As the title states. I am trying to switch up to 8 110VAC via an Arduino. Can I use the digital out pins to switch 110VAC relays? How would I go about this? What relays are suggested? I would be switching up to 2.5 Amps on the 110VAC side but most would be in the 0.5A range.
Thanks all in advance for the help.
Ian
I haven't used these with Arduinos, but I've used a bunch of them with Netburners:
You should be able to drive the control input directly from a digital pin.
All Electronics also sells a cheaper one that's only good for 1A. I haven't used those, but their control input is probably the same as their bigger brother.
Ran
Thanks for the link Ran...6.50 a pop..ouch!
Could be worse: they're $20+ at Mouser.
Relays are cheaper, but, by the time you add circuitry to drive them, and mount them, the SSRs are probably enough easier to make it worth it for doing a one-off. Especially if you can use the 1A ones at half the price of the 3A model.
Ran
True, I could use the half price 1As for most of them....So all I'd need to do is run the output of the arduino to their input and i'd be good to go? No need to worry about diodes and voltage running back from the relay when I switch it off?
They're "solid state" relays: they actually contain electronic circuitry, not an electromechanical relay. The control input powers an LED.
Ran
I am using some very nice SSRs (25A) that run on 3-32V and handle up to 280VAC. They are around $30 ea from Mouser, but I got a bunch on sleaze-bay for about $5 each....Then I bought some extras!
Here is my power unit.
Whole build at reefprojects.com