ssr troubles

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
B

borny

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2011
Messages
80
Reaction score
2
I test ran my system today and found out that my ssr is stuck closed, and Electricity continually flows to the heating element even after I turn off the power to the PID. Could this be just a faulty ssr? I am going to pull my system apart and verify the wiring is correct and will try and switching out the ssr to see if the ssr has failed. any other suggestions of what could be happening?

This is an Auber instruments ssr, so I'm going to reach out to them in the morning. I just wonder if I did something to damage it...
 
so even when you remove the trigger signal wires, the SSR continues to actually power the heating element? or do you just measure a voltage across the load terminals?

the last part is normal; even when unpowered, you will read a voltage across the load terminals. this is just how SSRs work. there shouldnt be enough current to heat anything though. SSRs switch power on and off by blocking current, not voltage.
 
I recommend testing the SSR and also reviewing your set-up prior to installing a new SSR because a minor issue can blow the SSR faster than you can say #)$#.
 
+1 on Audger's comment. A SSR will allow a small current leak past, but it should not be enough to cause heating in the element. I have LED's wired across my element circuits so that I can confirm when they are firing. If the heater elements are unplugged from the circuit, the LEDs will glow slightly. When I plug in the heaters, the LEDs go out until the PIDs actually command the SSR's to close the heater circuits.
 
Basically I can kill the power to the ssr and still power up the heating element. I did contact Auber and they recommended testing the ssr with a light bulb, so I will be trying that tomorrow. hopefully I did not fry this ssr.

Here is a you tube video that Auber sent to me. Same basic instructions as list above, but in video format for anyone who needs assistance visualizing the process...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
borny said:
I test ran my system today and found out that my ssr is stuck closed, and Electricity continually flows to the heating element even after I turn off the power to the PID. Could this be just a faulty ssr? I am going to pull my system apart and verify the wiring is correct and will try and switching out the ssr to see if the ssr has failed. any other suggestions of what could be happening?

This is an Auber instruments ssr, so I'm going to reach out to them in the morning. I just wonder if I did something to damage it...
Click to expand...

My brand spanking new Chinese SSR leaked enough current to light a 50W light bulb at half power and could easily warm 5 gallons of water. It finally shorted out and tripped my GFI. I bought an Omron from Grainger and haven't looked back (yet).
 
Yeah, this ssr definitely has a short. I hooked it up to a lamp this morning and the lamp lit up pretty darn bright.

Do ssr's short easily? Because the first time I fired up my system, the heating element I was using sparked from the back and burned out... So, I don't know if it ever did work.... But I'm guessing that was the moment the ssr died though.

Crap! Need to wait another week to brew.
 
SSR's generally fail in the closed circuit condition. I'm not sure what happened to your element though. I have a spare on hand now just in case.
 
borny said:
Yeah, this ssr definitely has a short. I hooked it up to a lamp this morning and the lamp lit up pretty darn bright.

Do ssr's short easily? Because the first time I fired up my system, the heating element I was using sparked from the back and burned out... So, I don't know if it ever did work.... But I'm guessing that was the moment the ssr died though.

Crap! Need to wait another week to brew.
Click to expand...

It more than likely is a short in your wiring, wrong component (my problem in my system - 24v LED instead of 240v) or a bad element. Doubt it had anything to do with the SSR, it just fried because of the other issue.
 
I'm sure it was the element that shorted out that caused the ssr to fail. When I test rain everything, I saw the element snap and pop and the gfci breaker tripped. After further inspection, the back of the element was burned up and the connections were full of soot.

Last week was a bad week for me. Not only did I loose a ssr, a heating element, my mini brew hot liquor tank had its threads stripped, so I can no longer screw in elements into it. And my brewing budget is blown for now.
 

Similar threads

L
Building a potentiometer controller
Replies
25
Views
1K
doug293cz
doug293cz
ALAN C
Need help to confirm wiring .
Replies
17
Views
2K
ALAN C
ALAN C
Sean_SA
Issues calibrating Inkbird ITC106VH
Replies
2
Views
339
Deadalus
Deadalus
B
eBIAB PID Controller Wiring Diagram - Feedback Requested
Replies
14
Views
1K
beerisambrosia
B
H
3 Position Switch for 2 Elements?
Replies
13
Views
2K
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top