COUNTERFEIT SSR WARNING - CHECK YOUR GEAR!

[NealK]

Check the link in the opening post for the description and info.
Personally I have decided to avoid the Fotek brand altogether.

 

[spog]

Fake.


Real


Comparison
.
The bottom RHS of the real deal is circled in red.
Hope this helps.

 

[Kev R]

I had one melt like that but not as bad, the problem was a lose conection at the ssr

 

[BrisBrew]

Thanks guys, ill keep all this in mind when i order my SSR and PID

 

[takai]

I had one melt like that but not as bad, the problem was a lose conection at the ssr

Almost any electrical item will melt with a loose connection. A loose connection will induce arcing at high current flow and the arcing will build up carbon on the terminals that will only compound the problem. The current flow through the carbon will generate heat, and that will melt the crap out of almost anything.

We had a Clipsal RCD that melted in our previous rental's switch board due to a loose connection on the input. It doesnt matter how oversized you spec the components to if the connections are loose.

 

[spog]

I remembered tonight that I bought 4x SSRs about 5 years ago,I've used one in my controller build and the other 3 are in a cupboard.
I've just had a look at them and they are the same as the knockoffs ,actually identical.....bugga !.
I've not had any trouble with the one in my controller heat wise as I have a fan wired in the box so it runs as soon as the unit is switched on. Hopefully I won't have any issues down the track but this topic has been bouncing around in my head since it was posted....whirr,whirr,clickety clunk and the light bulb comes on.
I might order a reputable replacement to be on the safe side.

 

[jibba02]

Mounting that **** is a fully enclosed plastic enclosure with no heat sink is asking for trouble.

 

[Tropico]

Heat sink is important, ventilation is important, and equally important is heat transfer compound between SSR and heat sink.

 

[Bogan333]

Is these Fake?

 

[sp0rk]

The Fotek is fake, however I think the Inkbird is a genuine one made by Inkbird
Do us a favour and see if you can pop out the little lid that the label sits on, on the Inkbird SSR
If they're completely filled with resin, it's probably a decent unit
I'm planning on buying a couple to tear down and inspect for quality

 

[spog]

The Fotek is fake, however I think the Inkbird is a genuine one made by Inkbird
Do us a favour and see if you can pop out the little lid that the label sits on, on the Inkbird SSR
If they're completely filled with resin, it's probably a decent unit
I'm planning on buying a couple to tear down and inspect for quality

PM me your address and I'll send you one of the dodgy Foteks I have.

 

[takai]

Ive been doing a bit more playing with these SSRs, and one of the things that they really dont like is PWM control. Their t^on/t^off dwell time is around 500ms, so PWM control will burn them out. But i havnt had any fail even with 20A running through them in bang-bang mode.

 

[NealK]

PWM?

 

[SBOB]

PWM?

pulse width modulation

Pulse Width Modulation, or PWM, is a technique for getting analog results with digital means. Digital control is used to create a square wave, a signal switched between on and off. This on-off pattern can simulate voltages in between full on (5 Volts) and off (0 Volts) by changing the portion of the time the signal spends on versus the time that the signal spends off. The duration of "on time" is called the pulse width. To get varying analog values, you change, or modulate, that pulse width. If you repeat this on-off pattern fast enough with an LED for example, the result is as if the signal is a steady voltage between 0 and 5v controlling the brightness of the LED.

 

[QldKev]

Brewing the other weekend at a mates (not on my system) and noticed a burning smell. All 4 Fotek SSRs are melted. They all have the 45 corner. We noticed the 2 non Fotek SSRs are the only good ones in there.

Who is a decent supplier for SSRs in Australia?

 

[Zorco]

As a tip-off, I was at the tip the other day and some split system air cons were there, inside were first class Omron SSDs. Always take pliers and screwdrivers with you!

Edit: actually bad advice. There could be a lot of stored energy and it could be dangerous if you're not trained with electricity.