Relays with extremely low input power requirement

[GSM]

Hi,

I am looking for a relay with extremely low input power requirement. Ideally
it should suffice with a coil current of 1 mA or less to switch the relay.

Apart from that I have the following very rough specifications:
Type: SPDT or DPDT
Coil voltage: 12V or 24 V (even 48V or 5V may work)
Swiching voltage: 50 V
Switching current: 100 mA
Switch frequency: Not important
Price: <10 USD
Shielding: Well, maybe

Is there such a thing availabe on this planet? Or something similar at
least, the spec is not 100% fixed.

Thanx in advance

/Ulf

 

[Tim Wescott]

"GSM" <ulf.bergqvist@nordforce.se> wrote in message
news03Ab.7828$uv1.5364@nntpserver.swip.net...

Hi,

I am looking for a relay with extremely low input power requirement.
Ideally
it should suffice with a coil current of 1 mA or less to switch the relay.

Apart from that I have the following very rough specifications:
Type: SPDT or DPDT
Coil voltage: 12V or 24 V (even 48V or 5V may work)
Swiching voltage: 50 V
Switching current: 100 mA
Switch frequency: Not important
Price: <10 USD
Shielding: Well, maybe

Is there such a thing availabe on this planet? Or something similar at
least, the spec is not 100% fixed.

Thanx in advance

/Ulf

You really need to get more specific about the coil voltage requirement --
you were right on track when you said "input power". Electromechanical
devices that use coils generally come in families, with the behavior within
the family set by the input power vs. the output behavior. This is because
when you rewind a coil with a different size of wire (which is fairly easy
to do) the number of ampere-turns tends to be constant with input power.
You'll see motors specified with "torque per root watts" for instance.

This means that you local relay manufacturer will tend to make one
magneto-mechanical design, then base a family of relays on it using
different coils wound to the same overall dimensions but with different size
wire. So finding a 1mA, 48V relay (48mW) will be much easier than finding a
1mA, 5V (5mW) relay.

All of that having been said, in this age of semiconductors you may still
have trouble finding a such a sensitive relay, particularly if you're
designing a product rather than a one-off. When you do find such a
sensitive relay you may find that it isn't very mechanically rugged, or that
it's expensive. Have you verified that you can't use a solid-state relay,
or that you can't whomp one up using opto-isolators etc.? Even using an
optoisolator to drive a less-sensitive relay may be a better way to go.

 

[Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun]

In article <p03Ab.7828$uv1.5364@nntpserver.swip.net>,
ulf.bergqvist@nordforce.se mentioned...

Hi,

I am looking for a relay with extremely low input power requirement. Ideally
it should suffice with a coil current of 1 mA or less to switch the relay.

Apart from that I have the following very rough specifications:
Type: SPDT or DPDT
Coil voltage: 12V or 24 V (even 48V or 5V may work)
Swiching voltage: 50 V
Switching current: 100 mA
Switch frequency: Not important
Price: <10 USD
Shielding: Well, maybe

Is there such a thing availabe on this planet? Or something similar at
least, the spec is not 100% fixed.

Thanx in advance

/Ulf

You might consider using a latching relay. Charge up a cap with the
low current, then discharge it thru the relay to get it to latch. So
power consumption is only during the switching time.

Reed relays have relatively low power consumption, but I don't know if
they will work in your case.


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[kansas_ray]

"GSM" <ulf.bergqvist@nordforce.se> wrote in message
news03Ab.7828$uv1.5364@nntpserver.swip.net...

Hi,

I am looking for a relay with extremely low input power requirement.
Ideally
it should suffice with a coil current of 1 mA or less to switch the relay.

Apart from that I have the following very rough specifications:
Type: SPDT or DPDT
Coil voltage: 12V or 24 V (even 48V or 5V may work)
Swiching voltage: 50 V
Switching current: 100 mA
Switch frequency: Not important
Price: <10 USD
Shielding: Well, maybe

Is there such a thing availabe on this planet? Or something similar at
least, the spec is not 100% fixed.

Thanx in advance

/Ulf

This series from Tyco / P&B has saved my bacon in the past. The price I paid
for P&B R10-E1Y1-SS1.0K was $14.10 each.

Regards,
Ray