Fake Omron relays with smoky issues.

I bought a few of these very common Omron clone relays from various sellers on eBay to check out. The 12V units seem OK, but the 240V ones have a very silly issue that is so common with this type of cloned product. Grossly overloaded components. And in this case a completely unnecessary one.
Keep in mind that while some of these relays may be fine for personal projects or prototyping, I don't recommend their use in professional equipment for liability reasons.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.co...
This also keeps the channel independent of KZbin's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.

[@jxi5671]

The only youtuber to actually use the circle in a thumbnail to point out the problem instead of clickbaiting, good work

[@theotherwalt]

I am glad he doesn't use emojis.

[@GoldSrc_]

No stupid useless 10 second intro as well, straight to the point.

[@Solocat1]

@@GoldSrc_ Yes the fill the video to get the magical 10 minutes for $$$$

[@Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer]

I feel they missed an opportunity ... Omnom relays sound so tasty

[@NiekNooijens]

i did once get a phishing mail from "onnron"

[@CXensation]

nOmnom...

[@mr-meek]

Shit, you're making me hungry

[@kaseyzeltinger2735]

Must be stick based and deep fried.

[@nicholasvinen]

When you have a whole row of them on the board, they would read omnomnomnom!

[@JerryEricsson]

Years ago, when a fellow had to work on his own car because the thought of allowing a "garage" to work on it was just plain distasteful, some times you had to access the "relay" box on the car that kicked in the "generator" (pre alternator cars you know) and perhaps bend the contact a bit, or even file them since they looked a lot like points on the old 50's cars. This was my first exposure to relays, and I have loved the little devices ever since. I was in hog heaven when the US Army sent me to PROJECT Transition, an attempt to ready soldiers who had served their tour and were getting ready to return to the real world, for a job where they could fit in. After all who needs a soldier who knows how to tear down an M60 machine gun, or a M16, and know tactics to stay alive on the battle ground. Not a lot of that sort of jobs in the civilian market. At any rate they sent me to a central office repair course, which was on the job training in two central telephone offices. Both ran the old Automatic Electric switching systems with relays reading the dial pulses to find the numbers in huge banks of switches. It was a blast, but never really did me a lot of good considering I went right to work on the Police Department when I got out of the Army. But man those switches, watching them climb and rotate to find numbers it was out of this world!

[@charliedobbie8916]

Fifteen minute video about relays. Only time they're switched is to check how they sound. Never change, Clive!

[@thephantom1492]

A note about resistor wattage rating: they are rated mounted in free air (off the board). With a relativelly normal airflow. This one is burried in plastic, thru limited airflow. This will reduce quite alot the wattage rating. Derating is a pain.

[@otm646]

thephantom1492 are there derating standards or guidelines for situations like this?

[@simontay4851]

Should've used a 1W 220k resistor minimum.

[@thephantom1492]

otm646: There is some guideline and rule of thumb, and one of the guideline is to leave space around it so it can 'breath'. And then, if you are unsure, to actually test it to see how hot it really get. Clearly, they didn't cared in this case.

[@thephantom1492]

Против Глобал 2x safety margin is unfortunatelly costly, so the "butcher" departenent will most likelly slash it to 1.25 or less. On chinese cheap stuff, it can actually be 0.5 times. That's it, use a 0.25w when 0.5w should have been used... Won't last long, but the part specs is also 2x their limit.. which make it trully 1.0 times the part limit... Ahhh the joy of slashing the cost of junk....

[@v8snail]

The genuine Omrons with AC coils i have here use a couple of turns of enamelled wire around the main coil supplying a couple of volts in isolation to the led. A more elegant solution.

[@Cavalier_Steve]

V8Snail Elegant and shows the primary coil working so a great solution altogether.

[@AgentOffice]

Smart

[@andygozzo72]

i have some relays that have a 'mechanical' indicator linked to the armature,

[@klausstock8020]

I guess some people prefer relays where you can smell the indicator.

[@CXensation]

@@klausstock8020 'ya mean smell .. ?

[@footrotdog]

I know what you mean about the joy of listening to relays operate. A few times in the 90's I was lucky enough to visit operating crossbar telephone exchanges (Ericsson 'ARE') . The sound of the relays all working together, sounded like ocean waves crashing back and forth through the exchange room as phone calls were set up and cleared down. It was very cool.

