where to buy spdt relay local

I can't find a SPDT relay anywhere local, does anyone have any ideas!!! I live in Lancaster, PA and have been to 2 advancedauto's, radioshack, pepboys, autozone, 2 hardware stores and none of them carry them. Ive seen spst but not spdt, please help otherwise I will have to order and wait a week.

No local car audio shops around? Feel like drivin to south jersey? :)

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Installer, IT support, and FFL. I need less hobbies.

i don't feel like driving to south jersey, lol....

i know best buy and another dedicated auto electronics shop and called them and they both said they didn't have them, even though i find that really hard to believe...

Do you think if they had one they would even sell it to me??

probably not this time of year....
autoparts stores definitely have them. they're behind the counter generally. otherwise you can always hit up a boneyard. plenty of relays galore there.

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A DMM is a beautiful thing.

MECP Advanced Installer Certified.

wouldn't they be with the other relays on the shelf?? why would the double throws be behind the counter?

looks like i'll have to order, no boneyard around here

tdub] wrote:

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wouldn't they be with the other relays on the shelf?? why would the double throws be behind the counter?

looks like i'll have to order, no boneyard around here

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they'll be labeled as specific relays for vehicles. but they're in essence just normal spdt relays. when i once looked for some locally i went to an autoparts store and asked for a 5 prong relay, and the first one he brought out to me happened to be a spdt relay.

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A DMM is a beautiful thing.

MECP Advanced Installer Certified.

Sorry I don't know how I didn't understand what you were saying but that makes perfect sense....

All I need now is to find out what vehicle uses those.... so the brainiac behind the counter can find one

I find it amazing that SPDT relays are so hard to find.
Usually if they have SPST,they have SPDT.

Maybe they don't have SPDT, but have "changeover" relays instead.
They are also SPDT, but probably easier to spell or understand than SPDT.

Though SPST is the most common, most cars have at least one SPDT.

You actually need to get the boneyard relays from a Euro or American car, the Japanese use a different shape!
The generic term is "Bosch type cube automotive"
Always get 5 pin, the price difference is minimal, current handling a touch lower but far more versatile in its uses.

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

should be able to find that at any auto shop, or order some online, they are only a few bucks with harnesses.

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Ted
2nd Year Tier 1 Medical School
Still installing as a hobby...pays for groceries
Compustar Expert

Are you doing starter kill? If not, just use a SPST.

FYI - if you go for 5-pin, check or specify it's changeover (SPDT).

I have just seen relays in a local auto store, and both variants are labeled "5-pin".
SPSTs will have the dual 87 output whereas SPDT 87 & 87a.

Except for Hansa - I have Hansa relay with duplicated/twin 87s where the 2nd 87 is labeled 87a!! If supplying GND to 87a & +12V to 87, that can be a fun relay - especially when people bypass the fuses!


Fun to see the price differences between resistor & diode relays.
Yet nobody seems to resistor or diode the ignition coil - potentially (pun intended) the biggest spiker of them all....

yes it is for the starter anti grind

i found one from the knowledgeable fellow at the local napa parts store... he had to pull a few till we got one that was SPDT

i did run into some that were like you said, 5 pin SPST, had dual 87 pins and no 87a pin

xlnt!

Luckily most Bosch-type mini relays include a moulded schematic. (That's how I picked the Hansa problem!)

Hence "look at the picture".
(Beats me why people insist on the "physical" drawings for relays etc - I rarely understand the schema - I have to redraw to figure the circuit. And that still applies despite my recent shift to non-Bosch relays (eg, Japanese Jideco etc) which never have those on-body pics!)    

Not forgetting 87b relays, SP with two isolated outputs, also Oldspark, x 2 with my previous comment on Japanese relays,

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

howie ll wrote:

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also Oldspark, x 2 with my previous comment on Japanese relays

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Hence my recent migration from Bosch relays to the Jap - no more weak mounting options or mixed relays.

Once their bane, I now understand. And they can almost logically be worked out.
The coil is always the same pins.
Newer SPDT (black) & SPST (blue) can be interchanged (most are now supplied as SPDT anyhow).
The other common variant is the DPST (eg, IGN relay; brown?) and the one-on one-off (eg - aircon-startermotor relay; grey?), but with different power-pin locations.

And I like their more secure/robust mounting options - locked in cradle or relay box etc, else a mounting tang and locked harness or flying spades. No more broken or loose Bosch tangs.
And no more "semi" sealed Bosch types.

I'm standardising on the JIDECOs for convenience.
If volume becomes an issue, I'll reconsider, but IMO the micro relays don't save too much. Maybe I'll go MOSFET instead....

I'm hearing from the major suppliers of reliability problems with the latest (Chinese manufactured) Bosch relays, it might be sour grapes though, but then Bosch style relays, ALWAYS mount them terminals down, spray whole assembly with water retarder, or better still, don't mount under the hood unless it's lighting or horns.

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

Such trivial concerns.

I learned not to invert Bosch relays over 20 years ago on my Ducati - the headlights would not switch off. (I already had a flat battery from NOT exceeding 140kph with headlights on in pouring rain!)


No such problems for me (anymore).
Rain upside down, no problems.
Relays in engine bays - no problems. (EG - Mum's >20 year old "normally energised" SPDT fan relay - only de-energised with ignition OFF else fan ON.)

It hasn't been a few good years for Bosch AFAIAC. Though somewhat staggered at their "primitive" practices and implementations, I considered them ok - even though I would never use them except for relays.

Then came their alternators. A short lived trial that lasted less that 6 months. Now back to Hitachi et al (but with internal regulators!).

Around the same time I got involved in their ignitors. Why so many variants? Why so many individual/manual mods? There should generally only be 2 variants - reluctor (sine) and square wave inputs. But tailoring individual components and PCB TRACKS. No ISO 9002 for them!

And starting to appreciate modular Japanese fuse/relay boxes, I also discarded the non-robust mini-Bosch type relays.
(Did I mention my BMW headlights?)


I didn't realise what peers meant by the Japanese mastering electricals until my recent forays elsewhere.


But I have seen sealed Bosch relays. About time! But in my case, too late.