Relay Races

After a bit of searching, I've uncovered several relay panels strategically placed in closets around the house.  I didn't notice them at first - they're just a painted metal plate with 4 counter-sunk screws. And I have to say, so far things look pretty tidy inside them.  There's bits of white tape on each relay, with faded, handwritten descriptions of what the relay controls.  We'll have to upgrade that; the ink is pretty faded and it's written in longhand.

But enough about that, for the moment.  "What's a relay look like," you ask?  Well they look like this, compliments of the large box left for me in the basement, labeled "electrical parts."

The 3 small gauge wires are for the controls - the switch on the wall, usually, but it could be anything that provides momentary contact.  The 4 holes above the motor label are for the line level wires.  The round shaft has 4 long spring clips that you can kind of see in the first photo.

Holy Cable Salad, Batman!  

"See there, Norm, what you've got there is your typical 5x2 relay cabinet."  

     --Cliff Claven

The box is pretty simple - apart from a lot of knockouts on the top and bottom, there's just a single piece of metal.  It's punched with two rows of five holes, and when you stick a relay into the hole, the long spring clips hold it in loosely place.  It keeps the hot side hot, and the cold side cold.

After looking around on the Interwebs, I've learned I'm pretty lucky.  Most are poorly labeled, poorly organized, and full of 60 years of detritus. While some of the little white tape bits are hard to read, they are all there.  Through a process of elimination I've managed to identify most of them.  There's anothere identically sized panel to the left - I'll have to open and catalog that one as well.

Now, if I can manage to unpack my linesman's and needle-nose pliers this weekend, we should be Back to the Future! 

Back to the future!

This old new house has a rather unusual electrical system.  Nearly all of the electrical switches are low-voltage, 24 volt, with 3 control wires.  The low-voltage switch legs run back to a relay panel, where mechanical relays open and close the circuit, turning the light on or off.

"Huh?" you say.
"Yes," I say, "I know."

What would they do that?  It's the House of the Future!  Low-voltage switching allows you to put as many switches as you want on a circuit, wherever you want them.  This, in 1961, was amazing.  It's still pretty amazing now, if you are the kind of person that is likely to want more than one switch to control a single light. If you are not that kind of person, it's kinda cray cray.

The switches are mostly made by Remcon, and have a sexy, hourglass shape that screams mid-Century modern.

See?  You like them more now, right?  You kinda want to touch them, don't you?  Mmm-hmm. I know.  Too bad they went out of production years ago, and are impossible to find now.

But wait - there's more!

What's that honey?  A burned out light bulb?  No problem.  Gotcha covered.  New light bulb, et voila'.  
Hmm.  Still doesn't work.  What the....  Double check the light bulb - yep, it's good.  
Double Hmm.

This, my friends, in the House of the Future is what's known as a "blown relay."  (Fortunately, the relays are still available.)  Off we go in search of the relay panel.  It could be anywhere, remember.  Switch proximity is not a factor.  Mechanical relays make a noise when they trip, so finding one is like a game of electrical Marco Polo.  

Next up - The Relay Panel