Re: Relay Problem - Chattering

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "David Speck by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <dave-at-davidspeckmd-dot-org>

Dan,
I didn't seen anything wrong with your relay circuit.  Perhaps you have a 
bad contact in the latching circuit.

However, I wonder how long your LEDs will work, if they are really wired as 
you drew them.  Most plain LEDs will fail at reverse voltages greater than 
5 or 10 volts.  As drawn, the LEDs will see full line reverse voltages 
during their non-conducting half cycle.

I would suggest putting a 200 V Si diode in reverse across each LED. These 
will limit the reverse voltages across the LEDs to 0.6 volts, and help 
protect against HV transients which could conceivably be much higher in 
voltage.

Dave

Tesla list wrote:

>Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" 
><dhmccauley-at-spacecatlighting-dot-com>
>
>I'm currently having a problem with my relay.
>
>Approximately 20% of the time I try to energize the relay, the relay will
>begin to chatter and not work correctly.
>Since my circuit utilizes a simple latch network, I first thought it might
>be a feedback oscillation problem, but
>after looking at my circuit, didn't really see any possible problem.
>
>Here is my schematic:
>
>http://www.spacecatlighting-dot-com/datasheets/sc2020_sheet2.pdf
>
>Anyone see a problem, or could this just be a faulty relay???
>
>Any help appreciated.
>
>Thanks
>
>Dan