Week 4

Aim: To demonstrate the various parts of Electromechanical relay and ascertain the
operation
Apparatus required:
1. Regulated power supply of 0-30 V
2. SPST switch
3. Electromechanical relay 5 V/12 V
4. Incandescent lamp of 230 V

Parts of Electromechanical relay:

Fig. 6 Electromechanical relay

A relay contains a coil, an armature, and at least one pair of contacts. Current flows
through the coil, which functions as an electromagnet and generates a magnetic field. This
pulls the armature, which is often shaped as a pivoting bracket that closes (or opens) the
contacts.
The main part of a relay is the electromagnet. The electromagnet is made by a coil of wire
wrapped around a soft iron core which provides low reluctance path for magnetic flux. It
also consists of a movable iron armature and one or more set of contacts.
NO, NC refer to the relay being de-energized or powered off. So, to have “open to alarm”
condition, the NO contact would be used for this. ... NC means normally-closed contact. NO
means normally-open contact. When the relay coil is de-energized, NC contact becomes
open, and NO contact closes.
 Fig. 7 Parts of electromechanical relay

Fig. 8 Circuit diagram for relay operation

 Fig. 9 Five pin relay terminals
Procedure
1. Make the circuit connections as shown in the diagram.
2. Keeping the SPST switch in open state observe the status of lamp (dark)
3. Close the SPST switch.
4. Set the voltage of the RPS/battery to 5 V/ 12 V.
5. The relay coil is energised and the contacts- NO becomes NC and NC becomes NO.
6. Observe the status of the lamp (bright).
7. Reduce the voltage of the RPS/Battery to zero volts and again observe the status of
the lamp (dark).
8. Switch off the supply.
1b. Demonstrate setting of pick-up current/ time setting multiplier for relay operation

Pick Up Current of Relay

In all electrical relays, the moving contacts are not free to move. All the contacts
remain in their respective normal position by some force applied to them continuously. This
force is called the controlling force of the relay. This controlling force may be the
gravitational force, may be a spring force, or may be a magnetic force.
The force applied to the relay’s moving parts for changing the normal position of the
contacts is called deflecting force. This deflecting force is always in opposition of controlling
force and is present always in the relay. Although the deflecting force always presents in the
relay directly connected to live line, as the magnitude of this force is less than controlling
force in normal condition, the relay does not operate. If the actuating current in the relay coil
increases gradually, the deflecting force in electromechanical relay is also increased. Once,
the deflecting force crosses the controlling force, the moving parts of the relay initiate to
move to change the position of the contacts in the relay. The current for which the relay
initiates its operation is called pick up current of relay.

Time Setting Multiplier of Relay

The operating time of an electrical relay mainly depends upon two factors:
1. How long distance to be travelled by the moving parts of the relay for closing
relay contacts and
2. How fast the moving parts of the relay cover this distance.
So far by adjusting relay operating time, both of the factors to be adjusted. The adjustment of
traveling distance of an electromechanical relay is commonly known as time setting. This
adjustment is commonly known as time setting multiplier of relay. The time setting dial is
calibrated from 0 to 1 in steps of 0.05 sec.