Elk Relays

elcano

Active Member
I have noticed that the price per relay in the ELK-912-12 seems far better than the price of the ELK-M1RB. Using AutomatedOutled prices:Other than the LEDS and the ribbon harness that facilitates the connection of the M1RB to the panel, is there any other difference or reason for selecting the M1RB over the 912-12? In addition to getting more relays, the 912-12 gives me the possibility of separating the relays for locating them closer to the item to be controlled. Relay power consumption seems to be around 30mA per relay in both modules.

Mike, do you agree?
 
If you used 912 relays wouldn't you still need a M1XOV to get the output voltage onto terminal strips that could be wired to the individual relays?
 
I don't think so. The M1 comes with a cable that attaches to J-16 on the controller which supplies 10 outputs (7-16). You can extend those wires to be the 'triggers' for the relay coils. You only need the XOV or XOVR if you want to expand the number of outputs.

Personally, I have the M1RB and like it. The wiring is nice and neat and the LEDS are handy for setup or troubleshooting. Now if you really need to put relays remote, then 912s are the way to go. So it depends if you want central and neat wiring or distributed relays.

Also, the 'value' depends on how many relays you need. While the 912-12 does come out less per relay, you are spending $59 vs $52. If you dont need all 12 relays and you don't need to mount them remotely, I would save the $7 and go with the M1RB.
 
Strange as it may seem, I don't think the 912 relays are recommended for direct use with the M1 series. The 912 series require a 30mA trigger for the coil. According to some chats with David, he said this could drop the voltage too close to the minimum 9VDC pull in voltage and may not be reliable. He recommended the 924 sensitive relays, which only need 1.2 mA to for the coil. The M1RB appears to have the same (or similar) transistor trigger as the 924 sensitive relay. The 924 relays are about $9 each, which makes the M1RB a better value.

I wish the M1XOVR had LEDs to monitor the relays.
 
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