Click here Product Selection SWITCHES :- Solid State Relay (SSR), Relay, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) relays, all types of control switches. SWITCHES :- Solid State Relay (SSR) :- A solid-state relay (SSR) is an electronic switching device that switches on or off when a small external voltage is applied across its control terminals. SSRs consist of a sensor which responds to an appropriate input (control signal), a solid-state electronic switching device which switches power to the load circuitry, and a coupling mechanism to enable the control signal to activate this switch without mechanical parts. The relay may be designed to switch either AC or DC to the load. It serves the same function as an electromechanical relay, but has no moving parts. Packaged solid-state relays use power semiconductor devices such as thyristors and transistors, to switch currents up to around a hundred amperes. Solid-state relays have fast switching speeds compared with electromechanical relays, and have no physical contacts to wear out. Application of solid-state relays must consider their lower ability to withstand momentary overload, compared with electromechanical contacts, and their higher "on" state resistance. Unlike an electromechanical relay, a solid-state relay provides only limited switching arrangements (SPST switching). Coupling The control signal must be coupled to the controlled circuit in a way which provides galvanic isolation between the two circuits. Many SSRs use optical coupling. The control voltage energizes an internal LED which illuminates and switches on a photo-sensitive diode (photo-voltaic); the diode current turns on a back-to-back thyristor, SCR, or MOSFET to switch the load. The optical coupling allows the control circuit to be electrically isolated from the load. Most of the relative advantages of solid state and electromechanical relays are common to all solid-state as against electromechanical devices. Slimmer profile, allowing tighter packing. Totally silent operation. SSRs switch faster than electromechanical relays; the switching time of a typical optically coupled SSR is dependent on the time needed to power the LED on and off - of the order of microseconds to milliseconds. Increased lifetime, even if it is activated many times, as there are no moving parts to wear and no contacts to pit or build up carbon. Output resistance remains constant regardless of amount of use. Clean, bounceless operation. No sparking, allows it to be used in explosive environments, where it is critical that no spark is generated during switching. Inherently smaller than a mechanical relay of similar specification (if desired may have the same "casing" form factor for interchangeability). Much less sensitive to storage and operating environment factors such as mechanical shock, vibration, humidity, and external magnetic fields. Relay :- Relays are used wherever it is necessary to control a high power or high voltage circuit with a low power circuit, especially when galvanic isolation is desirable. The first application of relays was in long telegraph lines, where the weak signal received at an intermediate station could control a contact, regenerating the signal for further transmission. High-voltage or high-current devices can be controlled with small, low voltage wiring and pilots switches. Operators can be isolated from the high voltage circuit. Low power devices such as microprocessors can drive relays to control electrical loads beyond their direct drive capability. In an automobile, a starter relay allows the high current of the cranking motor to be controlled with small wiring and contacts in the ignition key. Electromechanical switching systems including Strowger and Crossbar telephone exchanges made extensive use of relays in ancillary control circuits. The Relay Automatic Telephone Company also manufactured telephone exchanges based solely on relay switching techniques designed by Gotthilf Ansgarius Betulander. The first public relay based telephone exchange in the UK was installed in Fleetwood on 15 July 1922 and remained in service until 1959. The use of relays for the logical control of complex switching systems like telephone exchanges was studied by Claude Shannon, who formalized the application of Boolean algebra to relay circuit design in A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits. Relays can perform the basic operations of Boolean combinatorial logic. For example, the boolean AND function is realised by connecting normally open relay contacts in series, the OR function by connecting normally open contacts in parallel. Inversion of a logical input can be done with a normally closed contact. Relays were used for control of automated systems for machine tools and production lines. The Ladder programming language is often used for designing relay logic networks. Early electro-mechanical computers such as the ARRA, Harvard Mark II, Zuse Z2, and Zuse Z3 used relays for logic and working registers. However, electronic devices proved faster and easier to use. Because relays are much more resistant than semiconductors to nuclear radiation, they are widely used in safety-critical logic, such as the control panels of radioactive waste-handling machinery. Electromechanical protective relays are used to detect overload and other faults on electrical lines by opening and closing circuit breakers. Number and type of contacts – normally open, normally closed, (double-throw) Contact sequence – "Make before Break" or "Break before Make". For example, the old style telephone exchanges required Make-before-break so that the connection didn't get dropped while dialing the number. Contact current rating – small relays switch a few amperes, large contactors are rated for up to 3000 amperes, alternating or direct current Contact voltage rating – typical control relays rated 300 VAC or 600 VAC, automotive types to 50 VDC, special high-voltage relays to about 15,000 V Operating