Just a bit of input on SSR's. My company Centralite is one of , if not the
largest purchaser of Crydom SSR's in the USA. We use them in our lighting
control system we manufacture for high end luxury homes and light commercial
projects. We have cabinets with up to 48 of the random fire SSR's.  Crydom
makes zero cross SSR's and random fire. They are easy to short out so be
very careful when testing circuits using SSR's. They almost always short in
the on position. I've had a few that have literally blown up and spit smoke
and cracked open, but this is rare. Crydom is in the process of designing a
new SSR for our company that has a built in LED on the low voltage side, as
well as a new type of high voltage lug on the output for direct connection
of 12-14 gauge wire.

I was blown away when I found out what we pay for these things in the
quantities that we purchase. We use mostly 25 amp SSR's and a few 40's, by a
ratio of 24 to 1. They are well under $10 each in these quantities.  I laugh
when I see what Digikey and other sell them for, wondering if they have the
same margins on other products.

I wish I could convince the owners of the company to allow me to "sell" some
at around $10 or so to hobbyists and the like.

Crydom also has a smaller 10 amp SSR called the Power Fin. It has an
insulated heat sink built into it and is small and works well. It does get
toasty at full load but can handle it. It might be designed to have some
type of air movement across it for long term use.

Mike Reid

-----Original Message-----
From: pic microcontroller discussion list
[mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of James Cameron
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2003 10:10 PM
To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: [ee]: Are solid state relays TTL devices?


On Mon, Dec 22, 2003 at 06:46:49PM -0500, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
> The mass produced "hockey puck" style modules of which we are speaking
> are really only half a product. The heat sink must be supplied externally.
> They are supposed to be designed into OEM applications.

Ah, right.  Correction noted.

--
James Cameron    mailto:quozl@us.netrek.org     http://quozl.netrek.org/

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