Low-Amp SSR

[RavingLunatic]

It took a while to find, but anybody considering this should read this thread first:
http://doityourselfchristmas.com/for...or-light-loads

[n1ist]

That looks much better. I like the idea of a little extra "meat" on the pads for home-etched versions. Just be careful with those "DANGER"s in copper. I once had a short caused by text in copper...

Not sure if it's on purpose, but on the one with the horizontal fuse holder, the top left and top right mounting holes are different distances from the upper board edge.

/mike

[dirknerkle]

It took a while to find, but anybody considering this should read this thread first:
http://doityourselfchristmas.com/for...or-light-loads

Thanks, RL. I was about to do some testing this morning until I read your post. Now there's no need to go for magic smoke here in the DIGWDF labs...

I looked all over the place for information but missed that thread entirely! It was interesting that the thread referenced the topic from old Computer Christmas postings from January 2006 on this very topic. It never would have occurred to me to look there! And so, the more things change, the more they stay the same...

After reading every post in the thread, it appears to me that my original intent of this project is intact and eminently workable, which was to control 100-ct LED strings that draw a mere .04A per channel (actually measured current). That value appears to be well within the operating tolerance of the MOC3023. I will, however, change the references to maximum current per channel insofar as the 1/2A per channel idea is apparently a dog that won't hunt.

[dirknerkle]

That looks much better. I like the idea of a little extra "meat" on the pads for home-etched versions. Just be careful with those "DANGER"s in copper. I once had a short caused by text in copper...

Not sure if it's on purpose, but on the one with the horizontal fuse holder, the top left and top right mounting holes are different distances from the upper board edge.

/mike

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll have to check the part -- it must be defined unevenly insofar as ExpressPCB doesn't give you options to slightly turn a part!

[imbluenote]

this might be a stupid question...but could this be used (or modified to use) DC as the incoming power supply to control FAST tubes or the like?

[ErnieHorning]

Jeez Dirk, I take a couple of days off from this site and you walk on the wild side. At least the others called you out on it.

I see in another thread that you call this “Dirt-cheap”. For truly dirt cheap, I’d pitch the on-board neutral as it serves no real purpose. Find a connector with wider spacing so that you could pass the hot traces between and merge them together on the outside of the connector. This way, you could use the connector or just hardwire and save the cost.

I won’t go into my fuse recommendation on here. You can ask me in the up coming mini.

[dirknerkle]

The MOC3023 woudln't work well with DC power. Triacs will turn on with DC, but once on, you can't turn them off again. AND.... we're looking at some different options here, too... More later...

@ERNIE - we've gone past this one already and have already decided to move the commons off the board. The only reason we were messing with the terminal blocks and all was because most of the DIYC controllers/SSRs/etc. use them and people are comfortable about using them. But now we're going in a slightly different direction insofar as the MOC3023's capacity is more limited than some other parts... sooooo..... we'll see where that takes us.

I'm looking forward to seeing you again at the upcoming Mini! You should bring one of your MOC-based gizmos along for show-and-tell... and some of the other creative cool things you've made, too!