Heat from SSR's?

[bennihana]

How much heat do ssr's give off? I will be using a few on my new build. I am using 230v system with a 2000w element. So at full power my load consumption should be less than 10A, so do i need a head sink if i use a 20A ssr. and if so can i get away with using a 40 or 60 amp rated ssr without using a heat sink. my goal is low cost and i can get the higher rating ssr's for only pennies more than the 20. I guess my main question is if i use higher rated ssr's can i get away without buying heatsinks?

 

[Brumateur]

For 10A load you need a heatsink. Its always good to have higher rated SSR but they generated almost the same heat. For 10A you don't need a big heatsink. You can use CPU heatsink from an old computer.

 

[bennihana]

okay, good. just wasnt sure if the higher rating would drop the heat at all, but if a computer heat sink will be good enough i think i can find a few of those for pretty cheap

 

[Brumateur]

If you have some scrap pieces of aluminum sheet or/and profile you can do something like this:

 

[Brumateur]

okay, good. just wasnt sure if the higher rating would drop the heat at all,

Yes, higher rating SSR produce slightly less heat, but you still need a heatsink on 10A. If I remember correctly you can run up to 5A without a heatsink.

 

[wuttheheeck]

Dont cheat yourself by not using one trying to save pennies. I bought one rated just for the current i was going to be using and i had a poor junction between it and the heat sink.. ended up burning up that SSR, the one next to it and the side of my PID controller.

if anything get a bigger heat sink than needed.

For me i now have a 2 40a ssr and a 60a heat sink. Granted I will be only using one ssr at a time in a 30a system. the price difference so little I wanted to be safer.

I am now comfortable having the automated herms go through step mashes while im at work. I come home and its ready to be sparged and transfered.