What would this relay be for?

I am still trying to figure out the electrical system in my boat. Does anyone have any ideas what this relay might be for? It is on my 120v panel. I haven't yet been able to trace the wires.

dhays said:

I am still trying to figure out the electrical system in my boat. Does anyone have any ideas what this relay might be for? It is on my 120v panel. I haven't yet been able to trace the wires.View attachment 61120

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Hey, this component is the building automation and HVAC controls, is the air conditioning / ventilation, if so, in my opinion, it is this system component.

you have a fairly new boat, if you have a wiring diagram Drawing, exploring for and what path to take

http://www.functionaldevices.com/building-automation/display.php?model=RIB2401SB-NC

Hmmm, the ratings are both AC and DC. Could be a relay that links your battery system to the inverter/charger. When off the charger just manages the house, when on all of the batteries are linked - house, genny, starts.

I have a Pathmaker Heart Interface switch that does that.

If you have a wiring schematic you should see that on there and be able to see what it is relaying. That is how I found out what my Pathmaker switch was for.

It appears to be a 20 amp AC relay. Maybe it switches certain outlets to your inverter?

Ted

Air Cond water pump?

You could trace the wires or you could find the boat's electrical diagram and try to figure it out from that.


Or, you could turn if "off" and see what doesn't work. Turn it "on" and see what does work.


Note: The 24 volt coil is often used in HVAC controls. If your boat has the standard 12 volt DC system, I would start looking in the HVAC system.


Of course if everything seems to work, you don't really have to know what the relay does.

My first thought is a HVAC water pump.

Turn stupp on and off while listening for the contacts to close. Start with the HVAC.

Thanks for thoughts folks. This boat doesn't have an HVAC system.
I will pull up the schematics for the boat but I have already found a number of owner modified changes.

I think Ted and Menzies may be on to something.

Engine room ventilation fans??? AC driven fans with 24Vdc start signal from engines?? Or 24Vdc manual switch up on helm? They don't like running AC under helm panels for safety reasons.

Engine block heater?

Don't push the red button, please DON'T!

The 24 vac/or 24vdc coil is the odd part of this. why add a step down transformer just to activate a relay... when relays are available in 120vac or 12 vdc.... so the next question is what kind of furnace do you have on board,,, or it may feed the 120vac to the inverter/charger.... what about thrusters are they 24volt if so are the batteries separate and with their own charger.... The easiest way to find out is to turn it off and see what doesn't work...

The interesting thing is that is I turned it off a while ago and could find nothing that was affected.

Do you have electric heater of some kind that you can turn on for the engine room? I am thinking it is for a heater of some kind, either engine room or engine block, something that would use shore power when you are away from the boat.

Donsan said:

Do you have electric heater of some kind that you can turn on for the engine room? I am thinking it is for a heater of some kind, either engine room or engine block, something that would use shore power when you are away from the boat.

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No engine heat. The only furnace we have is a diesel furnace.

Relay in a box

Awesome products, I have installed hundreds of them. They come in all flavors of control voltage and contact rating. It is a generic product not specific to any "system."

Edit - Also note the control side will accept a variety of input voltages to include 120 VAC, not just 24 VAC, VDC. I loved using them, they have an LED that light up when energised, some have HOA's built right onto them.

dhays said:

I am still trying to figure out the electrical system in my boat. Does anyone have any ideas what this relay might be for? It is on my 120v panel. I haven't yet been able to trace the wires.View attachment 61120

Click to expand...

dhays said:

The interesting thing is that is I turned it off a while ago and could find nothing that was affected.

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Leave it off and monitor your battery charges.

I have a relay that enables charging the 2 X 12 volt AGM batteries via the Balmar Digital Duocharge, switching off when the 24 volt bow thruster is in use. I wonder if this is related somehow to the charging of a 24 volt system?

Can you contact previous owner?

Could you pan out and take a couple more pictures?

Do you have a watermaker with both 12v pump and 120v pump?

Another approach would be to meter the relay side (not the coil side) to see what sort of power is there. Is it 12V, 24V, AC? That will narrow down what it's controlling. Then start turning off breakers and see when/if the power disappears. Hopefully that will tell you which breaker it's on.

The question may look stupid but did you check if it is just connecetd to anything... Maybe not

Capt.Bill11 said:

Could you pan out and take a couple more pictures?

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Yeah, I've got one just like it. Here ya go.

healhustler said:

Yeah, I've got one just like it. Here ya go.

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That is a very effective antitheft!

Lou_tribal said:

That is a very effective antitheft!

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It is also very unsafe. Note that the wires are not secured.

refugio said:

It is also very unsafe. Note that the wires are not secured.

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Indeed! Come on Larry you should secure these wires on the wall (slowly and avoid using the hammer)

FWIW The specs on the coil are probably more of a menu and are in reality 'one the above' not 'all of the above'. Could be wrong but relay's I've met have a particular coil (coil is what drives the contacts). Multi-rated contacts sure.. its just a conductor but coil volts and ac. vs dc matter.

It appears to be connected. No water maker. I like the scuttle idea. I can't ask the PO.

This coming weekend I will try and check the schematics (they are on the boat) and I also have a message on the North Pacific Forum. Eventually, NP will see that and give me a reply. I could just call Trevor at NP, but I try not to bother him too much.

Did you try the engine room blowers?