With its latching coil design this compact 30A rated relay requires only a short burst of drive power, thus saving battery power or drain on the PSU.

Matsushita Electric Works has recently introduced its new DQ power relay. Designed with power saving latching coils, the DQ now removes the limitation on applications such as battery backed timer switches of using relays with capacities of 10-15A, it is now possible to go to 30A. Most 30A power relays have rather high coil consumption, frequently over 1 watt.

With the use of latching coils the drive power need only be applied for a fraction of a second and then power can be removed saving either battery power or drain on the PSU.

The DQ is rated for 30A @ 250VAC, in a 1 Form A contact configuration.

The relay has been designed with a minimum insulation distance of 8mm and a surge withstand of 10Kv, and is available with a choice of either single or twin latching coil options.

The DQ relay measures 38x29x17.3mm (lxbxh), is PCB mounting but comes with .250 faston terminals for the power contacts.

Additional applications where the DQ relay may be appropriate include home automation controls such as electric water heaters, air conditioning units and remote control of electric power meters.

About Matsushita Electric Works UK (MEW UK) - founded in1981 as SDS-Relais, Matsushita Electric Works UK has over 35 employees with sales and technical support staff strategically located throughout the UK and Ireland.

With its local head office in Milton Keynes and branch office in Dublin as well as having associated companies throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Japan, Matsushita Electric Works is recognised as a global leader in electromechanical and solid-state relay technology.

At the beginning of the new millennium, MEWUK expanded its operations to include selected high technology products from the Lighting, Healthcare, Automotive and Automation divisions of its Japanese principal.

In Europe those products are promoted and sold principally under the NAiS brand name, but certain sensing devices use SUNX.

In other countries some products are sold using the brand names of Aromat, National or Panasonic.