The purpose of an automotive relay is to automate this power to switch electrical circuits on and off at particular times. A relay is an electromagnetic switch operated by a relatively small electric current that can turn on or off a much larger electric current.
Auto Electrical Relays Explained How They Work And Where They Re Used
How does a car relay work. In this circuit a switch is controlling power to the electromagnet. The heart of a relay is an electromagnet a coil of wire that becomes a temporary magnet when electricity flows through it. In this article we will look at how relays work and a few of their applications. The first is at the bottom and drives the electromagnet. A relay is a simple electromechanical switch made up of an electromagnet and a set of contacts. Relays are found hidden in all sorts of devices.
When the switch is on the electromagnet is on and it attracts the armature blue. In fact some of the first computers ever built used relays to implement boolean gates. Instead the ignition switch triggers a sort of secondary switch known as a relay or in the case of a starter the solenoid. In this figure you can see that a relay consists of two separate and completely independent circuits. Relays are switches controlled by electrical power like another switch computer or control module. Like most other motorized or powerful electric devices on your car the starter doesnt draw its power directly from the switch used to trigger it.