soldering to a relay

Can you hurt a relay by soldering directly to it? I have limited space to work with so if I solder directly to the relay and tape it up I can keep the overall size to a minimum. I just want to make sure I won't destroying anything by heating up the legs melt solder to them.

You should be fine. Another option (and what I usually do) is to use female crimp-on spade terminals on your wire. This makes it easier to replace the relay, but is still much smaller than using a regular relay plug and harness.

I always use the INSULATED female spades(although the legs are quite abit apart...just for safety)...Then tape from the top of relay past the "legs" and then up the wire...Leaving 4-6 inches for connection(depending on what your doing...Kinda muffles the click of the relay some too...)M.E.C.P & First-Class

Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!

 You can damage anything by soldering to it.   The biggest issue you'll have soldering to the relay is, if you arn't careful, the plastic will start to melt around the legs and that can cause them to work free (and possible break).  Use low heat (around 650F no more then 700F) and try to minimize the amount of time you have the iron on the pin.  Also, try not to touch the actual pin with the iron, instead heat the wire up and apply the solder directly to the pin.Kevin Pierson