Relays

["A. Bjorkheim" <andreb@u.washington.edu>]

> Can someone please explain this entire "relay" system thing (in relation to 
> the headlights).  I am no electrician.  I have learned quite a bit about my 
> car in the last couple of years, but the electrical end of it still has me 
> a little clueless.  Please be as specific or as general as you would like.
   
   I will be more specific later but to be brief, the whole idea of relays
  is to bypass the stock wiring because of 2 reasons:

     1) The stock wiring has too much resistance so there is quite a bit
        of voltage drop from the battery through the fuse box, through the
        switch and the various wires.  To compensate for the voltage drop
        we use relays to get the voltage back up to what the alternator is
        putting out.

     2) The stock wiring cant handle the increase in current if we use
        higher wattage bulbs so with the use of relays we are able to
        get higher powered lights.


   The relay essentially is just a switch that when it senses that you
   turn your headlights on it redirects its power input directly from
   the battery instead of throught the fusebox and switch.  HTH...

 Andre'

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