lifetime, useful life - the number of times the relay can be expected to operate reliably. There is both a mechanical life and a contact life. The contact life is affected by the type of load switched. Breaking load current causes undesired arcing between the contacts, eventually leading to contacts that weld shut or contacts that fail due erosion by the arc. Coil voltage – machine-tool relays usually 24 VDC, 120 or 250 VAC, relays for switchgear may have 125 V or 250 VDC coils, Coil current - Minimum current required for reliable operation and minimum holding current, as well as, effects of power dissipation on coil temperature, at various duty cycles. "Sensitive" relays operate on a few milliamperes Package/enclosure – open, touch-safe, double-voltage for isolation between circuits, explosion proof, outdoor, oil and splash resistant, washable for printed circuit board assembly Operating environment - minimum and maximum operating temperature and other environmental considerations such as effects of humidity and salt Assembly – Some relays feature a sticker that keeps the enclosure sealed to allow PCB post soldering cleaning, which is removed once assembly is complete. Mounting – sockets, plug board, rail mount, panel mount, through-panel mount, enclosure for mounting on walls or equipment Switching time – where high speed is required "Dry" contacts – when switching very low level signals, special contact materials may be needed such as gold-plated contacts Contact protection – suppress arcing in very inductive circuits Coil protection – suppress the surge voltage produced when switching the coil current Isolation between coil contacts Aerospace or radiation-resistant testing, special quality assurance Expected mechanical loads due to acceleration – some relays used in aerospace applications are designed to function in shock loads of 50 g or more Size - smaller relays often resist mechanical vibration and shock better than larger relays, because of the lower inertia of the moving parts and the higher natural frequencies of smaller parts. Larger relays often handle higher voltage and current than smaller relays. Accessories such as timers, auxiliary contacts, pilot lamps, and test buttons Regulatory approvals Stray magnetic linkage between coils of adjacent relays on a printed circuit board. A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to mechanically operate a switch, but other operating principles are also used, such as solid-state relays. Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a separate low-power signal, or where several circuits must be controlled by one signal. The first relays were used in long distance telegraph circuits as amplifiers: they repeated the signal coming in from one circuit and re-transmitted it on another circuit. Relays were used extensively in telephone exchanges and early computers to perform logical operations. A type of relay that can handle the high power required to directly control an electric motor or other loads is called a contactor. Solid-state relays control power circuits with no moving parts, instead using a semiconductor device to perform switching. Relays with calibrated operating characteristics and sometimes multiple operating coils are used to protect electrical circuits from overload or faults; in modern electric power systems these functions are performed by digital instruments still called "protective relays". Magnetic latching relays require one pulse of coil power to move their contacts in one direction, and another, redirected pulse to move them back. Repeated pulses from the same input have no effect. Magnetic latching relays are useful in applications where interrupted power should not be able to transition the contacts. Magnetic latching relays can have either single or dual coils. On a single coil device, the relay will operate in one direction when power is applied with one polarity, and will reset when the polarity is reversed. On a dual coil device, when polarized voltage is applied to the reset coil the contacts will transition. AC controlled magnetic latch relays have single coils that employ steering diodes to differentiate between operate and reset commands. Relay types Latching relay A latching relay (also called "impulse", "keep", or "stay" relays) maintains either contact position indefinitely without power applied to the coil. The advantage is that one coil consumes power only for an instant while the relay is being switched, and the relay contacts retain this setting across a power outage. A latching relay allows remote control of building lighting without the hum that may be produced from a continuously (AC) energized coil. A stepping relay is a specialized kind of multi-way latching relay designed for early automatic telephone exchanges. An earth leakage circuit breaker includes a specialized latching relay. Reed relay A reed relay is a reed switch enclosed in a solenoid. The switch has a set of contacts inside an evacuated or inert gas-filled glass tube which protects the contacts against atmospheric corrosion; the contacts are made of magnetic material that makes them move under the influence of the field of the enclosing solenoid or an external magnet. Reed relays can switch faster than larger relays and require very little power from the control circuit. However, they have relatively low switching current and voltage ratings. Though rare, the reeds can become magnetized over time, which makes them stick 'on' even when no current is present; changing the orientation of the reeds with respect to the solenoid's magnetic field can resolve this problem. Sealed contacts with mercury-wetted contacts have longer operating lives and less contact chatter than any other kind of relay Mercury-wetted relay Mercury relay Polarized relay Machine tool relay Coaxial relay Time delay relay Contactor Solid-state relay Solid state relay with no moving parts 25 A or 40 A solid state contactors A solid state relay or SSR is a solid state electronic