Why you should use waterproof relays
 

On my LS1 fans, I wired up a relay to a switch in the cab so I can turn my fans on manually whenever I want to. I mainly use this if I am sitting with the ac on for extended periods, or to cool down the engine bay if I have been driving. The relay is wired such that when I press the button it grounds the relay, which in turn grounds the relays on the harness turning the fans on whether the engine is on or off...

Anyway, the relay this is wired to is in the top right (if you are facing the engine) part of the engine bay, under the curved fender support. It rained a last night and the day before (Wednesday) and I didnt think much of it until I went to go get some lunch today (Friday).

"hmmm, thats odd, my remote isnt working to unlock the doors"
*unlock manually with key*
"power locks dont work either....damn, dead battery, wtf?"

I keep a volt meter in my truck and I popped the hood and put it to the battery... 3.8 volts, which means its basically 100% drained.

I have a little LED on my dash wired up to come on when I turn the fans on manually and I was sure they were off before I turned off the truck, but thats really the only thing it could be the problem. So I picked up the relay from under the hood and rotated it a little bit to see if it had grounded on something and a bunch of water emptied out of it....

Somehow, the relay was just laying there upside down with the terminals facing up, and the water from the rain ran off the windshield, down to that exact corner of the bay and dripped directly on top of it, causing it to ground internally and my fans come on by themselves.... haha, I dont know of the chances of this happening since ive had this setup for over a year.

Anyway, got a friend to give me a jump and it barely started since my battery was toast (optima yellow top). Waterproof relays are only about $0.25 more than regular...well worth it if you ask me...

also having them securely mounted in the proper orientation will keep that problem from happening, as well.

25 cents? I didn't know that. I priced a time delay relay yesterday to turn on my Merziere electric water pump. They wanted $100.00 with tax. I told them no thanks. Now that I know I can get a waterproof relay for 25 cents more I won't be using the epoxy anymore.

Yes, but I have about 10 relays stuffed in there so its hard to keep them all properly oriented. I really need to clean that up....

Im talking about 40a automotive relays, not bigger ones, or time delay ones.

I'm glad I picked up the waterproof ones ;). I left one of my switch on ones, doesn't take much to kill a battery.

You might consider cleaning that up, your Avatar could take on profound new relevance.

no kidding . . . I hope your supply wires are all fused !