SSRs from Hong Kong

I need some SSRs for my electric brewery and I can't help but look at the ones from China. Past experience says to stay away from electronics coming from there, but these devices are molded single piece solid state devices. So how do they sell them so cheap? Are they manufactured over there? Are they fudging their specs so that a 40 amp device will only carry that amount for 5usec while chilled to absolute zero?

If anyone has any insight please let me know. It's not so much wasting money that I'm concerned about, it's having a high current device fail in operation that brings smokey/flamey fears to mind.

I don't know what prices you are looking at but don't be surprised if all SSR are produced in china and only a few Chinese brands advertise that fact.

And yes when labor wages overseas are a minute fraction of what they are here it in no way offsets the shipping costs.

Whether American produced or Chinese SSRs do have a finite lifespan, number of switches, etc. Only thing I would ABSOLUTELY suggest is to put the large heat sink on for the type of relay.

I would agree that most of them are made in China or other low cost labor countries. I think it best to buy from a vendor that is in your country and can answer questions and support the product instead of a direct ship from China or Hong Kong vendor. When all is said and done however it is one of the cheapest parts in your brewery and replacing one at some point is not a big issue, unless of course it burns your house down (JK).

I bought two 25A SSRs on eBay from a seller in Hong Kong. They look identical to SSRs I've seen being sold by US sellers. I've been using them (with proper heat sinks) with no issues.

For the price of them I think I'll give it a go. If they're the same brand being sold worldwide then they must be legit.

Don't worry about heat dissipation. I'm fully aware of all the design considerations with these things. I'm mostly concerned about deception by the vendor.

only problem I had was shipping delay, it took almost a month. 28 days to be exact.

I have bought Crydom SSRs off ebay for less than $20 - some less than $10. At that price, why not get name brand stuff.

stevehaun said:

I have bought Crydom SSRs off ebay for less than $20 - some less than $10. At that price, why not get name brand stuff.

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I've never seen any local 40 amp SSRs for that price. I wound up buying two 40amp SSRs with heatsinks for $16 each, shipping included. We'll see how long that takes.