[@mygreenfroggy]

My grandfather worked for the phone company eons ago and it was fun to go into one of the switching buildings and listen to the banks of relays clicking away. Positively noisy at times!

[@theskett]

Ruth Beaty

[@BenjaminEsposti]

My boss has some of those old mechanical switches. We're busy now, but maybe eventually we'll get them working. :D

[@Solocat1]

Eons! Wow still being used in the 80s

[@acmefixer1]

Now everything is just the sound of fans blowing.

[@tonyjones9442]

I think it was called the Strowger system??

[@paulkocyla1343]

I wanted to get some for a relais computer in Shenzhen. They asked me if I wanted original Omron, fake with Omron branding, or the dirt cheap compatible stuff :) I bought the dirtcheap stuff - but it was not really worth it. 20% just stuck after a while in normal operation. Not problematic for a hobby project, but imagine this happening in an elevator or worse - in a heavy industrial machine.

[@Asu01]

Thank you for _relaying_ this issue.

[@rocky_adventure_bay7562]

Asu hello

[@rocky_adventure_bay7562]

Asu are you in the paw patrol fandom

[@jfan4reva]

If you love the sound of relays, you would have loved the tour of the switching room of our local phone company that I took years and years ago. It was when they had rotary phones, which made a relay click multiple times each time a digit was dialed on a phone. I lived in a town of 100,000 people and the noise of relays was loud and continuous. As a side benefit, they didn't need a heating system in the winter, because the heat generated kept the half block square, three story tall room warm even in -15c (0f) weather!

[@paulstubbs7678]

To me they sound like hail on a tin roof - bordering on white noise in a larger exchange.

[@wtmayhew]

When I was a kid, lived in a town with a Bell long lines repeater office combined with the local town step-by-step office in a three story building. In the summer the windows would be open because there was no air conditioning. It was music to nerd ears to walk down the street and hear the SxS chorus wafting out.

[@dancoulson6579]

I think everyone loves relays. Need to switch high power directly on and off - Relay. Need something that doesn't care about AC or DC - Relay. Need something with a bit of built in hysteresis - Relay. Need something that doesn't get hot, or need a heatsink - Relay. They're my go to component for practically anything. Especially automotive circuits.

[@zh84]

You can build a computer from them.

[@zh84]

Not quite: a relay is only on or off, while a transistor can actually amplify a signal.

[@renzevenir4853]

Eveyone loves relays? I don't.

[@Granty400]

zh84 you can amplify with a relay, just use it to switch a higher voltage 😊

[@SlyPearTree]

I think they were the first "electronic" parts I understood.

[@kimsleep4111]

Ok, so the various manufactureers can Knock-Off an entire relay...but cant figure out the value of LEDs resistor????!!!!!....GEEEZE!

[@gordonlawrence4749]

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

[@progandy]

That is a deliberate choice to make you buy more relays.

[@km5405]

pretty stunning they didn't figure this one out., might be someone bought a crate of relays through the backside of a factory and tacked the LEDS on, and didn't know his shit.

[@melioristicone333]

Merica!

[@kBIT01]

This is one of the many issues with Chinese manufacturing.

[@StopChangingUsernamesYouTube]

eBay has so many cool ways to set myself on fire. I never would've thought of half of this stuff as a kid.

[@twocvbloke]

So you could say, those fakes are Omwrong... :P

[@Asu01]

That's quite relaytable.

[@matt.604]

you left me in switches 😂😂

[@ottoreuter6279]

Seems like that joke didn't really click.

[@MadMax-yq9ix]

The power of these puns are quite hot.

[@adammorse3004]

Chomron

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

that omrch didn't feel as brave as every other chinese company

[@jusb1066]

they could have just used the same letters and called it moron

[@ElectroSwingable]

you could Set them up in a certain order and get them to play a tune

[@terrandroid]

ElectroSwingable yes, Mario bros!

[@Lasseu]

Imperial March!! Reguested!

[@Granty400]

I also love electromechanical devices, probably stems from when I was a child and my dad used to take me to work with him at BT in the 80’s, I remember being mesmerised by racks of Strowger switches clattering away.

