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Under
standi
ngRel
ays,
par
t2:
DINnumber
sanddi
ff
erentt
ypesofr
elay

RobSi
egel

29August2017

Shar
e

Lastweek,
wet
alkedaboutt
her
elay
,andwedi
dourbestt
okeepi
tsi
mpl
e.That
’sst
il
lthepl
an,
al
thoughy
ou’
reaboutt
olear
nabi
tofGer
man.(
Don’
twor
ry.
)

Fir
st,l
et’
srev
iew.Ther el
ayi
sar emote-cont
rol
ledswit
chthatworksonthepri
nci
plethatati
ny
amountofcurrentcanbeusedtoener gizeali
tt
lei
nter
nal
electr
omagnet.Thatel
ectr
omagnet(a
l
itt
lecoil
ofwirewrappedaroundanironcore)thenpul
lst
woi nt
ernalswi
tchcont
actstoget
her
thatal
lowamuchl argeramountofcurrenttofl
ow.

Therel
ayisbestthoughtofastwoseparat
ecircuit
s:Al ow-currentcontrol
circui
tthatsuppl
ies
powertotheel
ectromagnet,andahigh-
cur
rentloadcircuitthatisenabledwhent heswitch
cont
actsarepul
ledtogetherandal
l
owsal otofcurrenttof l
owt oal oaddevice.

Lastweekweoffer
edasi
mpl
eexampl
eusingar
elayt
hatt
urnsonanel
ect
ri
cmot
or.I
tis
repr
oducedbel
ow—thi
sti
mewit
hnumber
sonit.

Asi
mpl
erel
ayci
rcui
tlabel
edwi
thDI
Nnumber
s.RobSi
egel

DI
Nnumber
sandwhyt
hey
’resohel
pful

Whatar ethosenumber s?They’r

ecal l
edDIN-standardrelaytermi nalnumbers;DINstandsf or
DeutschesI nstit
utf ürNormung( GermanInstit
utef orStandards).Somet imearoundt hemiddle
ofthelastcent ury,Germancar sbeganf ol
lowingDI N72552, whi chisanumber ingstandardfor
automot i
veel ectr
ical t
erminal
s.DI N72552cov ersfarmor ethanj ustrel
ays.I
t’
st hereason
nearl
yev eryigniti
oncoi lonaEur opeancarhast henumber s“15”( powerfrom i
gniti
onswitch)
and“1”( l
owv olt
aget odistri
but
or )onthetwosmal lt
erminals,andal sowhystartermot or
sare
l
abeled“ 15”and“ 30. ”Perhapsi
tismostusef ul i
ndescribing,under st
anding,
and
tr
oubleshoot i
ngr elayssincethefunctionofar el
ay ,
thesocketi tsitsin,
andthewi ri
ngofthat
socket,canal waysber educedtot heDINter
mi nals.

Notal
lcarsfoll
owt heDINr el
aynumberi
ngstandar
d—vint
ageBri
ti
shandAmer icancars
cer
tai
nlydon’
t—butt hestandardwasevent
uall
yadopt
edbyvir
tual
lyal
lautomotive
manufact
urers.Idoubtyou’l
lfi
ndacarbuil
tsi
ncethe1980swit
har el
aythatdoesn’tf
oll
owt
he
DINst
andard.

Her
eist
heDI
Nst
andar
dnumber
ingoft
hef
ourt
ermi
nal
sonev
eryr
elay
:

Ter
minal

Whi
chCi
rcui
t?

Def
ini
ti
on

86

Lowcur
rent(
cont
rol
)

Rel
aycoi
l+(
poweri
nput
)
85

Lowcur
rent(
cont
rol
)

Rel
aycoi
l–(
ground)

30

Hi
ghcur
rent(
load)

Fr
om bat
ter
y+

87

Hi
ghcur
rent(
load)

Out
putt
odev
ice,
nor
mal
l
yopen,
pul
l
edcl
osedwhencoi
li
sener
gized

87a

Hi
ghcur
rent(
load)

Out
putt
oot
herdev
ice,
nor
mal
l
ycl
osed,
pul
l
edopenwhencoi
li
sener
gized

Whyar
efi
vel
i
sted?Humormef
oramoment
;I’
l
lgett
othati
namoment
.

