Parallel relays

[throbscottle]

I'm thinking of connecting the contacts of several cheap reed relays (which I already have) in parallel to connect a meter shunt (probably 1A, maybe more), because I think this will be better for this purpose than a single higher rated rated relay. Occasional switching under load is likely, but usually this will be the relays opening or closing at a current around the rating for a single relay.

I'm wondering if, since the turn on/off times for each relay won't be exactly the same, to even out the load a bit I should give each pair of contacts a small snubber network consisting of a capacitor connected across them, and a low value resistor < 1 ohm, in series. Or is it not worth bothering? Or should I just get a bigger relay?

 

[alec_t]

I'd go for a bigger relay. Unless all relays switch at the same time the fastest will have to carry ALL the current at switch-on and the slowest will be carrying ALL the current at switch-off.

 

[throbscottle]

Hmm, that's what I thought. Which is why I thought about the snubber (maybe I'm calling it the wrong thing), so the cap's can catch the load from the early opening switches while the late ones open. The actual point of switching should normally be with a light load anyway - it's more of a "just in case" scenario, really.