[@pixelflow]

You gotta specify concert pitch when ordering or they'll all be out of tune.

[@robertgaines-tulsa]

I bought a reject air conditioner window unit with dead, electronics on the cheap over ten years ago. To operate it, I bought a DPDT 12vdc relay from RadioShack for 120vac-240vac, 12vdc power supply, and a digital thermostat (battery powered) with just simple speaker wire as a thermostat line. The contacts were only rated for 10amps so I split the hot to two contacts and recombined them. I also added a separate relay of the same type to run the fan independently of the compressor. RadioShack didn't provide a relay base so I just crimped on spade connectors to wires, and they showed no sign of getting hot. I am still using the same relays, and the only real change I made was to put them into a grounded metal box because the relay switching was interfering with my TV and reception. The electronics on window units is far more reliable not so getting brain dead air conditioners on the cheap is likely a thing of the past. I still find this exterior thermostat control superior to internal thermostats except that I used to have issue with evaporator freeze over on occasion. Using one of those cheap Chinese thermostats probing the temperature of the coils solved that problem.

[@tonaltti]

Don't really care about relays. I just put your videos to the background because of your relaxing voice.

[@Jacob-ig5kh]

"The spudger can open all" 100% accurate, best tool ever.

[@andrewmawson6897]

I put a 24 v DC one in a recent project and was amused to see that it was marked as made by 'ONROM' - I put it through exhaustive testing and must admit that it worked fine !!!

[@johannienel1]

Who needs to watch any ASMR videos when a BigClive video does a far better at relaxing oneself?

[@71dembonesTV]

I like these style of relays. Nice to be able to pop a new module in without having to pull any wires off. They are also fun to overload and watch the coils burn up in a sealed air pocket. That's how I learned you can use a high voltage on a low voltage coil; but only once and only for a short time!

[@blacksmock445]

IVery interesting video, as usual. If I remember rightly, from my training as a GPO telephone engineer in the 60s, placing a metal ring around the armature end of a relay coil made it "slow-to-release". Placing it at the other end made it "slow-to-operate and slow-to-release". Re the LED series resistor, I remember reading that metal-film resistors have a voltage limit of 250 volts, even if they're operating well within their wattage rating. I believe the resistance tends to fall if they repeatedly exceed this, as they would on 220-240 volt AC mains.

[@dav1dsm1th]

My dad used to work for the GPO - so I got to experience Strowger Exchanges occasionally - which also produce interesting electromechanical sounds.

[@nathantron]

Why do I feel like Clive builds giant fighting robots in his free time, we just see this benign simple stuff he does when he's feeling lazy... GIANT FUCKING ROBOTS!!

[@theteenageengineer]

I hit the motherload of potter and brumfield relays, in my grandpa's garage, they are quite good quality, some were made in america and others in mexico, but they all work rather well for how old they are. Some of them also have AMF the bowling system company, written on them. Anything from Omron is very good quality, I use Makita power tools on a daily basis, and they all use Omron triggers, while other bands like Milwakee use cheap chinese triggers. My Makita Impact driver is about 11 years old and it still works really well, and I still have the original battery, and that works great as well. The bottom line is if you use good quality componets they will last a very long time as apposed to their cheap counterparts. I think its good Clive, that you are telling people about these issues, I know many people who have bought something cheap, and think its the real deal, but its actually a fake.

[@sharg0]

Bwahaha - WTF moment of the day = Clive's controlling my lights?!?!?! At the same second as you plugged in the 240V relay (click) to show it's power consumption my timer turned on the roof lights!

[@bjtaudio]

I've used the 12v Omron clones, and are usable for small non critical projects, the screw terminals on the relay bases are loose and awful, but do still work, I would not switch 240V with them, but are ok for low energy 12V applications like reversing polarity on a dc motor, at just a few amps.

[@roberthoople]

The school I clean has an older 2-floor elevator, and since I have a set of master keys for the whole building, I couldn't **not** snoop around in the control room for it, so I got to see the 2 dozen or so relays that control it. It was quite fascinating.

