Jameco cheaper parts question

[ctmal]

In another post I noticed that some people are using cheaper parts from Jameco:



Here is a list of the parts (with PNs) that I bought from Jameco:
- Side Entry RJ45 Jack : 524461
- 6 Pin Socket : 683091
- Triacs : 140425
- MOC3023 : 277819
- 5 amp fuse : 103932
- 14 Pin Socket : 526192
- PIC 16F688 : 312611PS
- 8 Pin Socket : 683104

I spec'd out the parts for 5 Ren16 boards and found I can save over $50 using these parts(more lights?). Are these parts, especially the Triacs and MOC3023 equivalent to the BOM parts? I tried reading the spec sheets and it quickly went over my head.
Also, since I new to this, do you think I should just spend the extra money and stick with the origional BOM? I saw there were issues in the past with LED's but I'm not planning on using them(at least not yet).

Thanks,
Chris

[ppohlman]

Chris -
I was in your shoes when I was looking at buying parts. I wanted to make sure that the parts were equivalent and would work without a problem. I searched around the forum and wiki and found people stating that they have used the parts and were good replacements. Here (http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1734&highlight=Jameco) is one of those threads.

One of the biggest differences between the two is that the Jameco Triac is a 4 Amp triac instead of a 8 Amp one from Mouser. From the thread linked above, the 4 amp should be enough depending on what you are running on each channel.

When I get more time, I will look for some of the other threads that I found before I ordered from Jameco.

[rstehle]

Is that triac from Jameco (140425) suitable for dimming LED's?

[dnesci]

The Jameco Triac dims just fine. All of my SSRs are made with that Triac and I'm using a Renc and Grinch. Also the 4amp Triac is more than enough for the standard SSR. The board traces are only rated to us a little over 1 amp.

[rstehle]

The Jameco Triac dims just fine. All of my SSRs are made with that Triac and I'm using a Renc and Grinch. Also the 4amp Triac is more than enough for the standard SSR. The board traces are only rated to us a little over 1 amp.

Have you tried your system with LED light strings and do they dim smoothly?

[ctmal]

Just out of curiousity, does anybody know what would cause such a huge difference in price?

[Penfold]

The triac that is listed, can you use a heatsink with that?

[dnesci]

Have you tried your system with LED light strings and do they dim smoothly?

No, I can't help you as I do not have any LED strings to test.

[dnesci]

The triac that is listed, can you use a heatsink with that?

Yes they can. I have made a heat sink for each of my SSRs using aluminum angle that I purchased from Home Depot. The hole in the Triac body easily will take a 4-40 screw. Or you can use a machine threaded screw into the aluminum. Do not over tighten or you will crack the body of the Triac.

[ctmal]

FYI, I just emailed Jameco, they said the triac in question is not an isolated case.
"Triac part #140425 is NOT isolated case"

If I'm correct, that means that if a heat sink was connected, 120V would be running through it.

I just thought everybody considering this part would want to know. As for me, I'd rather be safer and go with the more expensive isolated part. I just know I'd be reaching across the board one day after unplugging the wrong outlet and start seeing the kind of lights that comes with the scent of something burning.

[ppohlman]

Thanks for that heads-up ctmal. The last thing we want is people to get injured.

[maffeirw]

Is that triac from Jameco (140425) suitable for dimming LED's?

Just finished building a number of Xmus Ren16s using the Jameco 140425 triac.

I will be using these for relatively low loads so I don’t intend to use any heat sinks, hopefully avoiding any safety issues brought up in this thread.

I hooked up 16 LED strings (last 2 years from Wal-Mart) and did some testing.

First I programmed a sequence to turn the all lights on and then off at 2 second intervals this seemed to work fine.

I then varied the intensity starting at 100 then reducing it by 10% every 2 seconds which also worked fine with the LED light strings no longer visibly lighting at 20% intensity.

Lastly I attempted varying lengths of ramp up and down on all sets and a slight flicker was noticed during both ramp up and down. It wasn’t terrible but it was noticeable.

I’m not sure if the above results were typical for LED light strings in general, just for half wave LED’s (I can’t imagine that Wal-Mart sells full wave but I could be wrong) or the Jameco triacs are to blame for the flicker. Maybe someone who has used LED’s with the normal triacs, or has tested half wave vs. full wave strings can answer that for us.

By the way, I also hooked up 8 mini light strings and everything was perfectly smooth.
Hope this helps. If you want me to run any other tests while I'm still set up let me know sometime today.
Ron

[rstehle]

Ron,
Thanks, that was extremely helpful!!
Randy