relays and other stuff

super newbie question but can someone explain what relays are and what exactly it is they do and how they can be an advantage
and while you are at it explain any other electrical wiring accesories

im not anything crazy when it comes to lighting or wiring but i want to get alot better
i have a v2 and a full cathode setup in the grille and inside the car but everything is just running from individual wires from the battery (fused ofcourse)

i just want to know helpful tools and hints that can make doing my friends cars and my future car alot cleaner and easier

Relay is basically long story short an electrical switch. You use it when you are powering something that requires alot of power. Basically what you are doing is you send power to the relay, then the relay draws power from a wire going straight from the battery and sends it to the item you are powering. That way you aren't say trying to power a 60 amp air compressor through a little 10 amp switch

Diode = one way street for electricity.

A relay is essentially a switch. It's special b/c it allows you to use a low current switch (much cheaper than high current switches) to control a high current circuit. You could use a switch that's rated for 1A to control something like your headlights that might operate at 8A. It also allows you to electrically decouple two circuits. Say the 1A switch to control the headlights is connected on the same circuit as the cars computer. You don't want an electrical surge or short on the headlights to feedback into the computer. A relay would keep the two circuits isolated electrically.

There's two parts inside a relay. There's an inductor (wire that's wrapped in a donut shape) and a switch. When you provide current to the inductor it creates a magnetic field. This magnetic field pulls the switch arm toward the inductor. When the switch arm gets pulled close enough it touches a contact. This creates the electrical connection for that side of the circuit. When you open the inductor side and the current stops, the magnetic field collapses. The switch arm then returns to it's original position and everything is off.

You win^^

I'm also a newb., and I'm not fully understanding all these relays and stuff. If I'm gonna be running say 5 or 6 accesories off of the same power source, how many relays would I want to install?

Just one. Do some searching and some reading. I always find it kinda hard to explain. But once you understand it is one of those "duuhhhhh" moments lol

Yeah thats how all wiring has been for me once I actually just did instead of being afraid to mess it up.

massie22790 wrote:

Yeah thats how all wiring has been for me once I actually just did instead of being afraid to mess it up.

85% of modding is having the balls to try it. 15% is the actual skill of doing it.

kornholio788 wrote:

massie22790 wrote: Yeah thats how all wiring has been for me once I actually just did instead of being afraid to mess it up. 85% of modding is having the balls to try it. 15% is the actual skill of doing it.

Sounds like it, every project I've done has seemed to turn out like that