...I don't think it matters since current is pulled not pushed...
I'm not an electrician!
Remember the latter before you restate the former!
Anyway, put the contactor before ("upstream") the SSR.
Personally, I like the design since the contactor is the last line of defense before the kettle. Has the consensus on this changed?
Bad engineering principles cannot be morphed into good engineering principles by consensus.
Well, like you said its part of a whole circuit, so if any part breaks, current won't flow. Honestly doing this way is not breaking any laws of the universe or anything. It is just that SSRs tend to fail, and fail closed. So if this happens, you have it on, applying power and generating heat when it isn't called for. Of course it wouldn't get past the contactor (aka relay) to the downstream circuitry, but its still a live part of your circuit. If the SSR is after the contactor, and it gets stuck on, it will be powering your element or pump or whatever and you will be aware as your contactor is closed.
Thank you for the explanation.
Placing the SSR downstream from the contactor may increase its life.
Thank you for the explanation.
So we could agree that either approach is safe. Placing the SSR downstream from the contactor may increase its life. That gain, I would think, is negligible compared to the characteristics of the entire system and its effects on the life of the SSR.
Not trying to argue your point. Rather, I want to emphasize that there's no significant advantage to either approach necessitating me, or anyone who has the contactor downstream, to open their controller and rewire it.
Not sure where that came from.
Correct. No real biggie worth any time thinking about it.
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