[@miketrissel5494]

It used to drive me crazy, when I opened up an electrical panel for an elevator in the penthouse of a building, and the buzzing was so loud from the relays, that you had to put earplugs in. You could put your finger on the relays and tell which ones they were, but they still worked, so nobody ever hauled 20-30 of them up the steps to replace them. One day I got tired of it and did. I found that there was a small hairline crack in the shading coil, at the corner of each buzzing relay, where it wrapped around the rectangular AC armature in the relay. A drop of solder made the noise go away, but I never found out why the copper ring cracked. The crack was so small, it was almost undetectable

[@CXensation]

If you want to keep that steady light in the LED, you could opt for 3x33k 1/4W in series. Seems to be just enough space replacing the downlead to the base.

[@kimsleep4111]

I spent about 6 hours at a factory replacing the led current limiting resistors that had gone faulty on relays, dirty crusty ol' relays...eh..... a freelance jobs a job.

[@bigclivedotcom]

No harm in that. Work is work.

[@Problimatic]

Kim Sleep You seem to know what you're talking about, let me ask you this if I can please... I'm making a homemade iontophoresis machine (power supply), it's very basic. It consists of two 9v batteries connected in series (18v) through a switch and into two 5.5mm DC Jack sockets. An iontophoresis machine basically supply's a current via positive and negative connected to two seperate trays filled with water, you put one hand in each tray which completes the circuit and this helps reduce the amount your hands sweat. The problem I'm having is when I put my hands in the water I get a small electric shock, same when I take them out. Is there any way I can prevent this from happening? With a resistor? I want to keep it as simple as possible because I don't know much about electricity, circuits or even batteries lol.

[@georgesleep5562]

OK, I quickly looked up these machines. Now are you trying to run this on AC/DC Adaptors, DO NOT. Every machine i looked at, was powered by batteries. People who used the machine DID complain of painful shocks, so I think shocks are just a part of it. You can NEVER use AC/DC adapters, as I would be afraid that any sort of AC leakage would kill you. Send me a pic of what you have come up with so far to [e-mail] As well look at the Instructables version of this unit. By the way, I do know what im doing, but big Clive knows 1000x more than me...he could wipe the floor with me.

[@georgesleep5562]

If you like the Instructionals version I have all the parts in stock, and can make u one in no time.

[@Problimatic]

George Sleep Noo, definitely not an adaptor, I would never trust putting my hands into a metallic tray, filled with water that's connected to 240v (UK). It's a very basic circuit x2 9v batteries (square) Positive to Negative (+🔋-🔋) Negative out, Positive out (into water) I'm sure I read somewhere that you could use a resistor or some other component that would build the charge up slowly from when you turn it on, so you wouldn't get a shock when you put your hands in. I'm guessing you'd still get shocked when pulling hands out tho. Thanks for taking the time buddy, much appreciated.

[@whitehoose]

Started my working life in a strowager telephone exchange. It was like the 4th road bridge, by the time you'd "fettled" all the relay controlled switches it was time to start again. Big soldering Irons and tiny spring gauges and odd looking pliers for tweaking the different springs. Incredibly noisy, gawd I was glad to get out of there. Now I'm told they're like morgues, the only sound is the cooling fans, you can go days and not see another soul ... gawd I'm glad I never worked there.

[@Bammyja]

I used to have a fruit machine that had nothing but relays in the back of it, was mesmerising listening to them all working away

[@BerndFelsche]

Resistor power rating is based on being mounted above a PCB at moderate temperature. Encased as it is, it must be derated to less than half; especially next to the hot coil.

[@asbestosfibers1325]

Clive. Your intro and thumbnails are absolutely perfect. Nice job.

[@dotes12]

Clive, I like how you printed out your FLIR images for this video. Most people would add it in editing later, but your way makes your presentation really professional.

[@ManWithBeard1990]

I do like that they're transparent. It makes it easier to diagnose if there are problems; if the contacts are stuck or arc more than they should you can easily tell. But yeah, that LED circuit is a good way to burn your house down. Actually... is there such a thing as a 5mm LED with multiple junctions in series inside it? Would make a lot of sense in a resistive dropper circuit.

