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Newell Gurus
Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all (/showthread.php?tid=7659)


Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - 360 - 10-23-2023

Last winter I had an issue where I lost power to my HWH leveling.  I eventually figured out what at the time I thought was a bad relay as once I traced it down and replaced the relay all was working "well" again.  During this fix I realized that when said relay is bad I not only don't have power to HWH I don't have a horn or a backup camera and a few other things.  It was actually super handy as when the camera was out you knew you had a problem.  So on our last trip I noticed that over a few REALLY bad potholes I would temporarily lose connection and then it would come back.  It also seemed like my backup cam picture was not as crisp and had a few lines from time to time.  So the other day after finally getting my well pump switch problem solved I decided to take a deeper dive and what I found was a bit disturbing.  

I quickly found out that touching said relay or worse yet touching the circled orange wire would cause me to lose connection AND the orange wire got so hot you could not hold it. Pulled the relay and from the picture you can see how discolored the male spade was from heat.  Then learned from chatting with Richard and Bill that resistance equals heat and I most likely had a bad connection inside of that pesky little block...well pesky at that time.  First challenge was I had no clue how to get the female side of the connection out of the block.  After needing Bill to google how to remove the females from the block for me I found out that block is called some variation of a 5 pin relay socket and more specifically mine is made by Hella. Actually part of the way through removal wire came all the way out of the connector so it must have been hanging on by a thread.  Plastic around wire had turned black from heat as well.

Pulled the blocks apart to get easier access to the one that needed attention and thanks to the YouTube video they quickly came out but now the question was where on earth do you find a female non-insulated terminal with the tab to retain it inside the block?  I can tell you it's not Home Depot, O'Reilly or Autozone.  In the end it was Amazon for the win as they had what I thought I needed.  Was so much easier to find once I knew I was looking for that Hella relay socket as well since the old one had melted quite a bit and I figured who knew what melted inside as well.  

Was also SUPER thankful that a splurged a few weeks ago for a proper set of crimpers with multiple dies from Wirefy thanks to a member here.  A newbie like me had no actual clue that you needed a different crimper for different connectors.  The non-insulated were a bit of a chore even with the nice crimpers due to limited space down there and the super short wires.  

Learned a lot and once back together it's functioning as intended with no wires so hot you can't hold them.  Put a smattering of pictures and links below for what I needed in case someone else has this problem in the future so you can fix it in about 10 minutes.  I can't divulge the amount of time I invested.   Wink

https://youtu.be/pELf2s0xPAs?si=CmcnRKSxWcXg9tYX
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092MRZ5JK?ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VUEDYI?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MPZ2T2C?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details

RE: Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - Jack Houpe - 10-23-2023

Nice right up Brad!

RE: Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - folivier - 10-24-2023

Glad you found the real problem. Yes these sockets are really just spade connectors clipped inside of the socket. In a pinch you could wire spade connectors bypassing the socket.
BTW I like Wirefy crimpers, quality stuff.

RE: Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - hbens - 10-24-2023

Thanks for the write up Brad.
I have spent a little bit of time thinking about that kick board electrical panel area and doing some preventive maintenance.
Looks like a great place for Gremlins to hide.

RE: Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - 360 - 10-24-2023

(10-24-2023, 05:38 AM)folivier Wrote:  Glad you found the real problem. Yes these sockets are really just spade connectors clipped inside of the socket. In a pinch you could wire spade connectors bypassing the socket.
BTW I like Wirefy crimpers, quality stuff.

I scratched my head when I looked at the die for the non-insulated when my connector only has tabs vs. being a solid round connector so that time I was able to Google it myself instead of having Bill Google it for me and found a video on how to use it where you start out on the largest setting and it slowly curved the tabs and eventually compressed as you moved to the smaller sections of the die.  Fascinating stuff for a newbie like me.

RE: Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - TJ Clark - 10-24-2023

Where in the coach is this relay block located?

RE: Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - 360 - 10-24-2023

(10-24-2023, 02:48 PM)TJ Clark Wrote:  Where in the coach is this relay block located?

Passenger side floorboard next to all of the fuses.

RE: Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - TJ Clark - 10-24-2023

(10-24-2023, 02:55 PM)360 Wrote:  
(10-24-2023, 02:48 PM)TJ Clark Wrote:  Where in the coach is this relay block located?

Passenger side floorboard next to all of the fuses.

I always forget about that place. Thanks.

RE: Well it wasn't a faulty relay after all - folivier - 10-25-2023

BTW these sockets are also available with the pins and wires already installed. Amazon and others have them, search for relay sockets.