How To Test An SSR Solid State Relay Quick & Easy

How To Test A Solid State Relay using basic test equipment
LAB & GHETTO VERSIONS : Schematics are here

Mentioned in this video
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The original $1 Fake Mosfet Detector (and how to use both versions)

Equipment used in my videos. These are affiliate links, you pay the normal price and I make a small commission.
TEST METERS
ANENG AN8009 MULITIMETER
KAIWEETS HT118E MULTIMETER
VC480C+ MILLIOHM METER
MESR-100 ESR METER
XC6013L CAPACITOR METER

TM-902C TEMPERATURE METER
LCR-T4 COMPONENT ANALYZER
FNB58 USB ANALYZER
PCI POST ANALYZER
TL460S PLUS PCI_E ANALYZER
TOOLTOP ET120MC2 SCOPE
FNIRSI 1014D SCOPE
NPS3010W 30V 10A PSU
T12 STATION WITH M8 9501 HANDLE
M8 9501 HANDLE
YIHUA 982 Soldering Station C210/C245
FNIRSI HS-02 PORTABLE SOLDERING C210/C245
QUICK 861DW
PROS'KIT SS-331H

INFIRAY P2 PRO IR CAMERA + MACRO LENS
TOOLTOP ET13S THERMAL CAMERA METER
ET13S MACRO LENS
OPTICAL MICROSCOPE
TOMLOV TM4K AF FLEX
TL866 II+ PROGRAMMER
CH341 PROGRAMMER
NC-559-ASM FLUX

DESOLDER BRAID (I use size 8045)
HX-T100 SOLDER (0.6MM)
ESD-11 TWEEZERS

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Thank you
Richard

[davidg]

Truly appreciate videos like this both for the learning opportunity, and for the "mistakes happen, it's how you recover that matters" aspect. Thank you!

[dougobrien]

Love this stuff, Cheers from Australia.

[dgakadoug]

The findings here are consistent with Figure 3 of the datasheet (both the very old one used in the video and one about two decades newer under the Panasonic brand name).

Note that the part is actually only rated for 0.9 A with derating required for ambient temperature above 40 °C. The 9 A rating is the non-repetitive surge current rating, spec'd at 1 cycle at 60 Hz. An 8 pin DIP triac would melt at 9 A continuous (even outdoors here, where it is -22 °C at the moment). Dissipation in triacs is around 1 watt per ampere.

As I mentioned in a comment on the previous video, the old Motorola MOC30xx series of opto triac triggers come in four variants according to required input current for triggering: 5, 10, 15 and 30 mA. I suspect if that part were introduced today there would probably only be 5 and maybe 10 mA versions.

[DadofScience]

Very interesting! I must admit I dislike using breadboards for mains power and tend to use circuits built up on PCB stock with bulky traces and decent separation and all connections soldered. They're not pretty, but they're robust.

[chrishartley]

Nice one, very useful information.
BTW, if there are people working outside it must be mañana! 🎉

[pmgear]

Thanks for digging deeper, I learned a lot

[romancharak]

That is a nice way to test that IC's minimum requirements.

[ralphj]

Very good. The Panasonic AQ-H relays product catalogue has an extra table, which recommends 15mA min (25mA max) for the LED. There's an eevblog post, understanding communication circuity of split system AC, which may help (this includes the opto wiring and some indication of the differential comms, which is mains referenced). You may need all the sensors to diagnose the error code.

[jjqformerlyjailbreak]

Being wrong sometimes proves right. 👍

[Dutch_off_grid_homesteading]

Heya, very nice test's richard you proved yourself wrong well done lol

[shizenelectronics]

the leds in the optocoupler or SSR fade with age/temperature. The threshold voltage/current increases with age. Compare this SSR with a new SSR (of the same type) and measure the diode junction with the diode tester. If the voltage of the "old" SSR is higher than that of the new SSR, then it is no longer good.

[bones]

What fun R. Informative. Might need a wee libation to digest this new found knowledge. Skills🙏🏼

[LarixusSnydes]

Hmm, first of all: thank you for your update on this. Secondly: I was surprised that you used a bread board to test with the mains. Quite briefly, but still: 40W at mains voltage is a lot to cope with for this poor bread board. I would not have the audacity😉 to test a mains load on a lowly bread board.

[Petzlglyph]

So if it wasn't that, what was the issue with the A/C board (s)? Maybe a follow up vid?

[Pcbfix.service]

Thank you for informative videos can you make one about testing relays ? I ve been testing with power supply and a multimeter but i know that under load the results are not the same can you help with that?

[hanihadjab]

Welcome
I love your videos. I have a 3080 xtreme 10gb. When I play light or small games it works fine, but when I play large games it stops working and a black screen comes up with 100/100 fans.
Knowing that its temperature does not exceed 76 degrees Celsius, I tried it on another computer and the same problem occurred.
What do you suggest to me to solve the problem?

[therealspixycat]

Hi Richard. Are you interested to build a fully regulated power supply say 0-20V and 0-5A out of of cheap ATX by adding a simple board that regulates both output voltage and current? The idea is to use 2 LM494 for current and voltages control that drives the ipto coupler that is normally controlled by the 431 zener circuit

[jjab]

Great video as always, many thanks.
One quick question please.... Can I use these SSRs to switch DC voltages or are they only for AC Voltages???? Sorry, but I am dimmer than your test LEDs and just wanted to ask as these could be very useful to me if they can switch DC Voltages. If they cannot, can you please recommend a suitable solid state alternative that will switch low Current DC Voltages ????
Many thanks, take care and stay safe,
Joe

[amol]

Dear richard, i am new to this and was wondering where can i get schematics for electronics in general, in one of the videos you mentioned babcaps as a resource but it is mainly for computers and laptops, i was wondering for electronic devices like Air conditioners, weighing scales, etc.

[DIYPRo-ivcy]

So if this is not the the faulty component on the AC motherboard then what is the faulty unit ? as from your test you didn't find any other faulty component