Heat Treat oven problems

Well, like the folks above said, the way to figure this stuff out is to use a multi meter and see if you're getting the outputs you're expecting where you expect them. Sometimes it's something as simple as the PID putting out 12V DC for the contactor and using a 120V AC contactor etc. When you measure the inputs and the outputs and compare them to the expected values the problem area shows itself. Sometimes when I get frustrated I'll step away from it for a while and come back later.

I like to use insulated alligator clips in temporary setups like this, because when a wire that's just poked in a hole jogs loose you can run into arcing that breaks stuff. Be careful with that 240V, it doesn't always play nice...
 
Yeah I have been at it off and on for over a week. It seems that everything is where it has to be with the right numbers. I just can't figure out why power isnt getting to the elements.
 
Kieran, if the power is on and you read 1 and 2 you should get zero volts. When the contact is closed it's like reading 2 points on the same line. If your reading 120 VAC the contact is open.

When you checked the 10 VDC on 3 and 4 you may have been reading voltage on the wire, but with a bad connection you are not getting enough voltage into the relay. Before you punt, make good electrical connections and try again.

John
 
John Moran said:
Kieran, if the power is on and you read 1 and 2 you should get zero volts. When the contact is closed it's like reading 2 points on the same line. If your reading 120 VAC the contact is open.

When you checked the 10 VDC on 3 and 4 you may have been reading voltage on the wire, but with a bad connection you are not getting enough voltage into the relay. Before you punt, make good electrical connections and try again.

John
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When I checked it I was on the nut that was holding it down. The wire is wrapped all the way around the screw so I think the connection is ok. When I checked again I got 10 VDC when it was on. And 0 when it was off. Now is there a chance that I damaged the ssr and no more than 10 VDC can get through?
 
disconnect the red and black wire from the ssr's, plug the unit in and with the red led's on the ssr's lit up, do a continuity test with your meter that will tell you if one of your ssr's is burnt out

if the ssr is good and your meter uses a tone to indicate continuity you will hear a tone, if it is a dial indicator it will read zero if the ssr is good

I also feel that running separate wires back to the pid for each ssr would be a good idea instead of series, possibly the first ssr is drawing the pid voltage down causing the second ssr not to function properly

you could also wire nut the left and right leg and temporarily bypass the switch to see if that is your problem
 
probably the last thing you want to see but here is a very simplified wiring diagram that doesn't require any switches, this is how I did mine, all you need to do is plug and unplug from the wall, this might help you troubleshoot your problem, I ran my pid from 120 instead of 240

 
Well I wired it up just like that and still got nothing. I will have to just look at it all again in the day light maybe I missed something. I really just dont know.
 
John Moran said:
with a bad connection you are not getting enough voltage into the relay. Before you punt, make good electrical connections and try again.

John
Click to expand...

Thats what I thought when I looked at picture.
 
Kieran, in the photo with the relays, there is a terminal strip in the background. What's going on there? The reason I ask; if you are reading 120 VAC between 1 and 2, something between terminal 2 on SSR2 and terminal 2 on SSR1 must be grounded.
 
John Moran said:
Kieran, in the photo with the relays, there is a terminal strip in the background. What's going on there? The reason I ask; if you are reading 120 VAC between 1 and 2, something between terminal 2 on SSR2 and terminal 2 on SSR1 must be grounded.
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I put a mini bus bar there where I put the incoming white neutral and bare ground wire.
 
I think thats where your problem is. You use one leg of the 220 and the neutral to develop 110. You don't want your grounds connected to this, or you don't want the neutral to be grounded to the box. You don't need any 110 so disconnect the neutral from the mini-buss and try it.
 
John Moran said:
I think thats where your problem is. You use one leg of the 220 and the neutral to develop 110. You don't want your grounds connected to this, or you don't want the neutral to be grounded to the box. You don't need any 110 so disconnect the neutral from the mini-buss and try it.
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ok I will try it and get back to you and see how it went.
 
Edited

[/B]I haven't read all the posts, so it may have been addressed:
In the photo, I se no soldered wiring at the switch, and there are two wires sticking up just looped together. I hope this was just an early shot before all was properly connected and soldered.
 
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what model number pid did you buy?

another question are you using a regular dryer/range outlet?
 
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(Quote edited)

On my ssr's 3 is + and 4 is - so i had 3 to 7 and 8 to 4. I switched it for the heck of it and it just turned off the LED on the ssr so I had that part right. It is possible the ssr is fried and I would have to get another pair? Though they seem to have continuity and the LED lights up. I am not sure where I am missing the hole.

My pid model number is Model: SYL-2352P from http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=4
 
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John Moran said:
I think thats where your problem is. You use one leg of the 220 and the neutral to develop 110. You don't want your grounds connected to this, or you don't want the neutral to be grounded to the box. You don't need any 110 so disconnect the neutral from the mini-buss and try it.
Click to expand...

I tried that and still got nothing. Hooked up red to white to power pid that didnt work. hooked up red and black to pid to power and that also didnt power up the elements.
 
I was doing a little reading around and apparently you can have a working led and continuity and still have a non-working ssr, this test should determine if one of the ssr's is not working, set your multi-meter to 240volts AC, disconnect the insulated wires, then touch these two contacts with the probes while the unit is plugged in and leds are lit up, you should read 240 volts

if you don't get 240 then you need to determine which ssr is bad, do that buy touching 1 probe to the ssr terminal and 1 probe to the white/ neutral that will read 120 or low voltage

also are you using a regular dryer/range outlet?

 
The left ssr I got 68v on the right I got 100v

These are the hook ups I am using
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My apologies, I must have looked at the schematic wrong....you are wired correct...... 3-7, 4-8.

John has the power test that should tell you if the SSRs are working right.
 
Thats ok thank you still to trying to help me out.

forgot to add. When I test both slots at the same time I get 142v not 220v so looks to me that at least one ssr is done.
 
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