[@srduke]

I once hooked up a panel of 16 relays to an Arduino that was programmed to open and close one relay at a time at an interval of 65 milliseconds. The sound was very similar to that of a Harley Davidson motorcycle idling over. quite satisfying LOL

[@BadMax02_VR]

i like relais alot too they are easy to work with and such. i have a old amplifier which has about 3 or so realis in it and everytime you turn the amp on after 2 seconds the realis clicks to turn the output on and you everytime time just feel like you feel the thing living and working and so, very pleasing indeed haha

[@MRCNC1967]

Indeed, you get what you pay for. I purchased "Omron" time delay relays from amazon, they were obviously counterfeit since the genuine articles cost 6x the price but I was curious to see what they were all about. And they didn't work.

[@dodgydruid]

I bought some fused 30A relays from ebay to take the load off of the headlamps and the heater motor on my old Reliant Robin, the heater motor just fused the relays solid on the lowest setting and the headlamp relays melted, none of them blew the fuse but burnt out the contacts which looked like tin foil... never again, found some NOS Lucas relays on ebay and they have worked beautifully ever since. Once upon a time Lucas was a byword in quality and pretty much the end word on anything automotive electrical too, now only remembered on classic cars although they are still making stuff as I bought a brand new Lucas brake light switch recently but bet its made on the QT in Taiwan or China.

[@nufgorf]

Since the joke "Lucas - the prince of darkness" has been around longer than I have, I think "byword in quality" may be a bit of nostaligia over reality :) but an "OK" quality unit is always a better choice than a "maybe it will catch fire, maybe not" unit..

[@rmx4087]

Little tip: Numbers on OMRON relays are printed in a form of OCR font. Very distinctive font. Noticed that with those in my car.

[@Archangle-lv4kt]

Damn..... i am gonna double check the faulty elevator omron relays that were recently replaced by the technician. Hope they are not this kind of fakes! Yikes!!!!!! Thanks for this video!

[@bigclivedotcom]

I would hope they wouldn't use the clones, but sometimes they find their way into industrial stuff here.

[@yangtse55]

Very grateful for this. Thankfully I mostly use the 12 volt ones and the one 240v one I currently have is driven from a PIR so I'll be OK unless I get a persistent nocturnal visit from the JWs - though since it's socketed I have no excuse to not fix it. Scarily I originally bought it to switch my computer sound off at night in my bedroom so I could use a cheap mains timeswitch . I may look for an app instead ....

[@willybee3056]

CEMF is the impedance, , but you knew that... Thanks again for the good work.

[@tncorgi92]

Thumbs-down people buy their relays from Omrch.

[@jusb1066]

or move the same letters, moron

[@jfan4reva]

Just a optimistic Chinese manufacturer. If he sells a million, he'll be able to say ' Om r(i)ch!'

[@user-xd3en9mm5x]

Omr0n good quality time, 100%

[@blancsteve4819]

+Paul Drake The trade war over copyright/patent enforcement will start hurting us soon. Maybe it is time to evolve a better system of recompence for ideas. The new money looks worth the time in study. Start with Charle Lee. For he IS a jolly good fellow and so say I.

[@andreasbehringer6967]

Luckily I saw this vid. I built a digital programmer/thermostat for my central heating system and it uses a 240v coil relay that I bought via ebay. I thought it was an Omron device but on closer inspection it says 'Onrom' and the resistor is overheated exactly as you showed in your vid. I've removed the indicator circuit from the relay and I'm ordering a new one from RS. Thanks Clive! By the way you sound uncannily like Sideshow Kev (don't know if you've been told that before).

[@RWBHere]

I like relays too. Used to have some which were wired as a logic circuit. Each one was a latching bistable switch. Quite ingenious. The first digital computer was German, and it used relay logic, with a clock speed of 1Hz.

[@WillTellU]

electromechanical stuff is very satisfying. I think it's seeing the actual changes mechanically unlike in electronics that gives that happy juice rush.

[@zx8401ztv]

Ahh relay logic, very handy devices :-D I've pushed them into service for many odd jobs.

[@gordonlawrence4749]

BigClive thanks for pointing this out. It annoys me beyond words when rip-off artists try a clone a good quality product, and end up with crap - that then reflects on the real manufacturer.

[@gordonlawrence4749]

LMAO, Exactly.

[@gordonlawrence4749]

A humungous international practical joke? I'm not discounting anything at this point.

