ezzieyguywuf
Well-Known Member
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/view...561db6fff49090?itemId=300620508416&cmd=VIDESC
I purchased the linked ssr and set it up to switch my 5500W 240V heating element on/off. I've got a PWM signal going to the control pins, with a variable duty cycle adjustable via a pot. That portion of my setup seems to be working appropriately, as evidenced by the blinking light on the ssr, plus I've wired up an led parallel to my control pins. My PWM frequency is in the 1 blink per 2-3 second rage, I can't recall the exact frequency at the moment.
Where I run into problems is in using this setup to actually control the heat output of my element. Originally, I set up one leg of my element straight to -120V and the other went as follows:
+120V -> into Relay --> out of relay --> other leg of my element
My thought was that I could vary the duty cycle of the +120V to effectively vary the voltage my element sees from 120V to 240V, based on the duty cycle I've set. What I found, however, was that regardless of my duty cycle, my coil was always at full blast. Even with my PWM signal completely off, and no blinking at all on the SSR, I found that I had full blast going to my pot.
I tried removing the -120V line and replacing it with neutral (my boil was out of control) but then I didn't have enough juice to get the thing back to a boil. Even with this setup, I founfd I could not vary the voltage to the element: it was either at 117V or not. I took these reading using an el cheapo multimeter in AC mode.
I did drop the relay once, and the plastic thingy came off.
My question is: have I erred in my wiring of the SSR? I tried switching the lugs I connected my hot line to on the relay, not to the control side (that would have been silly) but essentially swapping the +120V from T1 to T2 (I think that's the terminology), but this did not change anything. I can't imagine that i'd want +120 to go to T1 and -120 to go to T2. Could my SSR be broken?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
I purchased the linked ssr and set it up to switch my 5500W 240V heating element on/off. I've got a PWM signal going to the control pins, with a variable duty cycle adjustable via a pot. That portion of my setup seems to be working appropriately, as evidenced by the blinking light on the ssr, plus I've wired up an led parallel to my control pins. My PWM frequency is in the 1 blink per 2-3 second rage, I can't recall the exact frequency at the moment.
Where I run into problems is in using this setup to actually control the heat output of my element. Originally, I set up one leg of my element straight to -120V and the other went as follows:
+120V -> into Relay --> out of relay --> other leg of my element
My thought was that I could vary the duty cycle of the +120V to effectively vary the voltage my element sees from 120V to 240V, based on the duty cycle I've set. What I found, however, was that regardless of my duty cycle, my coil was always at full blast. Even with my PWM signal completely off, and no blinking at all on the SSR, I found that I had full blast going to my pot.
I tried removing the -120V line and replacing it with neutral (my boil was out of control) but then I didn't have enough juice to get the thing back to a boil. Even with this setup, I founfd I could not vary the voltage to the element: it was either at 117V or not. I took these reading using an el cheapo multimeter in AC mode.
I did drop the relay once, and the plastic thingy came off.
My question is: have I erred in my wiring of the SSR? I tried switching the lugs I connected my hot line to on the relay, not to the control side (that would have been silly) but essentially swapping the +120V from T1 to T2 (I think that's the terminology), but this did not change anything. I can't imagine that i'd want +120 to go to T1 and -120 to go to T2. Could my SSR be broken?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
