Foteck SSR's @*^^?&#! JUNK

[BrunDog]

You raise a valid point. Note that thermal paste has a conductivity of around 10 W/mK while the heatsink itself is around 200. The thermal paste is there to fill the voids which exist in and between the mating surfaces of the SSR and the HS. Many people take the “more is more” approach to thermal paste, which actually reduces heat transfer efficiency. Depending on the paste, it may not flow well out along the surface and “self level”. So it is very possible for the transfer to be inefficient.

Also quality heatsinks have flat milled mount surfaces. The cheap ones are extruded, which mean their consistent contact with the SSR baseplate may not exist.

 

[LittlejohnBrew]

Sorry to bump a dead thread, but appears this would be the appropriate place for this.

Unfortunately I wasn't aware of the fake Fotek issues and already purchased one with heat sink off eBay. Should I just go ahead and buy a different SSR, or use the possibly fake Fotek until failure. Is it even safe to do so? Seems to be a fire hazard? Fwiw I'll be mounting the heatsink external to the controller junction box.

 

[passedpawn]

No comment on any of the fake things, but I suggest buy Crydom SSRs. I do believe in the quality of american made products. I understand that sometimes the same can be had for less, but buying twice really pizzes me off, sorry China.

I built my electric system in 2009. I have two dual SSRs, Crydoms. I've used it many ( ) times. Still going strong.

 

[doug293cz]

Sorry to bump a dead thread, but appears this would be the appropriate place for this.

Unfortunately I wasn't aware of the fake Fotek issues and already purchased one with heat sink off eBay. Should I just go ahead and buy a different SSR, or use the possibly fake Fotek until failure. Is it even safe to do so? Seems to be a fire hazard? Fwiw I'll be mounting the heatsink external to the controller junction box.

I wouldn't use them in a system you intend to walk away from while in operation. Many people have used them and had failures, but I don't recall any reports of actual fires. The device can scorch and partially melt - accompanied by acrid smells - but damage is usually limited to the device itself. If one does fail on you, and you don't have a spare, your brew day is pretty much over.

Brew on

 

[Esmitee]

Well about a week after my last post , I did get my new SSR's and new heat sinks, even though I really didn't need new heat sinks. I got a good deal on the SSR's, that included the larger heat sinks and thermal paste and I thought it would be even better with the larger heat sinks. So I retrofitted my panel. The SSR's are 40 AMP MGR's. Hopefully I will not have any problems? Time will tell

The heat sinks are Din mountable, The old ones were Din mount, and were mounted as such. If I mounted these new ones on the Din rail, the fins would be the opposite direction for good air flow. So I had to drill and countersink a hole in the center on the mounting area for the SSR. This way, the fins are in the best orientation for best cooling air flow.

Thermal paste applied

I also put a little thermal paste over the countersink screw head for total coverage.

New SSR's and heat sinks installed and wired

Full view of SSR's, heat sinks and the cooling system

 

[mabrungard]

That's a bit much on the thermal grease. It's only supposed to fill the micro and macro gaps between the two surfaces. Hopefully you tightened the SSR down to the sink.

I haven't heard of fires, only cases where the magic smoke leaves the component and your boil abruptly ends.

 

[Esmitee]

That's a bit much on the thermal grease. It's only supposed to fill the micro and macro gaps between the two surfaces. Hopefully you tightened the SSR down to the sink.

I haven't heard of fires, only cases where the magic smoke leaves the component and your boil abruptly ends.

I know you don't need much, It's really not as much as it looks in the picture, I got 2 little tubes with my purchase, and I didn't even use 1/2 of 1 tube. I tightened the SSR's down pretty good, and had a little squeeze out.

When my ssr blew, it made a popping sound, followed by massive amounts of smoke, that stunk to high heaven. No fire. Actually , the whole panel remained ON until I hit the E stop. When I opened the panel up, No damage at all, except the melted Fotec ssr. The only thing was a film of smoke on an adjacent switch and a few wires going to that switch. I wiped the smoke film off with a damp paper towel. You can't even tell anything went wrong.

 

[thekraken]

1/2 a tube? I use about a pea size or slightly larger amount.

 

[BrunDog]

That’s way too much thermal paste. See my post above. You are actually decreasing performance by creating such a thick barrier. Some will squeeze out but that’s not something you should trust. More is not more... sorry.

 

[augiedoggy]

I was going to say the same thing on the paste.. should be a super thin layer

 

[Esmitee]

Hey Men, I should have been more clear with my statement of the thermal paste application. I used maybe 1/2 of 1 tube for both SSR's. I think the tube was .5 grams

 

[passedpawn]

The CPU overclockers out there use 1000 grit automotive sandpaper to polish their heat sinks so that no paste is necessary. I've done this on one of my computers

 

[The_Bishop]

You still need some paste, just not much of it. Think 'half a grain of rice' amounts.

 

[passedpawn]

You still need some paste, just not much of it. Think 'half a grain of rice' amounts.[/QUOTE}

Yea I think I used a bit of arctic silver. That was the overclocker's choice. In the end, my computer was unstable and I dialed back the clock. I'm not even a gamer.

 

[thekraken]

The CPU overclockers out there use 1000 grit automotive sandpaper to polish their heat sinks so that no paste is necessary. I've done this on one of my computers

I lapped my ssr for my rig.

 

[augiedoggy]

Hey Men, I should have been more clear with my statement of the thermal paste application. I used maybe 1/2 of 1 tube for both SSR's. I think the tube was .5 grams

the amount adding in the pictures you posted was really ideally too much.