Guys who have built PID controllers

Thanks for the tip got 2 of them just this morning

 

I recall your thread on the other site. Haven't been on there since though. Did you rule out whether an ample amount of conductive paste was the culprit?

 

Yessir - even with the DC leads disconnected, as soon as relay is close, SSR fires.

 

Who woulda thought... went through 4 Fotek 40A SSRs and all were bad from the start... ordered these, Mager SSR 40A (thanks Doug for the recommendation), and everything works like expected. Cheap China crap has a place, just not in powered electronics!

 

Who woulda thought... went through 4 Fotek 40A SSRs and all were bad from the start... ordered these, Mager SSR 40A (thanks Doug for the recommendation), and everything works like expected. Cheap China crap has a place, just not in powered electronics!

 

I feel your pain I did the same thing years ago

 

[duplicate threads merged]

 

I am going thru the same issue getting them to work properly. One thing that helped me in troubleshooting(other than being a Licensed electrician) was installing a Amp meter onto my control panel, its pretty easy to see if you are somehow running on half the power(if your relay works, but is wired wrong and you operate on 120V) you will see about 12-13A or current draw, or if your operating at full heat (240V @ 26-27A) then you know you have a failed relay. Also, if you start tripping breakers at your house, you can visibly see why, and possibly shed load. I think it was about $10 on amazon, and has a pretty blue LCD screen

 

cheers for the great advice, really helps a newbie with melting ssr probs.
There is a $15 40amp ssr on ebay with heatsink and thermal grease, it looks the same as mager one (blue and clear plastic? you recon it is worth a try or any recommendations where to get a decent relay to power a blichmann boil coil 5000w i think.
Australia if poss or will order from usa, also can you use a voltage regulator to turn down the coil for a steady boil?
Thanks in advance.