[@erickvond6825]

Relays aren't the only thing that gets cloned like that. Awhile ago I purchased a few micro switches to replace the ones in my mouse. What came to my doorstep was surely enough labeled as a genuine Omron part. Having installed one and tested it I found it didn't work at all. This set me to testing the rest with a multimeter to check the quality. Only 5 out of the lot of 30 worked properly. I took one of the nonworking ones to bits out of curiosity to see if I could work out why they were nackered right. What I found was that they were so oxidized that they couldn't make proper contact. I tried de-ox-it which didn't work. Then I gave Tarnex a go with no luck. I finally worked round to using brake cleaner and a small bristle brush to get whatever it was off just to see if I could get one working reliably. Alcohol and even acetone had no effect on it though and the acetone damaged the plastic. Needless to say I chuckled the lot in the bin and never ordered anything from that seller again.

[@yottaforce]

You'd most likely have to derate the max power for the resistor because it's wrapped in plastic and therefore can't efficiently dissipate the heat. The long legs is a mitigating factor though.

[@MrAsBBB]

My better half Andy and myself Alex loves watching your Chanel. I used to serially loved electrocuting myself on the mains when taking things apart as a teenager.I love watching what you do as it brings back a little of my overall naughtiness. Enjoying what you do and the soda stream has never looked so good.

[@DjResR]

The LED color in original Omron relays is an indicator for the relay coil mode, AC is red and DC is green.

[@egn83b]

After powering one of these ebay clones up you need to consider these a momentary relay application. These are not designed to run continuous more then 5 minute lengths without incuring heat soak. So they work great just for switching, not holding.

[@bakonfreek]

I enjoy older relays for the same reason I enjoy old mechanical keyboards (the IBM Model F for example), because they're loud and other people find them annoying.

[@TheDgdimick]

The Watt LED Measurement may be off, the LED does have a reverse voltage breakdown, however, without the datasheet, you can not just assume it's 220. S better solution may have been to add a diode rated to 400 volts, to the line.

[@ajvinke]

Maybe you could send one of those to Cody to see what metal is used. He might be able to use his X-ray fluorescence spectrometer on it.

[@phils4634]

If Clive has College / University contacts, it's far easier and quicker to use an SEM with x-ray analysis to map the contacts. Stick 'em on a stub, pop 'em in and away you go - quite literally.

[@gordonlawrence4749]

I have found that TME is a very good source of electronic components if you want to buy a bit more than hobbyist quantities but not production numbers. I have been ordering from them for about 2 years with never a hiccup. The only thing you need to make sure of is that what you want is in stock as sometimes their stock refreshing is very slow. They are competitive with some of the Chinese vendors EG a bay of 500 LED's for about £10.

[@thebeststooge]

I have loved Omron switches for decades and try my hardest to get them when I can. Lasts for a long time so I would prefer a real Omron relay if I ever had a need of a mechanical one.

[@TheCheshireCat.]

Can you blow something up with your comedic and sarcastic chat in a future video, makes me laugh every time. Keep up the good work.

[@AlexLaw_Qld]

Spudger - Wand - usable by anyone. Effect: void seal.

[@crystalsoulslayer]

7:35 "I can resist anything except temptation." Oscar Wilde. Also: the little nuts to hold the contacts into the plastic are probably set into it with an ultrasonic gadget. This Old Tony has done videos about DIY ultrasonic stuff. He didn't get his working the way the real ones do, but it was pretty neat nonetheless.

[@LakeNipissing]

Use *lots* of the Omron MY4N-120VAC and MY2N-120VAC at work. Still have many relay safety interlocks which are separate from the PLC and DCS systems.

[@Problimatic]

Lake Nipissing You seem to know what you're talking about when it comes to electricity lol, let me ask you this if I could, please... I'm making a homemade iontophoresis machine (power supply), it's very basic. It consists of two 9v batteries connected in series (18v) through a switch and into two 5.5mm DC Jack sockets. An iontophoresis machine basically supply's a current via positive and negative connected to two seperate trays filled with water, you put one hand in each tray which completes the circuit and this helps reduce the amount your hands sweat. The problem I'm having is when I put my hands in the water I get a small electric shock, same when I take them out. Is there any way I can prevent this from happening? With a resistor? I want to keep it as simple as possible because I don't know much about electricity, circuits or even batteries lol. Thanks

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

XOAdez Don't fuck with electricity. I could tell you how to do it, it's extremely simple. But it seems you don't have the required knowledge

