Help - SSRs are failing

[MarkL]

I'm at a loss as to what's going on here, so I'm hoping I can get some advice on what to check...

Some of my SSRs seem to be failing when they previously worked. Now here's the kicker...every one of the failures is on channel 4. I've had 5 or 6 boards out of 24 fail on channel four. The latest casualty was tonight. I had the light on testing and everything was good. Then, 1/2 hour later, one channel (#4) is out.

* The SSR board is Sean's 4 channel.
* In most cases I'm 100% sure I checked all channels and they were working before the failure.
* I've probed with a meter and can't find any obvious shorts. Can't see anything visually either. Since these channels worked at one point and failed later, I'm not thinking a board or shorting issue.
* On a couple of the fails, I swapped the opto with no result.
* Switching to different channels and/or using different cat5 cable doesn't fix it.
* I don't think it's a controller issue because by replacing SSR boards, I have gotten things to work. (But, just for information, all the channels that I have experienced failure with were driven by a Ren64.)
* I have not tried swapping out the triac on any of the failed boards. (I'll try that this week, but since that's not a socketed part, it was quicker to swap boards to get the display up.)

Help!!! Does anyone have a clue as to what could be causing this?

Thanks.
Mark

[Wombat]

What do you have running off channel 4 thats different to the others?

Is it the same board failing i.e going to the same lights? i.e. Are you just replacing that same SSR board with another and it fails again or is it different channels going to different lights?

Are all the loads the same?
what Current? (or Wattage of the globes in total)

[MarkL]

On all the boards that failed, all 4 channels on the SSR board were running identical loads.

On one board, each channel was driving a mini tree which consisted of 300 minis (~1 amp). These have heatsinks on the triacs.

On the other fails, each channel is driving a section of a lighted arch. Each channel is only 50 minis. No heatsinks on the triacs there.


Is it the same board failing i.e going to the same lights? i.e. Are you just replacing that same SSR board with another and it fails again or is it different channels going to different lights?
I haven't fixed any of the boards that failed. In the cases where I swapped out a new board, I haven't had those same channels fail. (Knocking on wood.)

[Wombat]

Hmm so its dirrerent channels and swapping the MOC doesnt fix it. Must have some flakey triacs or something? does it work if you put another load on it? like a heavier one? may be under the triac's holding current?

[P. Short]

Check your cables as well. Any chance that one of the pins (either end) isn't making good contact?

--

Phil

[holtm]

Is the way the SSR board mounted in the box putting a strain on channel #4 that would cause a weak solder joint to fail with enough time in the heat/cold outside. How about the RJ-45 jack, sometimes they can be a little touchy.

[Elmo2resc]

Check your cables as well. Any chance that one of the pins (either end) isn't making good contact?

--

Phil

I agree, I was having problems with Channel 2 and sometimes 3 on different SSR's. Turned out it was the cables. My crimper was not working properly. I replaced it with a new one and recrimped the cables. That fixed most of my problems. The other thing is to make sure you cables are wired right. That is that they are in the right order and pushed all the way forward the the fitting before you crimp them. After checking all of that, I have had no problems. Well, except for a few lizards... Jerome

[MarkL]

I'll make sure to recheck cables, but I'm not thinking that's the problem. When I brought the failing boards inside to check them out, I used a different cable plugged into a different controller, and it was still the same channel that was failing.

Also, swapping boards fixed the problem, so the cable isn't totally bad. (I do agree though that the act of swapping the boards could have made we wiggle the cable enough to temporarily fix a bad crimp or something like that.)

I will look into the jack more closely, both at the PCB and where the cable enters. All but one of the fails do have a bit of strain on the cat5, so that's a possibility. Although when I'm testing them inside, there is no strain, so that goes against that theory.

In the end I think I'm going to have to put together some test equipment to get to the bottom of this. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that more channel don't drop out.

Thanks.
Mark

[Elmo2resc]

Mark, Did you populate your R-64board with led's. If so, are the led's lit up for the channels you are having problems with?. Do they lit up when the cable is plugged in? If your R-64 is working properly and your cables are good, I would double check all the solder joints on the SSR's. Then try replacing the triac. Seems a little strange.

[Wayne J]

I will add this, but it's not likely with multiple boards going out. I had to replace the RJ45 jack on my board. the pins inside it was messed up. Chased that one for a while. :?

[WakeFan]

I had a RJ45 jack with the inside messed up as well. Took me a few hours to figure that one out.