3 questions for experienced electricians.

[ganjaments]

Hi, I'm pretty familiar with electricity, but I would like some confirmation a few questions I have.
First, here are the relays I'm asking about:

1) Is it normal for SSR's to leak voltage when open? (Normally Open). There is no/little current leaking, and they seem to work fine. But when de-energized there is still ~110v on the load output.

2) To switch 240v (usa), do you need two of these relays (one for each 120v leg)?

3) When branching off a 120v leg from a 240v line, does it matter if it is done before or after the 240v outlets (for e-ballasts)?

 

[Bozo]

No normaly open relays should not leak voltage to load side when de-energized.Way i read it the load side is always hot?

To safely switch 240 v you need a relay that switches both hot legs at exact same time


Branching off a 120 line should be done from a sub panel .I like to run 240 lines into a 6 slot sub panel and branch from there

 

[ganjaments]

No normaly open relays should not leak voltage to load side when de-energized.Way i read it the load side is always hot?

It's hot, but there is no current? WTF?? It's definately de-engergized, input not even connected to anything. Is it possible that SSR's are supposed to do this because they are different than Mechanical relays? Both relays are doing this.

To safely switch 240 v you need a relay that switches both hot legs at exact same time

What happens if you use two relays that don't switch at the same time? The balasts are switchable, so wouldn't they just run at 120v for a few milliseconds then switch to 240v?

Edit:
What happens if you use only one relay, and bond the two hot legs at the relay, and then split it back into two legs after the relay? (Two lines to each terminal)

Branching off a 120 line should be done from a sub panel .I like to run 240 lines into a 6 slot sub panel and branch from there

I'm talking about a (switched) 240v circut coming from a subpanel. I need to branch off a 120v leg after the relay. Does it matter if I do it before or after the 240v outlets?

 

[ganjaments]

Is it possible that SSR's are supposed to do this because they are different than Mechanical relays?

Duh, I shoulda looked at the manufacturer website.

These relays are suposed to leak some current - 5mA Max. (at 100VAC). I guess the next question is, will 5mA of leakage hurt an E-balast?

 

[ganjaments]

bump

 

[overbudjet]

I use ssr only for low power thing lower than 1000 watts
when time to switch big power like 3000 watts i use a relay.
those are mine

 

[ganjaments]

bump

 

[junior_grower]

you should never branch off one leg off a 240v circuit. Always run a sub panel or a fresh 120v line. to have a 220v outlet, then pull a 120v leg of that same line is asking for trouble.

 

[Tactician]

SSRs are great to use in a loadcenter/controller. Here is a pic of a 20 light controller using SSRs. Totally silent.

 

[ganjaments]

SSRs are great to use in a loadcenter/controller. Here is a pic of a 20 light controller using SSRs. Totally silent.

Thats a sick setup. It's hard to tell from the pic, but are those relays double throw (two terminals for each 120v leg)?

 

[Tactician]

Thats a sick setup. It's hard to tell from the pic, but are those relays double throw (two terminals for each 120v leg)?

Thanx. Those SSRs are single pole. Sorry the pics are a little blurry. There were two PLCs installed, each had a specific timing function for the trigger inputs. There was also a wireless rf receiver that would allow the controller to be shutdown with a rolling code keyfob or a matching transmitter linked to any type of sensor. In case the fans failed, a small thermal fuse will trip if the internal temp rises above 90F.