component that provides a function similar to an electromechanical relay but does not have any moving components, increasing long-term reliability. A solid-state relay uses a thyristor, TRIAC or other solid-state switching device, activated by the control signal, to switch the controlled load, instead of a solenoid. An optocoupler (a light-emitting diode (LED) coupled with a photo transistor) can be used to isolate control and controlled circuits. As every solid-state device has a small voltage drop across it, this voltage drop limits the amount of current a given SSR can handle. The minimum voltage drop for such a relay is a function of the material used to make the device. Solid-state relays rated to handle as much as 1,200 amperes have become commercially available. Compared to electromagnetic relays, they may be falsely triggered by transients and in general may be susceptible to damage by extreme cosmic ray and EMP episodes. AC Geared Motors all types of motors Static relay A static relay consists of electronic circuitry to emulate all those characteristics which are achieved by moving parts in an electro-magnetic relay. Solid state contactor relay A solid state contactor is a heavy-duty solid state relay, including the necessary heat sink, used where frequent on/off cycles are required, such as with electric heaters, small electric motors, and lighting loads. There are no moving parts to wear out and there is no contact bounce due to vibration. They are activated by AC control signals or DC control signals from Programmable logic controller (PLCs), PCs, Transistor-transistor logic (TTL) sources, or other microprocessor and microcontroller controls. Buchholz relay Force-guided contacts relay Overload protection relay Electric motors need overcurrent protection to prevent damage from over-loading the motor, or to protect against short circuits in connecting cables or internal faults in the motor windings. The overload sensing devices are a form of heat operated relay where a coil heats a bimetallic strip, or where a solder pot melts, releasing a spring to operate auxiliary contacts. These auxiliary contacts are in series with the coil. If the overload senses excess current in the load, the coil is de-energized. This thermal protection operates relatively slowly allowing the motor to draw higher starting currents before the protection relay will trip. Where the overload relay is exposed to the same environment as the motor, a useful though crude compensation for motor ambient temperature is provided. The other common overload protection system uses an electromagnet coil in series with the motor circuit that directly operates contacts. This is similar to a control relay but requires a rather high fault current to operate the contacts. To prevent short over current spikes from causing nuisance triggering the armature movement is damped with a dashpot. The thermal and magnetic overload detections are typically used together in a motor protection relay. Electronic overload protection relays measure motor current and can estimate motor winding temperature using a "thermal model" of the motor armature system that can be set to provide more accurate motor protection. Some motor protection relays include temperature detector inputs for direct measurement from a thermocouple or resistance thermometer sensor embedded in the winding. Vacuum relays A sensitive relay having its contacts mounted in a highly evacuated glass housing, to permit handling radio-frequency voltages as high as 20,000 volts without flashover between contacts even though contact spacing is but a few hundredths of an inch when open. Safety relays Safety relays are devices which generally implement safety functions. In the event of a hazard, the task of such a safety function is to use appropriate measures to reduce the existing risk to an acceptable level Multi-voltage relays Multi-voltage relays are devices designed to work for wide voltage ranges such as 24 to 240 VAC/VDC and wide frequency ranges such as 0 to 300 Hz. They are indicated for use in installations that do not have stable supply voltages. Protective relay For protection of electrical apparatus and transmission lines, electromechanical relays with accurate operating characteristics were used to detect overload, short-circuits, and other faults. While many such relays remain in use, digital devices now provide equivalent protective functions. Railway signalling Part of a relay interlocking using UK Q-style miniature plug-in relays. Signalling relay and base. Railway signalling relays are large considering the mostly small voltages (less than 120 V) and currents (perhaps 100 mA) that they switch. Contacts are widely spaced to prevent flashovers and short circuits over a lifetime that may exceed fifty years. BR930 series plug-in relays. Since rail signal circuits must be highly reliable, special techniques are used to detect and prevent failures in the relay system. To protect against false feeds, double switching relay contacts are often used on both the positive and negative side of a circuit, so that two false feeds are needed to cause a false signal. Not all relay circuits can be proved so there is reliance on construction features such as carbon to silver contacts to resist lightning induced contact welding and to provide AC immunity. Opto-isolators are also used in some instances with railway signalling, especially where only a single contact is to be switched. Widely used on railways following British practice. These are 120 mm high, 180 mm deep and 56 mm wide and weigh about 1400 g, and can have up to 16 separate contacts, for example, 12 make and 4 break contacts. Many of these relays come in 12V, 24V and 50V versions. A relay is an electrically operated switch. Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a separate low-power signal, or where several circuits must be controlled by one signal. Printed Circuit Board (PCB) relays, all types of control switches etc.,