Guest guest Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 For the 2006 season I tried to use a relay box that I had made the previous year for all my airblown motors, sign and static parts of my display. I had this hooked to one channel on a LOR CTB16D. The problem was it buzzed so loud that I ended up using a non LOR circuit for the coils. There are (4) 120VAC 60hz coil relays hooked up in parallel each one draws 170 mA. It buzzed wether or not I had load attached to the contacts of the relays. I also have surge suppression on the coils, and the loads are connected to a different circuitThe only thing I can think of is LOR must be switching them on and off even with intensity set to 100%.Has any one else used regular control relays for larger loads controlled with LOR?I would like to fix this for this year...Thanks for the help, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 I use 120 volt coil type relays for "either-or" amination to save channels. That are noisey when I activate the LOR channel but I am adding some sound insulation to the enclosure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Toymakr000 wrote: For the 2006 season I tried to use a relay box that I had made the previous year for all my airblown motors, sign and static parts of my display. I had this hooked to one channel on a LOR CTB16D. The problem was it buzzed so loud that I ended up using a non LOR circuit for the coils. There are (4) 120VAC 60hz coil relays hooked up in parallel each one draws 170 mA. It buzzed wether or not I had load attached to the contacts of the relays. I also have surge suppression on the coils, and the loads are connected to a different circuitThe only thing I can think of is LOR must be switching them on and off even with intensity set to 100%.Has any one else used regular control relays for larger loads controlled with LOR?I would like to fix this for this year...Thanks for the help,I have had directly driven relays with no perceptable noise using a CTB16D. I do know that if the unit had firmware more than a year old (less than 3.0) then I would expect the hum. Do you know what version of firmware you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 I had great success using a relay and LOR 1602W controllers this past season! The relay worked flawlessly with only a clicking sound when actuating, with no humming or other side effects.Last spring I drove over to our local Marvac store (http://www.marvac.com) and asked the staff for a 120 volt relay that would handle 25 amps. Attached is a sample photo of what the relay looked like (not the actual relay). I ran just under 20 Amps through the relay.After buying 10awg wire for safety, fittings, a metal enclosure, etc. it cost under $50. The relay was hooked up directly to a LOR channel and operated only in ON or OFF mode (no effects). Additionally attached to the same channel were two C-9 bulbs to make LOR think it was operating a light. I checked it numerous times especially early in the season for heat buildup and any signs of distress. There weren’t any problems or signs there of at any time.The net effect allowed me to run only about 10 watts of power through LOR to operate almost 20 amps of displays. My LOR controllers were new this past season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I have two 12v relays one with a 6v power transformer and the other 5v. They have worked perfectly on my ctb-16d with no extra load. (c9's)--Daniel L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Ok So i've heard lots of people talking about using the relays and heck even the Electricians at work have suggested using relays.So my question is how do you utilize relays to give yourself more channels?Do you put a relay on an channel and then when it's fed 50% it does one thing and then when it has 100% it does something else?I'm no Electrician and haven't bothered to ask the Electricians at my work about it yet but, I just thought I'd ask to try and get a better understanding of the situation.thanks-Evan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 NWSanta wrote: Ok So i've heard lots of people talking about using the relays and heck even the Electricians at work have suggested using relays.So my question is how do you utilize relays to give yourself more channels?Do you put a relay on an channel and then when it's fed 50% it does one thing and then when it has 100% it does something else?I'm no Electrician and haven't bothered to ask the Electricians at my work about it yet but, I just thought I'd ask to try and get a better understanding of the situation.thanks-EvanI used a couple relay's in my 1st year ('06) to allow more amps/lights to be used on a channel but I'm not sure if it would be cost effective to get "more" channels. By the time you invest in a box of dependable relays you could probably buy a 16 ch board.Just my 2 cents.Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I don't use the relays to act as more channels I use them for higher current channels.Regular control relays won't switch as fast as a LOR channel would but in my display I have a very basic static display that's on all the time. I use one channel for this so the computer will turn it on or off when I'm not there. The one channel can handle the load of 4 relays ( .6 A) with no problem, but this one channel cannot handle the 12 A of all the static stuff. Thats why I use relays..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 NWSanta wrote: So my question is how do you utilize relays to give yourself more channels?Do you put a relay on an channel and then when it's fed 50% it does one thing and then when it has 100% it does something else?My relay is used solely for the purpose of adding more amperage capacity. It is an electro-mechanical switch that is either ON or OFF. During my musical (animated) sequences, the static display is turned off. After the musical sequence, the static portion is turned back on. The static (all on) display is run through the relay. It's that simple - - bare bones. There is an ever so slight delay between when LOR switches a channel compared to when it physically occurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 ggregzim wrote: NWSanta wrote: So my question is how do you utilize relays to give yourself more channels?Do you put a relay on an channel and then when it's fed 50% it does one thing and then when it has 100% it does something else?My relay is used solely for the purpose of adding more amperage capacity. It is an electro-mechanical switch that is either ON or OFF. During my musical (animated) sequences, the static display is turned off. After the musical sequence, the static portion is turned back on. The static (all on) display is run through the relay. It's that simple - - bare bones. There is an ever so slight delay between when LOR switches a channel compared to when it physically occurs.Ahhhhhhhh I seee...See that's why you ask the questions....thanks guys-Evan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 NWSanta wrote: So my question is how do you utilize relays to give yourself more channels?Do you put a relay on an channel and then when it's fed 50% it does one thing and then when it has 100% it does something else?thanks-EvanEvan, use the example of my singing Santa as seen at ChrismasNorthwest.com His mouth MUST be in one position or the other, so the relay - when activated "opens" the mouth while cutting the current to the mouth closed position. Same is true of the belly on Santa as well as the arms. Come to the NW Mini PLUS on Apr 28th and I'll have ole Relay Santa on display.Now as an alternative way of saving channels look and Dominick on the same site. One minute and 23 seconds in you see the top of the head go OFF. I wire that one (at told Gary :]) never to open mouth while ear is back. By wire it in this manner I was able to gain 3 functions on 2 channels. That unit will also be at the mini PLUS. I am going to add solenoids the the Donkey and Pig this year so you do not need to worry about it when sequencing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Thats a good idea using both the N.O. and N.C. contacts on the relays I didn't think of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 In follow up, the Relay we use was purchased from http://www.marvac.com Product No. 76671. It will handle 20 Amps at 120 Volts. Attached is a photo from Marvac. Be sure to read the "More Info" data. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Following are some more detail photos. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Sideview Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Frontview Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Backview Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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