Retail Sales - Relays
By retail sales we mean sales to consumers, or to a repairer where only one relay is needed. This is most frequently to repair an item of domestic eqipment such as a hi fi system, a washing machine or a spare part for a car. There are two problems in most cases.
Firstly the range of relays is enormous. Different sizes, contact arrangements, coil voltages, and particularly switching load capacity means that there are literally hundreds of variations for most relay models. Across the whole range of, say Song Chuan relays, there are tens of thousands of different part numbers. It is not possible to stock all of these parts, even as finished product at the factory. So the chances of getting just one or two pieces from the relay manufacturer or their country agents and distributors is very very low.
Secondly the delivery time from the factory may be 4 - 6 weeks plus shipping. The relay manufacturing process is based upon large volumes. So producing one or two pieces is often inpractical and expensive. What appears to be a low cost, easy to replace item becomes expensive and difficult.
What can be done?
The relay used in domestic or automotive equipment will have been purchased by the manufacturer in large volumes, possibly just one variation of one model. You will have a better chance of getting the relay from the device manufacturer of the appliance you are trying to repair than The Relay Company. It may even be a recognised spare part in the case of automotive accessories.
Chances are that it may not be economical to repair by replacing just the relay. It may be quicker, cheaper and easier to replace the whole circuit board, or buy new equipment.
Is it all bad news?
Not all. Because the relays used by industry(as opposed to domestic & automotive) tend to be more standardised, The Relay Company does stock many such lines, or can manufacture replacements in a few weeks. As a guide check out the Panel Relays part number list. If what you are looking for is there we will generally have stock. Check out the "Kuhnke Industrial" page on this site if you need to replace one or two older Kuhnke relays. These products are normally stock or manufactured to order in about 4 weeks.
Any other advice?
In some countries there are large "catalogue" companies which offer the electrical services industry an ex-stock range of any many products including relays. They select products from many different sources to replace a very wide range of other manufacturers items. Prices will be high and one-to-one technical support may be non existant, but if they have what you are looking for then the despatch and payment services are often excellent. But you must do the research. If you have a Song Chuan relay part number, and you want just one or two replacements, check out the data sheets on this site(there is a list in model number order on the range overview page in our Song Chuan section). Then match the size, pin configurations, changeover characteristcs, load, and operating voltage and resistance to the products shown on the catalogue companies web sites. You may be lucky!
Finally if The Relay Company can help
We accept Visa & Mastercard, using GBP as the base currency. There is a minimum order charge of £20 (about €30 Euros or $40 US Dollars) plus shipping costs.