Question:
Can I use a relay after accidentally dropping it?
Answer:
Do not use a dropped relay as its characteristics may have been degraded.
Explanation:
Failure due to drop
A strong impact such as a drop can cause the movable contact piece to deform and the fixed terminal to tilt, resulting in poor characteristics and conduction failure. In such a state, even if the rated voltage is applied to the coil, the contacts do not come into contact and conduction failure occurs.
Conduction failure occurs when a contact’s moving contact piece and fixed terminal collide with each other due to the strong impact of a drop, and that inertial force causes plastic deformation of the contact piece or terminal beyond the elastic deformation limits.
In the case of plastic-sealed relays, if a terminal is bent due to a drop, the adhesion of the terminal bonded with epoxy may be lost, resulting in airtightness (sealing) failure. Bending the terminal back for reworking can cause the same issue, so you must inspect the bonding part with the relay terminal.
Do not use a dropped relay even if there is no apparent abnormality because conditions that cause a failure differ depending on the model (size and structure of relay), falling mode (single relay unit or packaged products), and surface on which it fell (p tile, carpet, concrete), among other conditions.
Quick tips
Note that the same applies to relays dropped when they are in a packaged state. If the outer box of the package is damaged, it may have been dropped during transportation. Please check with the shipping company. If the damage is minor, contact us to inspect the characteristics. If the damage is severe, do not use them.
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Relays | Digi-Key Electronics
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