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Relay Buzzing


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dualsport 
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Posted: June 06, 2009 at 7:38 AM / IP Logged  
So far it's just been speculation on what's being switched and the durability of the particular relay he might be using, so we don't really know how long things will last. Hot switching makes it worse, as does higher currents and inductive loads.
Back before solid state, voltage used to be regulated by switching mechanical relays on and off rapidly, before anything better was available. It'll work, and probably last a while, but if it's as simple as adding a couple of components, I'd go that route.
Reed relays are quieter, but the concern is that they tend to be lower power and may actually tend to fail earlier.
What's actually being done here anyway, is the overhead he mentioned a set of added lights or is that referring to the OEM dome light? Is a domelight supervisor being added from some alarm to control the dome light? I was assuming the Saturn Ion he mentioned was doing the dimming, but that was just a WAG on my part. I'm not sure what the problem actually was, that needed this relay for the polarity switching. Or is the problem that he needed a negative trigger for an alarm system, when the dome light was switched from the high side?
If that's the case, then there's no current involved, going into the alarm trigger. If that's all it's for, why not a transistor for an easy fix? It won't have any problems with the rapid switching and should be a bit quieter.
Maybe someone can sketch out the details on what it is we're doing.
hotwaterwizard 
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Posted: June 06, 2009 at 12:44 PM / IP Logged  
Relay Buzzing - Page 2 -- posted image.
John DeRosa (Hotwaterwizard)
Stockton California
When in doubt, try it out !
hotwaterwizard 
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Posted: June 06, 2009 at 12:50 PM / IP Logged  
Relay Buzzing - Page 2 -- posted image. 
John DeRosa (Hotwaterwizard)
Stockton California
When in doubt, try it out !
bellsracer 
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Posted: June 08, 2009 at 4:48 PM / IP Logged  

okay.... where do I begin.

First off, I'm female!      T-T

So let's please keep that in mind. Thank you

Second, here is the situation.

Three wires: 1:12+ / 2:ground / 3:domelight. 
ION uses negative trigger for the dome light. Otherwise the wire is 12+

The relay is switching the domelight wire to be a 12+ when needed. However when the lights fade, the relay buzzes.

Wizard, I thank you for the diagrams, but I have no idea what they mean.

minna tasukette!

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i am an idiot 
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Posted: June 08, 2009 at 5:37 PM / IP Logged  

Relay Buzzing - Page 2 -- posted image.

Above diagram is a picture of what "Ween" suggested.   His idea, my picture.

Simply add the capacitor and the diode to your relay.  As ween stated, make sure you polarize the capacitor properly.  The Diode must go on the positive wire.  The banded end of the diode needs to be connected to the relay. 

When the vehicle drops the voltage to fade the lamp, the cap will keep the relay energized for a second or so.  The diode keeps the stored cap voltage from going back into the vehicle. 

dualsport 
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Posted: June 08, 2009 at 9:18 PM / IP Logged  
bellsracer wrote:

First off, I'm female!      T-T

So let's please keep that in mind. Thank you

Oops, I was just playing the percentages there, and lost- Relay Buzzing - Page 2 -- posted image.

I guess the question I should ask is,  what is the output of the relay being used for?  It sounds like you're not driving the domelight with the relay, because the Ion's doing that, with its dimmer control.  If you simply need an inverted signal from the negative switching dome light control to trigger an alarm or something low current like that, you could use one of the circuits Hotwaterwizard to invert it from (-) to (+).   As long as it doesn't matter that the (+) signal will have a rapid oscillation during the dimming time, it should work well enough.

But, if you're using the relay to drive lights or something needing a good amount of power, then the relay would serve the purpose, and you could try something along the lines of adding Ween's cap and diode as I am an idiot pictured. 

soundnsecurity 
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Posted: June 10, 2009 at 6:01 PM / IP Logged  
bellsracer wrote:
I have a 03 Saturn ION with an overhead installed on the roof. However, the overhead did not support negative trigger for the dome light. I used a relay to switch the polarity going into the trigger.
It works fine now, but now the relay buzzes every time the dome light turns off. How do I get rid of the buzz?
use the door pin to drive a relay for your overhead's lights. it wont follow what the dome light does but it will be on when the door is open and off when the door is closed. not sure what the polarity of your doorpin is but you can just use the same relay to change polarity.
dualsport 
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Posted: June 10, 2009 at 8:22 PM / IP Logged  
Exactly what are the overhead lights?  Are these aftermarket lights or something?
i am an idiot 
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Posted: June 10, 2009 at 8:55 PM / IP Logged  
She installed an aftermarket flip down monitor with a built in DVD player.  There is a domelight built into the unit.  That is what the overhead lights are.
dualsport 
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Posted: June 10, 2009 at 9:01 PM / IP Logged  
Ah, thanks-
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