Good cheap SSR heatsink

[Rivenin]

Howdy!

my SSR is getting stuck on, and I don't have a ton of income to toss around. I want to try and change out the heatsink first to see if i can alleviate the issue. If it doesn't, i know i have an upgraded heatsink for a better SSR later... But alas, there are numerous options out there... i'd love to go the Kal route and have a nice huge external heatsink, but it's out of my price range.

my current heatsink is one of the smaller ones that come with the ebay SSR's... so anything i feel will be an upgrade... it IS outside of the enclosure as well already, but alas, it's too damn hot and is actually somewhat hard to touch when it's running.

Also, side note, 220v, 4500w element. And there is thermal paste on it as well.

So i have a few options that i can see...

This one being the cheapest so far, but as we're all aware cheapest isn't always the best (should have done some reading on SSR's and heatsinks before i dove into this, but thats neither here nor there)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Heat-Sink-for-Solid-State-Relay-SSR-Up-To-40A-/151062952006

$8 shipped from china

Anyone have opinions on this? or another good option?

 

[Newsman]

Have you considered maybe adding a computer fan (one of the square case fans, probably) to help cool your heat sink? Heat sinks work best if you have air moving across them. 'Course to be REALLY fancy you could install a water-cooled computer heatsink/fan combo in that space in the middle. FWIW, those are sealed systems, because water and computers don't mix well.

 

[iijakii]

Heatsinkusa.com has a lot of good cheap options. Just measure how much room you have to work with and go from there.

 

[augiedoggy]

I use the cheap 12v heatsinks with a 12v fan blowing through them... even have a dual ssr running two elements on one and no problems in over 2 years.

What kind of ssr are you having issues with A fotek ? That wouldnt surprise me.

 

[BigFloppy]

What kind of ssr are you having issues with A fotek ? That wouldnt surprise me.

He's baaaaaaaack

 

[Brumateur]

Howdy!


Anyone have opinions on this? or another good option?

This is a good heatsink, but you will need a fan if mounting it inside a box.

 

[Bellybuster]

The heat sinks that come with the ssr are just fine but as many have suggested a fan is in order.
I've been running my boiler controller for at least 3 years with a cheap one

I have to agree with the fortek SSRs. They are hit and miss. There is a thread on another forum that shows the guts and the traces are no heavier than what maybe 10 amps might require. That said, I run a fortek and its 3 years strong, go figure.

 

[augiedoggy]

He's baaaaaaaack

I use the foteks myself (at least one now) I've had no problems bit they have a high failure rate since most sold on ebay are fake clones

 

[Brumateur]

Even a fake clones sometimes are good enough. Actually SSR is very simple device. Unless fake SSR maker is very greedy it should work fine. Just try to use at least 2x higher rated SSR (ie if you need to control 20Amp use at least 40Amp rated SSR)

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I bought one from Ebay.Maybe from this seller.Big and still gets hot.Go as big as you can.Not a lot of money in the long run

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Large-Recla...-8-X-1-9-16-/171897163407?hash=item2805de8e8f

 

[augiedoggy]

Even a fake clones sometimes are good enough. Actually SSR is very simple device. Unless fake SSR maker is very greedy it should work fine. Just try to use at least 2x higher rated SSR (ie if you need to control 20Amp use at least 40Amp rated SSR)

My 2 foteks have not given me issues but as far as SSR's go I read more failure complaints on the foteks here than any other brand... many DOA complaints and I know some of those are a result of newbies not paying attentions because they are so cheap and guessing incorrectly on the wiring but still

If you google it you can see its a big complaint in the meat smoker forums as well.

 

[iijakii]

I had two Foteks fail back-to-back after just a few brew sessions. No wiring issues. I replaced them with more cheap Foteks and didn't have any further issues for what it's worth. That said I'm not using Fotek on my newest build.

 

[Brumateur]

I don't recommend to use a Fotek especially if you are a newbie. But if you are know what are you doing you can (potentially) save a few bucks .
I don't use a Fotek in my builds. I'm using Mager. It's the same Chinese brand that Auber offering. They just re-label it.