[@Problimatic]

Drakkar Calethiel So tell me again what the point of your comment is? 🤔

[@genevasimmonds8208]

that was informative , I go through so many relays at work didn't relies that about the crap ones. I always seem to use omrons

[@sparkyprojects]

Yep, spent my time looking after control systems that used a lot of relays and contactors, including Cam timers (there's another subject for you), including lift controls. Nothing more satisfying than a motor breaker at 400A clunking in and out :D

[@kissingfrogs]

I will never get used to the relay clunk as a diesel generator goes online. I know its coming but it never fails to scare the sh1t out of me.

[@sparkyprojects]

I got used to it after a time, i knew the sequence of the relays before the main contactors operated. Only thing that made me jump was a flashover on a 415v 3 phase busbar that my colleague had caused, got a bit of arc eye, but wasn't too bad.

[@kissingfrogs]

Clive, I suspect you would have enjoyed working in a relay based CrossBar (or Step by Step) Telephone Exchange. I liked listening to the ebb and flow as the call were switched during the course of the day. Could almost set your watch based on the sound. Sadly not to be heard by anyone anymore, at least not in Australia and in 2022 apparently the pstn will be switched off. edit ...I read below that you are familiar with exchanges.

[@phils4634]

Justin - there's also a proposal to decommission all public telephone boxes. Maintenance costs are too high, and revenue has become all but non-existent. It's far cheaper to put a simple, low-bandwidth cell tower in remote locations than a telephone box these days.

[@runforitman]

4:28 if anyone is curious, here's calculating the inductance from that: 15mA 248V, 10,000ohm real impedance so V/I=R= 248/15*10^-3=16.53kOhm first have to figure out what the inductive component is using pythag: hypotenuse is the total impedance, one of the sides is real impedance, and the other will be inductive impedance. c²-a² = b² = 13.16kOhm (complex impedance = 10,000 + j13,160 ohms) for a sine wave you can use 2πfl for reactance at 50hz: 2π50l = 13.16kOhm 13,160/(2π50) = l = 41.9H (now hopefully i did it right this maths has a lot of places you can mess the whole calculation up)

[@runforitman]

ask Euler why you can use Pythagoras in this

[@gudenau]

I remember someone made a relay based computer a while ago. That was really cool.

[@ColinWatters]

Relays are great for performing simple logic functions at mains voltages. Got some performing logic OR functions in my heating system.

[@acmefixer1]

The relays in the elevators AKA lifts here in the US are big three phase contactors and they don't click, they go Kerchunk! And scare the crap out of you if they actuate while you're near. Big, noisy hydraulic pumps start to run and that really gets your attention! 😡

[@JDfromWitness]

My first experience of viewing "click and bang" was as a child watching a strowger switching system (phone.) Must say, I do miss the old electromechanical days as well! No fun watching a SSR operate! ;)

[@klausstock8020]

Oh, had plenty of solid state relays blowing up in my face. The cases were a bit scratchy...I guess someone had sanded off the markings and relabeled it to, hm, increase the power rating. Yes, it's scary at first, but once you get used to it, you can use the rest of the fakes to scare other people. Well, no. They blew up to violently that people could get injured.

[@kevinjbakertribe]

Presumably another solution for the resistor issue would be to add a series mains rated diode - half the dissipation but no loss of brightness.

[@AttilaAsztalos]

Speaking of mechanical delicacies - it's a shame there aren't any dirt-cheap Chinese rotary phone dials on Ebay (or Poundland) to acquire and review... ;)

[@SoundsLikeOdie]

Such a shame real Omrons were not purchased and compared. I unintentionally installed a chinese knock-off a few years ago as a motor controller on a projector screen. It worked for about 6 month then failed. Basically the whole thing melted and disintegrated. Definitely a fire hazard. I replaced it with Genuine Omron and its been working fine for around 5 years now.

[@blancsteve4819]

Clickering.....the sound of multiple relays being used in anger. Someone has a shelf, and on that shelf it a box, and that box contains tens of thousands of resistors. All the same value. It does not matter what, That factory owner needs to use them up now. In anything...to offset the loss.

[@AttilaAsztalos]

My guess too. "Same order of magnitude? Do they still click and light? Close enough, shove them into the next batch..."

