Gage of wire to use with SSR's

[robots4joey]

I am about to start soldering my SSR's which will be made from my own boards. I would like you all's opinions on how big of wire to use. I assume the bigger the better right? I do need to fit it through a regular hole on a pc board, so it can't be too big. My main curiosity is: can I just use some leftover telephone type wire? I assume this will be a no, but it would make my life easier...

Thanks,

-Joey

[JaysonH]

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

The entire wire less the shielding should fit in the connector holes.

Since the maxium rating of the TRIAC's is 4amps each channel, I wouldnt go any smaller (ie. higher gauge) than 14 AWG per channel. Since the fuse (shipped with the parts kits and in the parts list of Seans SSR's) is 5amp then this wire should be sufficient for the main power source inputs as well.

Hope the above link helps.

[stempile]

Are you talking about how to connect the components on the board? You should be able to arrange then close enough just to use the leads of the components to connect the components together. Otherwise I would use 20 awg hook up wire. On the signal side (low voltage before the opto you can use extra phone wire or cat-5 wire.

The Fuse is 5 amps for the whole board, not 5 amps per channel, so if any one of your 4 Triacs are pulling more the 5 amps it will pop. Also if a singel triac is pulling 5 amps it will be damaged (assuming you have 4 amp triacs).

Keep in mind a heavy duty outdoor extension cord is 16 awg, lamp cord is 18 awe and x-mas light strings are 20 awg. I think there might have been a mistake with the 14 awg suggestion... That is some big stuff and will not fit through a circuit board hole. I don't think 18 awg will either.

ms

[stempile]

BTW for my home made non PCB SSR board I used 20 awg hookup wire last year and then from the board to the light strings I use 18-2 "zip" cord. I also used zip cord from the ac source to the board. I made all my wires, only use pre-made extension cords for power from the wall to 4-5 SSR boards.

ms

[Doug-in-the-woods]

I myself am not going to install the fuse holder.
WHY?
well the light strands have a fuse on them already so the $2 per channel in savings times 128 will add up.
Hope I am not making a mistake but my reasoning is pretty sound if I do say so myself.

[Wayne J]

I myself am not going to install the fuse holder.
WHY?
well the light strands have a fuse on them already so the $2 per channel in savings times 128 will add up.
Hope I am not making a mistake but my reasoning is pretty sound if I do say so myself.


It is not $2 a channel.... it is $2 per SSR board. :wink:




8)

[Doug-in-the-woods]

oups!! it's $1.80 per board. My mistake Sorry

[grages]

I'm doing something a little different.

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=5585+FH

http://www.mpja.com/images/5585.jpg

This way I can mount it through the wall of my SSR box

1 for $0.50 each
5 for $0.40 each
150 for $0.37 each

Estimated cost per SSR $0.80 (.40 holder +.20 fuse + .20 Wire and Shrink Tubing)

[Doug-in-the-woods]

wish I had looked at pannel mount
Oh well I will go with the fuse in the wire strand
the most that could happen is fry a triac but that can happen with or without a fuse (see another post about smoke from ssr)
Never saw this mpja? in Florida
Looks like pretty good pricing but is it quality stuff?

[grages]

wish I had looked at pannel mount
Oh well I will go with the fuse in the wire strand
the most that could happen is fry a triac but that can happen with or without a fuse (see another post about smoke from ssr)
Never saw this mpja? in Florida
Looks like pretty good pricing but is it quality stuff?

I will know more about the quality tomorrow but the other items I have bought from them for the office have been fine. For me shipping was cheap but I did have to pay sales tax which residents of other states may not. I bought a few other items as well.