Safe Use of Relay on 240v AC

[tmetford]

Is it safe to use a relay that is designed for its coil to be operated by mains 240Vac to switch on/off a 12Vdc circuit?
I have heard that the large potential difference between the coil and 12 volt terminals can induce arcing between them.
The relay I've bought (Maplin - N13AW 5amp DPDT 240Vac) looks like its coil is well insulated from the 12V terminals but, having been told about the possibility of arcing, I just wanted to be sure.
Thanks for your interest.
Tim

 

[Resqueline]

They're made to take most of what the mains can throw at them, except lightning strikes. I'm sure one can find numbers on the isolation voltage rating.
For the hobbyist the bigger safety issue is in the connections being made on/around the relay, rather than the relay in itself.

 

[tmetford]

That's great, thank you for your helpful advice and, of course, I shall take every care to make sure it's electrically safe as well.
Kind regards
Tim

 

[davenn]

if you wanted something with better isolation you could use a SSL = Solid State Relay

Dave