[@rockyloccgarage2040]

I just got a relay system for some lights, I'm going to use it for the light bar, and a reverse light, I might replace the fuses and I'll take a look at the relays now after seeing this.

[@Rolly369]

try running 2 of These AC Relais in series... i bet they will work propperly, and they just labled the 110V one into 240

[@EqualVent]

We had an omron relay fail on a brand new auto transfer switch. Lit the thing up in a new house, quite exciting.

[@Orxenhorf]

@10:45 Aw, come-on Clive, you mean you don't have one of those fancy schmancy XRF alloy identification tools sitting around?

[@RODALCO2007]

Great relay research Clive. Thanks.

[@uK8cvPAq]

15c room temperature? you madman.

[@WineScrounger]

This is England. It costs like a thousand pounds an hour to heat a house.

[@SylvaTheMoth]

i like it colder than that

[@SylvaTheMoth]

il take 11c please

[@TheFlyingScotsmanTV]

It must be hot outside - he usually has it at 5 degrees or something mental. If my house isn't 25 degrees so I can wander about in my kecks it's too cold fer me!

[@uK8cvPAq]

Sure it is, if you've been dunked in alcohol.

[@Tn18d]

I have some of the omron relays from ebay so probably fake too but only 12v dc not had any issues, will be staying well clear of the 220-240v versions though. I also get around 250v at my house so would be extra melty.

[@pulesjet]

Another issue with Some AC Relays employ a Diode to operate. The diodes go HOT as well on the Cheapo versions.

[@sean2607]

15° ambient in da bungalow?! Must be almost tropical for you Clive!

[@RavenLuni]

I initially misread that as 'making omnom relays' (I suppose they look quite sweetie like in the thumbnail)

[@WaltonPete]

RavenLuni Someone peckish?

[@RavenLuni]

I suppose I was (as well as hungover from my pals stag night)

[@toddoroi4947]

In my humble opinion you should've also added a 1n4007 in series with the led. The 240 volt relays wouldn't be too bad with their cases removed and some fans.

[@BrokebackBob]

They had a bunch of 100k quarter watt resistors on that run. Proper engineering isn't the goal, maximum profit is.

[@realvanman1]

Your power meter sounds like it is displaying VA instead of watts. 15 mA at 240 volts is 3.6 VA. Since the resistance is 100k, and the current is 15 mA, the power dissipation in the coil is 2.25 watts...

[@Mountain-Man-3000]

The FLIR photo is so vivid it almost looks photoshopped. Cool.

[@stevenhuei6683]

I use a lot of 24vdc 5a omron relay , for me the difference between fake and original is in the original omron relay the white wire will act like a 2nd fuse will burn off and disconnect the supply and the load if it get short circuit but the fake won't , seems like the original white wire from omron had made for a maximum current pass through if over it will burn of but fake just using normal wire can handle very high current. If users bypass the fuse if there is a short circuit original omron will cutoff the supply and load connection trough the white wire , but if using fake the whole system supply and load wire will smoke , this is my experience.

[@patrickjmorgan]

Ah, lift engineers- Yes, I bet theres a few of us watch your channel- especially the old ones who remember what you are talking about (Im ex Otis- started in 1972- no solid state then, except the NORBIT but thankfully that was rare..)

[@bigclivedotcom]

Otis were quite "adventurous" in their control systems in that era. Early electronic stuff was a bit of a fright for most industries. Lots of expensive smoke.

[@patrickjmorgan]

bigclivedotcom NORBIT wasn’t an Otis idea, it was JE Halls whom Otis bought in 1970. Otisonly did what the parent instructed. Halls were a Brits company based in Dartford.

[@MalagasOnFire]

I like to use the Finder relays on electric boards when Omrom are not available on local stores but who knows if they are "findler".... That LED and resistor were done in a simple way to make a flaw design :S

[@younalazzawi]

I wish if you had an original Omron relay in hand and at least try it to listed to its click sound for comparison.. Thank you for bringing up this issue ... Now I know that the relays I have in hand are all fake .... :)

[@alexpowers3697]

PS--in the ol' USA (across d' pond!) Automation Direct has ice-cube relays for under $6 and sockets to boot and they won't start on fire.