The infamous Chinese red relay [pics inside]

[Pesch]

Hello folks,

Just a post to show few pictures of a Chinese little red thing that Porsche sell us a fortune and gives a lot of trouble to 911 owners (of the G generation).





For reference: 911.615.108.01, 91161510801

[universeman]

Good pics - have you taken an old German OEM one for comparison?

[Pesch]

The German ones I have are still working, so for now I'll try to keep them that way...
But someone did it in the past:
Multi purpose relays

[MikeD930]

Thanks for taking photos of that crappy Chinese relay. Whoever designed and/or sells them should be ashamed.

[HaroldMHedge]

This one seems to have a curved cover along the side.

Would you check to see if a "squelching" diode is in the relay? The wiring diagrams indicate that one should be present in the red relays across pins 85 and 86 (the coil).

Here are photos of the old relays from the other thread.

Originally Posted by db_cooper

Many years ago in a galaxy away (1970's) I was working in a Porsche shop and the red/black Porsche relay question came up often..The red relays were used by Porsche on fuel pumps.

The question was can you use a red relay in place of the black relay or vis-versa.

So..I purchased a red and black Porsche relay (whey were not expensive at the time) and took them apart. The terminals and numeration are the same for both relays. 30 goes to 87a when not energized and 30 powers up 87 when powered up (86-85)

The only difference in the relays is the diode..used on the red relay to avoid voltage spikes when the voltage collapses.

I put the relays in my tool box for future diagnostics..and still have them.

The common thinking was to use a red relay in any powered Porsche circuit with a round relay..the diode is a good thing with most applications.

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by HaroldMHedge

This one seems to have a curved cover along the side.

Would you check to see if a "squelching" diode is in the relay? The wiring diagrams indicate that one should be present in the red relays across pins 85 and 86 (the coil).

Here are photos of the old relays from the other thread.

If you look closely at the second picture he posted, there appears to be a diode peeking out from behind a huge lump of solder on the left side of the relay.

[TDH888]

Hi ,

I posted a similar topic at our Pelican parts 930 forum entitled melting Chinese relay . In our cars ( 930) these relays are used to power the fuel pumps. There are two fuel pumps hence 2 relays , mine melted as well , both of them , w/c made my car loose power when doing long distance drives . I sent a picture to Pelican Parts because I bought it from them ( Wittrin Brand ) . They said there’s nothin they can do because this relays are made in China .

tdh888

[HaroldMHedge]

Thanks L.J.,

I initially thought this was some type of wiring connector.

Harold

[Rawknees'Turbo]

Originally Posted by MikeD930

Thanks for taking photos of that crappy Chinese relay. Whoever designed and/or sells them should be ashamed.

Yep, and the one in the picture bears the official, Porsche Parts logo on the top - sucks that they are willing to contract garbage just because it's cheap for them to do so.

Originally Posted by HaroldMHedge

This one seems to have a curved cover along the side.

. . .

I bet the cover was straight and then curved/bent due to the relay overheating.

[Pesch]

Yes Porsche put they name on that crap, I thought they had a top QC system in place.

We can see the size of the nicely melted contact patch on th 3rd picture.

The problem seems to be coming from the contact posts that are not at the right height and the lower contact blade bent to compensate.

Worth checking other melted relays, you know what you have to do if you have some laying around, we may then find a way to fix them...

One potential for for these crap might be to open them and correct the contact blades alignement before installation...

[ossiblue]

To what do you assign the overheating problem? Is it the minimal surface contact made by the bent upper point, the one which carries the current load during the running of the engine? Just curious as I've not had experience with these failing relays.

[Trackrash]

Great info, thanks for posting.

What's next? Porsches made in China?

I think it is ludicrous that Porsche put its name on that part that says made in China.

[Pesch]

Lot of intensity on a small contact patch can produce some heat, even weld the tips. Well, that's my guess...

[famoroso]

Howsabout somebody engineer us something more worthy of the marque?

Paging... @Jonny H / Classic Retrofits or FTECH9?!

[SoCalSK8r]

Those are some terrible looking solder joints, holy smokes.

[111detroit]

Unfortunately these new Chinese relays are the only thing out there. Unless anyone has old German stock we’re all screwed. I successfully repaired all of my faulty German relays yesterday by soldering the posts. The reason they fail is because the tiny wire on both ends connecting the center coil break off overtime. The only way to repair them is to open up the unit and carefully solder the wire back to each post. The problem is the post heats up the plastic and starts to melt the base so you need to be super careful. But it’s actually quite easy if you’re good at soldering so don’t throw any of your old German relays away. Test all your relays by putting them into your horn relay plug and beep the horn! If it beeps your good. If not, say hello to China!

[reclino]

914 rubber is selling a relay, and they claim 2 year warranty. Would love to take one apart and see how it compares.

[monkeyodeath]

Is there anything that makes the round Porsche relays different from the classic square Bosch ones that are used basically everywhere else?

Would be cool if there was an adaptor that would let you use a normal Bosch -- or even better, Japanese relay in the socket.

[proporsche]

This..........Unfortunately these new Chinese relays are the only thing out there. Unless anyone has old German stock we’re all screwed. I successfully repaired all of my faulty German relays yesterday by soldering the posts.
This ..how ever i do have some,original alu. relays then red and black and after grey by Wehrle, i have saved in 38 years;-) little teasing..


Ivan

[Pesch]

Originally Posted by monkeyodeath

Is there anything that makes the round Porsche relays different from the classic square Bosch ones that are used basically everywhere else?

Would be cool if there was an adaptor that would let you use a normal Bosch -- or even better, Japanese relay in the socket.

The adaptator exists, someone is printing them with flexible filament over the 930 forum area.

I also had intermittent issues with the also famous yellow relay of the 930.
I thought that the socket and the contact pins of the relay were the culprit. But after some more investigation, I resoldered the pins inside the relay that were cracked. And everything went smooth.

For the fuel pump relays, the one that burnt damaged the rubber socket at the time, so tired of related problems, I replaced both with solid state relays (that was before I found the potential solder issue).