and send me the new version kit! Very good service on this one! Thanks!
An important point for power relay drive. Supressing the coil flyback with a freewheeling diode D1, is a poor practice. This prevents the relay from being able to open as entusiastically as it should. Ideally the circuit would use a zener in series with D1 (to limit the flyback to maybe 2x the rail voltage) and appropriate protection for the LED. Along the lines of http://relays.te.com/appnotes/app_pdfs/13c3311.pdf
Way better than the previous version but it could have been better if relay are rotated 180 degree, bigger terminal block (use barrier type) as the 5mm terminal is rated 8A only, 2Oz copper PCB, and some vias connecting the top & bottom copper pour.