Subject: Re: Relay ratings
From: "Rylos" unknown
Date: 9/14/2004 6:08 PM Central Daylight Time
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Thanks Chris,
If the load I'm switching is lower than 24VDC, actually it's 5 can you push
more amperage through or is the 1A rating just 1A regardless?
-Dave
You can't push 500% more than rated current through the relay and expect it to
survive for long. A lower DC voltage won't help.
There is one possibility of getting more, but I don't think it will be 5 times.
Just like a switch, relays have a published rating for switching current, and
another (almost always non-published) rating for holding current. If you're
not going to use the relay to switch the load on and off, you could probably
get more (say, 20% to 100% more, depending), but certainly not 5A. Guess you
need another relay to do the job. They're not expensive, and that's what I'd
do.
Of course, you might just try it and see what happens. You might get anywhere
from 1/2 (on, but no off -- contacts welded) to hundreds of uses out of the
relay, particularly if it's a purely resistive load. No guarantees, though. A
1A relay is pretty weak for a 5A load.
Good luck
Chris