 

[Rivenin]

Howdy!

it's indeed a fotek brand... unfortunately...
It's a wee bit scary to have it stuck on when it's coming to a boil with 12 gallons of wort in a 15 gallon pot thank god for fermcap!

anyways, @Brumateur i just did a little bit of reading on those SSR's. i haven't seen any issues reported that i can find, would you say it'd be a good idea on that brand? they seem pretty cheap (not cheaply made, but just the price point)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1Pcs-SSR-40...-480VAC-40A-/131359023203?hash=item1e959ba063
$10
that way i can keep my current heatsink, get a small fan as well and be set for the future

 

[iijakii]

Those ones are great for the price. Just think of all the people using Auber parts in this subforum.

 

[seven9st_surfer]

I've got the cheap ebay SSRs, and started out using the 25a ones and the heatsink they came with. I've got a 2x120v setup, btw, never pull over 12-13 amps per circuit. About 3 brews later, I opened up my panel, and both of my SSRs had started to melt. Not sure if it was due to poor heatsink contact or just the heatsinks being too small, but since then I've updated to 40a eBay SSRs (probably overkill), and 40a heatsinks from Auber. No issues since, and the heatsinks never get above "warm to the touch" on brewday. Not exactly cheap heatsinks, but I feel like it's not something to skimp on. Plus I couldn't find any of the black anodized ones that size on ebay.

 

[Brumateur]

Howdy!

anyways, @Brumateur i just did a little bit of reading on those SSR's. i haven't seen any issues reported that i can find, would you say it'd be a good idea on that brand? they seem pretty cheap (not cheaply made, but just the price point)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1Pcs-SSR-40...-480VAC-40A-/131359023203?hash=item1e959ba063
$10
that way i can keep my current heatsink, get a small fan as well and be set for the future

I installed a couple hundreds Mager SSRs. Never had a problem (but you need adequate heatsink)

 

[Brumateur]

About 3 brews later, I opened up my panel, and both of my SSRs had started to melt. Not sure if it was due to poor heatsink contact or just the heatsinks being too small,

Indeed! If it SSR starts melting but still works - it a good SSR
You definitely had small heatsink or/and bad thermal contact.

[/QUOTE]

 

[Rivenin]

Those ones are great for the price. Just think of all the people using Auber parts in this subforum.

Truth! Was mostly curious if any were reported as ripoffs or anything like that as they look easy to ripoff like the fotek ones.

But i couldn't find anything and he's installed a ton, so i might just drop $10 on the SSR and just hookup a small fan on the heatsink side of there just to keep everything good and in order.

Thanks for the assistance, errrrrryone!

 

[Rivenin]

annnnnnnnnnnnd purchased! Delivery is between oct 12th and 26th.

 

[seven9st_surfer]

Indeed! If it SSR starts melting but still works - it a good SSR
You definitely had small heatsink or/and bad thermal contact.

Pretty sure it was both. First heatsink was tiny. And with the bigger ones, I made sure I had a good layer of thermal paste and tightened it up really well.

 

[augiedoggy]

Truth! Was mostly curious if any were reported as ripoffs or anything like that as they look easy to ripoff like the fotek ones.

But i couldn't find anything and he's installed a ton, so i might just drop $10 on the SSR and just hookup a small fan on the heatsink side of there just to keep everything good and in order.

Thanks for the assistance, errrrrryone!

stilldragon sells them for $9 and change too... you can also find them with a heatsink on ebay for $11-12...

 

[ccbadd]

This is what I use: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00899BEGI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
I mount them on the outside so no fan is needed. $14.00

 

[Rivenin]

and we're good to go.
ended up brewing this weekend finally and went awesome with the new relay and heatsink! still got a bit warm... but tossed on a fan and it stayed cold as can be. Seemed to heat up faster too... not sure if that was just me busy because i was watching my son as well... hah.
but thumbs up to maeger relays from me.

[/url]1115150824b by Noah Scott, on Flickr[/IMG]