Wecannowdescr
ibet
her
elayci
rcui
tint
hef
igur
eabov
eusi
ngt
heDI
Nter
minal
number
s:

Whent heexternal swit

chi st
hrown,terminal
86receives12vol
ts.Si
ncet
ermi
nal
85is
connectedtogr ound,thiscausescurrenttofl
owthroughthecoi
lint
heel
ectr
omagnet
,whi
ch
pul
lsthetwoi nternalswitchcontact
s( 30and87)together
.

Terminal30isconnectedtot
hebattery.Sowhent heelectr
omagnetpul
lsthetwointer
nal
switchcont
actstogether,
cur
rentf
lowsf rom t
erminal30outter
minal87,whichi
sconnectedt
o
thedevicewewantt herel
aytocontr
ol,inourcaseanel ect
ri
cmotor.Si
ncethemot ori
s
grounded,t
hiscausesthemotortoturnon.

Ever
yDINrel
ayworksthi
sway.Itenergi
zestheel
ectr
omagnet
,whichconnect
s30t o87and
powerst
hedevi
ce.That’
sal
li
tis.Itsi
mplyconnect
s30(power)t
o87( t
hedevice)
.Lear
nit.Li
ve
i
t.

Twomai
nmi
ndsofr
elay
s

OK,t
hat’
snotquiteall
therei
s,buti
t’
sclose.Theki
ndofrel
ayI
’v
edescri
bedabov
e, wit
hthef
our
DINconnecti
ons,
isaSinglePoleSi
ngleThrow(SPST)r
elay
.Thi
sisover
whel
minglythemost
commonki ndofrel
ayfoundinacar.

Ther
e’sal
soalesscommonkindcall
edaSingl
ePol eDoublePole(SPDT)
,or“changeover
”rel
ay.
I
nit,
theswit
chinsi
dether
elayhasnotj
ustonepositi
on,buttwo—curr
entcanflowtooneof
twoter
minal
satatime.Whentheel
ectr
omagnetisn’tener
gized,
termi
nal87isnormall
yopen
asiti
sinanSPSTr el
ay,butasecondt er
minal
,87a,isatt
achedtothenormal
lycl
osedposit
ion
oft
heinter
nal
switch.That’
st hefi
ft
hrowi nt
heabov etabl
e.Whent her
elayi
senergi
zed,
87and
87achangepl
aces—87i sdisconnect
edfrom 30,and87aisconnectedto30.

YoucanimagineaSPDTrelaybeingusedt oswit
chbetweenlowbeamsandhi ghbeams( infact,
i
t’
salit
tl
emor ecompli
cat
edt hanthat,si
ncether
e’st
hefl
asherci
rcui
t,butconceptual
lyit
’sstil
l
adecentexample)
.If
oundanSPDTr elayi
nmy1972BMW 2002t iii
nanunexpect edplace:the
ai
rcondit
ioni
ng.AnSPDTrelayisconnectedtobotht
heheaterbl
owerboxanda/ c,al
l
owi ngone
oft
hem tobeonatat i
me,butnotbot h.

For
mfact
orofr
elay
s

Sincet helate1970s, near

lyal
lofther elay
sthatfol
lowtheDINstandar
dhav eav er
yunifor
m
l
ook—t hey
’relit
tl
e1- i
nchcubes.They’reoftencal
ledDINrel
ays,
oricecuber elays,orBosch
relays,asmanyoft hem wereori
ginall
ymadebyBosch.Whi l
eyoucanexpectt hatanysmall
squar erel
ayf ol
lowst heDINstandard, my’70s-
eraBMW 2002shav esever
al weird-l
ooki
ngnon-
i
ce- cuberelaysthatalsofoll
owthest andard.

Let’sl
ookatasquar eDI Nrel
ayandthesocketitsi
tsin.Belowar etwooftherel
aysinmy1973
BMW 3. 0CSi.Otherthanthenewonesusuallybei
nginapl asti
ccaseinsteadofamet alone,
theyhaven’treal
lychanged.Onther
elayont heri
ght,
y oucanseet heli
tt
leschemati
cdrawnon
thesideofit,whichlooksremar
kabl
ylikemyhand- dr
awndi agram showingthecoi
lofthe
electr
omagnetwi thterminal
s86and85, andtheswit
chwi thterminal
s30and87.

