cadpoint
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Electrician - but not by NC Law.
One switch controls all the light circuits
- Thread starter aftershock
- Start date
- Status
Well, if busy is what you want to be, then you can certainly relocate the whole shebang. If you're locating the box outside, you'll also need a 3R box as well.
But I'm sure the customer would be more than happy with the ice cubes since there's a whole lot less labor involved.
- Location
- Massachusetts
Ice cube relays are for pilot duty, I would not recommend using them to directly control lighting circuits.
Go with mechanical held contactors, or just move the existing ones as the customer wants.
Go with mechanical held contactors, or just move the existing ones as the customer wants.
- Location
- Massachusetts
But I'm sure the customer would be more than happy with the ice cubes since there's a whole lot less labor involved.
Look up the ratings for ice cubes, they will be junk in no time used near their limits.
tonyou812
Senior Member
- Location
- North New Jersey
yea dude, just move them like they want you to. You already practically made the sale, so whats the deal? Charge them for 4 homeruns and to rewire the contactors..and move on with it....!
brother
Senior Member
Yes, go head and do what they want, since you charge them for it. I have seen people want 'contactors' for their stove on a timer. Why? they didnt want their parents/kids to forget and leave the stove on. Just give them what they want.
I actually had a place that had the bathfan put on a timer and light switch to make the fan come on whenever they are in their by using the 'ice cube' relay. Mind you the amp draw is substanstially lower (1 amp at most) than the lights u may have and it runs no more than 45 minutes at a time.
I actually had a place that had the bathfan put on a timer and light switch to make the fan come on whenever they are in their by using the 'ice cube' relay. Mind you the amp draw is substanstially lower (1 amp at most) than the lights u may have and it runs no more than 45 minutes at a time.
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LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
There is a trick to extending the life of contacts used near their ratings: place them in series (yes, series, not parallel.)
quogueelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- new york
Ice cube relays would work just fine for a simple lighting load just use quality relays like a potter brumfeld quality.The issue that everyone is avoiding is that the contactors shouldnt hum unless there is a problem with them. Magnetism is an inverse square of distance so a small rusted coil will cause chatter on a relay. Clean the coil closure of all light rust and protect it from a wet environment and the humm goes away. LIght sandpaper and a little mechanical skills to dissasemble and you are in like flynn.
kbsparky
Senior Member
- Location
- Delmarva, USA
Or use a contactor with a DC coil. A simple bridge rectifier and capacitor can make some useful DC power for operation of a contactor. You can make a 24 Volt DC power supply using a 16 V doorbell transformer, and a bridge + capacitor for less than $25. :grin:
- Location
- Massachusetts
OR you can just use a relay with the correct rating to start with.
Whatever you want to believe.
I work with this stuff all the time and have replaced many melted or welded ice cubes. They are good for many things, direct control of a 15 or 20 amp circuits is not one of them.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
Be serious!
you could use solid state relays, no noise, and no melted ice cube relays. Make sure you over rate them 100% (use a 40amp relay) these need low voltage DC to control them, so place a little 5vdc power supply between them and the switched 120v. Mount them to a metal can with a good amount of surface area and use heatsink grease under them. Cost you around $25ea plus a few bucks for a little power supply. You need the type that say 'Zero Crossing'
I forgot to mention, the ice cube relays will burn up pretty quickly due to the inrush current from a bunch of lamp filaments. For example, I am looking at a mechanical relay with a general purpose contact rating of 40amps @ 277v, but the rating is only 10a @ 120v when the load is tungsten lighting.
And with the solid state relays I mentioned, if the only load is a couple CFLs, they lamps will randomly flicker when off due to leakage current charging the cap in the ballast.
And with the solid state relays I mentioned, if the only load is a couple CFLs, they lamps will randomly flicker when off due to leakage current charging the cap in the ballast.
What's the advantage of mechanically held vs electrically? Why would you use one over the other?
ultramegabob
Senior Member
- Location
- Indiana
general purpose contactors are inexpensive, but they require a magnetic coil to be energized to hold the contact closed, and they tend to hum and chatter especially after they get a little age on them. Mechanically held contactors only need a momentary contact switch to engage the solenoid and like the name says, they are held in place mechnically "no electricity needed to hold contacts closed" but they will need another seperate switch leg to make the contactor open, so you would need either two momentary contact buttons, or a single pole double throw switch to operate it (you could use a three way switch). the main advantage for a mechanically held contactor in this case is they dont chatter or hum, another disadvantage is they cost quite a bit more....
Good explanation. Thanks.
quogueelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- new york
Cutler Hammer makes an inexpensive 3pole contactor that I have used to switch landscape lights when my ding dong helper trenched in a 2 wire for the 3 way switches.
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