SSR and heatsink mounting in box

[interplexr]

I appologize if this has been asked and answered but I couldn't find anything when I searched so here goes....

I'm constructing the start of my electric rig. I'm working on the brew kettle at the moment along with the stand, control panel, and wiring. I'm scratching my head as to how I'm going to mount the SSR in the PVC box with the heatsink outside. I suppose I could notch the side and slip it on but that doesn't seem very clean and it limits where I can put it in the box. I'm sure smarter folks than me have solved this issue so I was hoping to get some suggestions, maybe with a couple pictures.

 

[Reelale]

I appologize if this has been asked and answered but I couldn't find anything when I searched so here goes....

I'm constructing the start of my electric rig. I'm working on the brew kettle at the moment along with the stand, control panel, and wiring. I'm scratching my head as to how I'm going to mount the SSR in the PVC box with the heatsink outside. I suppose I could notch the side and slip it on but that doesn't seem very clean and it limits where I can put it in the box. I'm sure smarter folks than me have solved this issue so I was hoping to get some suggestions, maybe with a couple pictures.

I have a 40-amp ssr in my control box...enclosed. It's only 110vac, but it works fine. I think it all depends on the dimensions of your box and how many ssrs you are planning on running. I don't think it is an absolute necessity to put it outside. The Pol was running huge elements and he had a novel way of mounting, try a search for Kill-a-Watt.

 

[interplexr]

I will be using a 40A SSR on a 5500W heating element. The boxes I have are 12x12x6 or 6x6x4 I believe. I thought about putting the SSR in the box and seeing how hot it gets. Eventually it'll be 2 SSR's as I add on the electric HLT. I guess I could put a fan in there worst case. I was hoping for something sealed though. Not sure if that's really necessary though. His way looked interesting being cut out of the back. The heatsink seemed to be a different design from what I could see. It looked as if the face that attaches to the SSR was larger but I could be mistaken.

 

[Reelale]

Yep, there all kinds of configurations of heatsinks from what I've seen. I think that some epoxy might work also, if you had the room.

 

[SweetSounds]

I've been thinking about this for quite a while now...

I'm going to try sandwiching a square piece of aluminum between the heat sink and the SSR - It will be just thicker than the plastic.

Cut a square hole in the enclosure just the size of the aluminum square. Put the SSR inside, the heat sink outside, and use the bolts to clamp the sandwich together.

It should even be seal-able with just a little bit of silicone.

I haven't prototyped it yet, so I don't have pics.

 

[Ohio-Ed]

I cut the back of my panel out and made an aluminum "back plane" for SSR's, Heatsinks, etc..
The aluminum plate is sandwiched between the SSRs & Heatsinks and the plate is mounted to the back of the box. I used thermo compound on both sides of the aluminum to make sure there is good thermal transfer.

Heres a pic of the back plane:

 

[ellijo89]

I actually ran into this problem when building my control panel 2 weekends ago. I have a 12*12*6 plastic junction box and 2 40amp heat sinks out the side. What i did for each one was cut a hole so that the SSR can fit through, then just used plywood basically cut like a picture frame so that SSR goes through to heatsink and attached together and outside of heatsink rests against plywood which is against the box. To attach i drilled through the heatsink (which was aluminum and pretty easy) and bolted box to plywood to heatsink. I wasn't worried about the plywood getting to hot since the flash point of plywood is so high that at that point i would have far bigger problems lol. So far it has held strong through my system testing and such.

i hope that made some sense, Its a whole jumble in the middle.

 

[interplexr]

Those are some good ideas! I think I'll try getting a flat alluminum plate to fit into a cutout in the back of the box and bolt the SSR and heatsink to that and silicon it up to seal. Any suggestions for cutting squares in pvc? Does a dremel drill bit looking cutter (not sure the correct name) do a decent job?

By the way, that's a sweet looking box Ed!

 

[Sawdustguy]

I've been thinking about this for quite a while now...

I'm going to try sandwiching a square piece of aluminum between the heat sink and the SSR - It will be just thicker than the plastic.

Cut a square hole in the enclosure just the size of the aluminum square. Put the SSR inside, the heat sink outside, and use the bolts to clamp the sandwich together.

It should even be seal-able with just a little bit of silicone.

I haven't prototyped it yet, so I don't have pics.

It would have been better to use a copper square. Copper will help spread the heat across the heat sink surface.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Those are some good ideas! I think I'll try getting a flat alluminum plate to fit into a cutout in the back of the box and bolt the SSR and heatsink to that and silicon it up to seal. Any suggestions for cutting squares in pvc? Does a dremel drill bit looking cutter (not sure the correct name) do a decent job?

By the way, that's a sweet looking box Ed!

Make a template out of wood and use the tool like a router.

 

[SweetSounds]

I used a roto-zip saw. A dremel will work just fine too, or a jig saw with a medium to fine blade.

 

[Ohio-Ed]

Those are some good ideas! I think I'll try getting a flat alluminum plate to fit into a cutout in the back of the box and bolt the SSR and heatsink to that and silicon it up to seal. Any suggestions for cutting squares in pvc? Does a dremel drill bit looking cutter (not sure the correct name) do a decent job?

By the way, that's a sweet looking box Ed!

Thanks.

You can use a dremel, a sabre saw, or maybe even a razor knife.

If you attach the "plate" on the outside, the hole in the box will be covered so it won't need to be perfect.

 

[ebstauffer]

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