Is my SSR Toast?

[MyNameIsPaul]

I got a rare occasion to brew this afternoon. Set up the rig last night. Went out, flipped her on, set my temp and walked away.

The water got up to 125 and won't climb any higher. The element 'on' light is not lighting up anymore.

What gives? I've brewed about 20 batches on this thing. Never had an issue before, haven't made any modifications since day 1.

Any help out there!?

 

[spittybug]

Paul, you need to join our local brew club, the TRUB club. We meet the third Tuesday of every month at 7PM at Cypress Grape & Grain on 249. Some good times. Bring a beer for us to sample. I too am all electric...... Sounds like something that can be diagnosed. Did you build the box or buy it ready made?

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

Paul, you need to join our local brew club, the TRUB club. We meet the third Tuesday of every month at 7PM at Cypress Grape & Grain on 249. Some good times. Bring a beer for us to sample. I too am all electric...... Sounds like something that can be diagnosed. Did you build the box or buy it ready made?

I live very close to CG&G! I've been meaning to join a club since we moved out here, but new kiddo makes it tough to get out. I'll be around eventually!

I built this system myself from a PJ schematic.

 

[iijakii]

Is your PID sending the signal to your SSR? Many SSRs have an indicator light on them, is it lit up? If the SSR is receiving the signal and not closing the circuit then it's probably dead. Also make sure to check any switches/contactors downstream of it.

Do you have a multimeter?

 

[doug293cz]

I got a rare occasion to brew this afternoon. Set up the rig last night. Went out, flipped her on, set my temp and walked away.

The water got up to 125 and won't climb any higher. The element 'on' light is not lighting up anymore.

What gives? I've brewed about 20 batches on this thing. Never had an issue before, haven't made any modifications since day 1.

Any help out there!?

Is your "element on" a discrete device in parallel with the elements, or are you talking about the LED on the SSR? Have you checked the SSR drive output voltage from the PID? Have you checked all connections to the PID, SSR, and element for tightness?
If all of the above check out ok, then your SSR may be toast.

Brew on

 

[spittybug]

You're going to need to get a meter on the system to determine if it is the SSR. Is the controller light indicating that it's heating? Careful with that voltage!

BTW, I have several Teledyne SSR's on hand if you should need........secret is paste and a good heatsink.

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

Is your PID sending the signal to your SSR? Many SSRs have an indicator light on them, is it lit up? If the SSR is receiving the signal and not closing the circuit then it's probably dead. Also make sure to check any switches/contactors downstream of it.

Do you have a multimeter?

The SSR light is not lighting

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

Is your PID sending the signal to your SSR? Many SSRs have an indicator light on them, is it lit up? If the SSR is receiving the signal and not closing the circuit then it's probably dead. Also make sure to check any switches/contactors downstream of it.

Do you have a multimeter?

The SSR light is not lighting.

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

SSR light is not lighting. I have a spare, may swap it real quick and see if that helps.

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

Sorry for the MultiPosts! I suck at HBT Mobile apparently.

I swapped the SSR out with a spare (thank god I thought of that 2 years ago!) and it looks like we're back in business!

 

[spittybug]

Lots of paste on it and the heatsink......

 

[doug293cz]

Lots of paste on it and the heatsink......

Actually, more thermal paste is not necessarily better. You want just enough paste to completely cover the contact area between the SSR & heatsink, and just thick enough to fill any gaps due to curvature or surface irregularities. You also don't want any voids in the paste coverage.

Brew on