[davepl]

I don't want to rathole on the esoteric, but since I visited the grave of Faraday last week (no joke- I did!) I should probably understand the diode a little better. I know why it's there, but does it happen because charging the coil for the relay magnet creates a magnetic field that collapses and shoots a big spike?

The reason I ask is that it sounds a whole lot like how to ignition coil works, so I'm wondering if it's the same effect.

In other news, sadly no pick a parts anywhere near me. Gotta be an hour at least (average bungalow now over $1,000,000 in my area so not a lot of wrecking yard real estate!)