Picking SSRs

[LordUlrich]

Ok, so are most people using "name brand" SSRs or cheep no-name relays?

I have found some Omron or Crydon relays but they are MUCH more expensive then the random ones on Amazon or Ebay. I generally trust the quality of a established brand more, but it is quite a bit of money and would like to know if others have had good luck with cheep relays.

Thanks

 

[augiedoggy]

So far I've had good luck with the Chinese ones on amazon and ebay its funny because I bought a my pin pid and it came with a "my pin" branded one that says made in japan but identical in every way to the made in china "fotec" one that came with another paid I bought.... I think they both came from the same plant in china.
They both work well so far but I ordered an extra one from California (same china one at twice the price because its stocked in the states)

 

[big_len]

Cheap china ones, no issues yet - knock on wood !

I think a lot of people mistreat their SSRs and then blame the cheaper product - a good heatsink, thermal paste and airflow are a must have. (not necessarily a fan, just not mounted with the heatsink inside a sealed box - you would be surprised how often this one comes up!)

EDIT: btw I'm a student so the China ones were the only option, I wouldn't argure that the brand names are not superior if you have the budget!

 

[augiedoggy]

They are mofset switching devices.... some people use them like regular on off switches and I have read that actually heat up quite a bit used in this way.
One person on this forum went through four or five of them used in this configuration but it was unclear if he used a heat sink and the proper thermal grease.... its kind of like not using one on a CPU it won't take long before it burns up.

Btw a quick search revealed this question has been asked and answered many times so you might want to do a search if you want more feedback.

 

[stevehaun]

If you are patient, you can get brand name SSRs off ebay for the not much more than the chinese SSRs. Crydom, Crouzet, Omega, Gordos. I personally use Crydom. I have never had an SSR fail but as a previous poster stated, SSRs may fail because of inadequate heat sink, no thermal grease, etc. Properly sized SSR, properly sized heat sink, and adequate ventilation are very important. Crydom recommends not using an SSR at greater than 70% of its rated load. So for a 5500 watt element you would need an SSR rated > 33 amps. You might get away with a 25 amp SSR but a 40 or 50 amp SSR doesn't cost much more - why take a chance?

 

[kenh]

If you are patient, you can get brand name SSRs off ebay for the not much more than the chinese SSRs. Crydom, Crouzet, Omega, Gordos.....

My personal experience is if it's a name brand for sale on eBay and it a extremely good deal then it's really a cheap Chinese knock-off. But if you find a seller who is getting rid of a "name brand" product and he is willing to state where he bought it from then it's probably the real thing. These deals are few and far between.

Based on my experience buying other things on eBay I bought cheap Chinese 25 Amp JANGJI brand SSRs off eBay. I also believe from other posts on this list and from my Electrician Brother In-law that most cheap SSR failures posted to this site are really caused by no heat sink or not enough heat sink. So I also bought a large heatsinks from http://www.heatsinkusa.com/ and I used thermal compound between the SSRs and the heat sink.

I've run 5500 Watt elements this way for over a year and have never had a failure.

 

[ryan_george]

Chinese SSRs for me. My system uses 4 of them and I have never had a failure in the several years of e-brewing. I use the "large" heat sinks that you can buy for them (again, Chinese), with proper thermal paste and attention to mounting orientation and airflow.

I do, of course, have a few spares on hand just in case

 

[mattd2]

Also I have seen the recomendation to derate the SSR 50% - e.g. if you need to switch 20A get a 40A SSR.

 

[pvtschultz]

My 40 amp Chinese SSR shorted out to the heat sink during the first test runs of my brew stand tripping the GFCI. It took me a while to isolate the failure. I have a Crydon 25 amp version now (and a spare just in case) and haven't had any troubles in ~35 batches.

 

[gunmetal]

All of my SSR's are surplus, meaning used Crydom models and I have not had a failure in 2 years. I do Have a spare already mounted on my heat sink, for a quick fix if necessary.