bottle heater relay or fuse?
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 366
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bottle heater relay or fuse? Instead of using a relay could i just wire a 30a fuse from the battery and then wire a switch in to control the heater? cause isnt thats what in a relay is 30a fuse? i have no idea which is why im asking
No. A relay is so that the high current line (in this case your heater) is isolated from the low current side (your switch). Putting 10+ amps through a switch is not a good idea. It can (and probably will) destroy your switch.
You could use a switch rated for 25A for example and eliminate the relay, I would recommend just using a relay. A relay does not replace a fuse, you would still need a fuse to protect the wire to the bottle heater. With a relay the power runs through it only if a signal(5V low current) is applied to it. Just like Todd said it isolates your switch from high current. So the switch doesnt have to be rated for high current with a relay setup. Just do it that way.
