Couple of Questions Mep-016B or others

[ETN550]

A couple of easy questions for you pros out there!!

1. What are the little wire clips used for on the split lugs where the load wires are attached?

2. I noticed when diagnosing some potential control panel problems that the $150.00 Airpax relays K1-K4 are 8 pin and appear to be symetrical and capable of being installed rightside up or upside down with the same results. This would be good to know because I was looking at K4 relay and it only uses one set of contacts in the relay for its particular solenoid shutdown circuit so flipping the relay might fix a relay problem if the problem was with the contacts and the coil was good. Can these 8 pin relays be flipped?

Thanks, as always for good info!

Doug

 

[steelandcanvas]

Gotta answer for #1: The little wire clip keeps the nut from falling off the split bolt, when there is no wire connection, and while in transit.
#2 might be better answered by Issac, Gary, or Tom.

 

[PeterD]

I'm not sure about the specific relays in question, but often if there is no key (special pin, or something to prevent incorrect insertion) they will work both ways.

An example, on my Hummer H1 there are some relays that are just as you describe, multi-pin, and can be turned around 180 degrees. I panicked and did a WTF after removing some and not noting which way was up. Then I looked carefully at the legend on the relay showing the pins and their functions, and realized that flipping over would not cause a problem. IIRC, the relays were DPDT, and flipping over simply switched the contacts around. In the Hummer, since they only used one contact, if you had a bad contact you could flip them, and use the other (hopefully good) contact until you got a new relay. May be the same with your relays as well...