Headscratcher Grade Relays?

Intellitec has been making latching battery disconnects for the RV market for many years that use no power to maintain position. They use a single coil and simply reverse the current to latch or unlatch the contacts using a pivoting magnetic rod. I think their largest model is only 200 amps continuous though.

Thanks DrewE

No question now that this module would provide a good REMOTE control cutoff for total battery isolation. And it could handle the current management of the largest inverters on the market. To do this would mean running a wire to a switch from the battery side then back to the control module. Great for sealed battery systems that do not need a visual checkout before use.

The data sheet from Littelfuse says 600A continuous (no mention of it being time limited to one minute) when used with appropriate wires. 500A make and 250A break (3000 cycles, 12V) or 250A make 150A break (10,000 cycles, 12V). Littelfuse is not some fly-by-night company, so I'd tend to trust their ratings as being at least generally based in reality. Oddly, I could not find any mention of the physical dimensions of the relay, but it's plainly not a tiny little module; the wire attachment studs have M10 studs with 15mm nuts.

Link to the official product page (and datasheet)

Retired and secluded. And, out of the loop.

It comes down to "The Meaning Of The Word Continuous"

High-Amp, Bi-Stable Relay, 12V, Single Pole, 600A Continuous (1 MIN)

600 for 1 Minute ?

latching relays made with a ratchet mechanism exist and have been used in RV battery disconnects, coils are only monetarily energized

But
But
But

Six Hundred Amps Continuous? I long-ago whiz-banged a design for a high amp relay that used a jack screw and N52 grade magnets (the jack screw electrical contact tensioning problem was too much to try and control). Decent size N52 magnets can have an unbelievable amount of pull.

But such springs, magnets and gizmos require space and this little fratch does not look the part. Fascinating.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Coils are used for magnetics to retain contact points in a spring pressure relative position. The nomenclature says "No Power Needed". Or does it?

Thus, say in any latching relay circuit one coil has to remain energized.

The vendor is clearly unclear on this...

It's a different relay design. Think of it more as an ordinary toggle switch with a couple of solenoids to pull it one way or the other (or, equally likely, a single coil and a permanent magnet such that the direction of travel is determined by the polarity of DC power applied to the coil). In either steady state the contacts are maintained by spring pressure, not by electromagnetics.

The battery shutoff switching arrangements commonly supplied in RVs are of this general description. They do use power only when changing state (well, mine also has a "connected" pilot light that uses a bit of power I suppose, but that's not part of the relay proper).

Coils are used for magnetics to retain contact points in a spring pressure relative position. The nomenclature says "No Power Needed". Or does it?

Thus, say in any latching relay circuit one coil has to remain energized.

The vendor is clearly unclear on this...

Also known as a latching relay: Pulse one coil to close, pulse the other to open.

Price isn't that attractive but they seem good for the right application.