TwoDI
Nrel
aysi
nanear
ly‘
70sGer
mancar
.They
’vechangedv
eryl
i
ttl
esi
ncet
henRobSi
egel

I
nt hephotobelow,
I’v
eremovedoneoftherelay
sfrom itssocketandturneditover.Al
lDIN
rel
ay sshoul
dhavetheter
minal
numbersont hebottom.Onmi ne,y
oucanseet helabel
sf or
ter
mi nal87att
hetopand30ont hel
eft
.Youcan’ttell
,butthat’
s85ont heri
ght,and86ont he
bottom.SometimestheDINnumbersareal
soont hesocket ,butonthi
sonethey ’
renot.

Rel
ayr
emov
edf
rom i
tssocket
,showi
ngt
heDI
Nnumber
sont
hebot
tom.RobSi
egel

I
nter
changeabi
l
ityofr
elay
s

Somet hi
ngy oureal
lyneedt obecarefulofi
st hedi fferencebet weenso-call
ed“ TypeA”and
“TypeB”r elays.Sur
prisi
ngly,alt
houghthenumber i
ngofDI Nr elaysisst
andar di
zed, t
het erminal
l
ocationsonDI Nrelaysarenotcompl et
elystandar dized.Termi nals87,
85, and,onachangeov er
rel
ay,87a, areIbeli
evealway sinthesamepl ace,butt er
minals30and86canswi tchplaces
wit
heachot her
.Forthisreason,youneedtobev erycar eful
rummagi ngthrought hespar eparts
boxtof i
ndar el
ayifoneofy ourshasdied,oraccept ingonefr om awell-
meani ngpasser -by.
Notethatt hereareonlyahandf ulofonli
nereferencest o“TypeA”and“ TypeB”r elays.Don’tcall
upapar tssuppl i
erandsay ,“IneedaTypeADI Nr elay .
”Thetake- awaymessagei sthaty ou
needt
oinspectandcompar
ethepi
nout
soft
heol
dandnewr
elay
s.

Theswappedl
ocat
ionoft
ermi
nal
s30and86i
nso-
cal
l
ed“
TypeA”and“
TypeB”r
elay
sRob
Si
egel

Ifyouhavet herelay“type”nail
eddown, wit
hinbothSPSTandSPDTr elay
sthereareaf ew
vari
ati
onswi thi
nt ernaldiodesand/orresi
stor
sfornoisesuppression.Thenewert hecar,t
he
mor evari
antsyou’ r
elikelytofi
nd.Unlessit
’sanemergency,Idon’trecommendr eplaci
ngoneof
thesewithagener i
cDI Nrelaywit
houtthesuppressi
onhardwar e,asit’
stheref
orar eason.You
canswapt hem t heot herway,however—ar el
aywit
har esi
stororaquenchi ngdiodecan
general
lytakethepl aceofonewi thoutthem.

Thosefewtwist
snotwi
thst
anding,t
osayi tagai
n,i
fyouunderst
andthatpoweri
ngter
minal
86
andgroundi
ngtermi
nal85energi
zesthecoil,whi
chthenpul
lstheswit
chcontact
stoget
her
,
connect
ing30(power
)to87(thedevice)
,youknowwhaty ouneedtoknow.

Nextweek,we’
l
ltal
kaboutt
roubl
eshooti
ngrelaysandrel
ayci
rcui
tr
y,andt
heal
l
-impor
tantt
ri
ck
ofbypassi
ngarel
aybyjumper
ingacrosssocketter
minal
s30and87.

*
**

RobSiegelhasbeenwr iti
ngthecol
umnTheHackMechani c™f orBMW CCARoundel Magazine
for30years.Hisnewbook, RanWhenParked:HowIRoad-TrippedaDecade- DeadBMW 2002t i
i
aThousandMi l
esBackHome, andHowYouCan, Too,i
sav ai
lablehereonAmazon.I nadditi
on,
heistheauthorofMemoi r
sofaHackMechanicandTheHackMechani c™GuidetoEuropean
Automoti
veEl ect
ri
calSystems.Bot
har
eav ail
abl
efrom Bentl
eyPublishersandAmazon.Ory ou
canorderpersonall
yinscri
bedcopi
est
hroughRob’swebsite:www.robsiegel
.com​.

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ect
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cal

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ect
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oint
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