by Tomi Engdahl on Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:47 am
You must be talking that you have a relay that has five pins and you don't know which one is which.
The first idea is to check if the relay has markings on it telling which pin is which. Some relays have the pinout printed on their case.
Then other option is to try to find technical data for the relay and look at the pinout information in it (relay data sheet, information on component catalogue etc..)
If the relay is in transparent case then it could be propably possible to see which pins go to wires that go to the relay coil.
Then there is always multimeter method:
Measure the resistance in the relay between different pins.
The relay coil has typically resistance from tens of ohms to few hundred ohms on low voltage relays (coil voltage 5V, 12V etc..). If you get this reading between two pins, they are the one that connect to the coil.
All the other measurements between diffent pins shoudl show either open circuit (most measurements) or short circuit (when you find a closed relay contact).
One note: Some relays can have built in protection diode in parallel with the relay coil. In this case you can get different reading when measuring the relay coil resistance on different directions. Typically the direction tht gives higher resistance value will be the right direction for the current to flow on the coil.
You must be talking that you have a relay that has five pins and you don't know which one is which.
The first idea is to check if the relay has markings on it telling which pin is which. Some relays have the pinout printed on their case.
Then other option is to try to find technical data for the relay and look at the pinout information in it (relay data sheet, information on component catalogue etc..)
If the relay is in transparent case then it could be propably possible to see which pins go to wires that go to the relay coil.
Then there is always multimeter method:
Measure the resistance in the relay between different pins.
The relay coil has typically resistance from tens of ohms to few hundred ohms on low voltage relays (coil voltage 5V, 12V etc..). If you get this reading between two pins, they are the one that connect to the coil.
All the other measurements between diffent pins shoudl show either open circuit (most measurements) or short circuit (when you find a closed relay contact).
One note: Some relays can have built in protection diode in parallel with the relay coil. In this case you can get different reading when measuring the relay coil resistance on different directions. Typically the direction tht gives higher resistance value will be the right direction for the current to flow on the coil.