For a quick bit of background, I'm a software engineer and a ham radio operator, not an electrical engineer. So, while I can certainly find my way around all things electronic, I would not assume that I know anything that is "common knowledge" in the field. Having said that, I'm working a little project and need some direction.
I have a HarvestRight freeze dryer, and the unit isn't working. I've diagnosed the problem down to a relay mounted on the relay board in the unit. The relay seems to have failed and while the coil energizes, there is no high voltage coming from the contacts to energize the heater inside the machine. HR is replacing the whole relay borad, but I'm keeping the old one and I intend to replace the bad relay on it so that I have a backup. I would actually like to make an "improved" version, which is why I'm here. That brings to mind two general questions...
1) Is the pinning / shape / size (what I would call the "form factor" in the vernacular of computer components) the same for relays within a certain family / style of relay?
2) In keeping with #1, do other components (like a socket, for example, or a solid-state relay versus an electromechanical relay) share the same form-factor / pinout?
The reasons I ask this quesion might make sense with a bit of background on the issue... The relay that failed on this board is a relay that activates a heater that cycles on and off during the freeze-drying process. The coil on the relay seems to energize (it "clicks" when activated), but no high voltage comes off of the contacts, e.g. no heater. The manufacturer of the machine says this is a common problem because the relay goes on and off quite a bit, and therefore its contacts wear out (seems peculiar ot me, as it's only a few months old and not THAT heavily used, and I would certainly expect a higher MTBF on a component like this, but I digress). As an engineer, my thoughts here were twofold: First, if the relay is expected to fail well within the reasonable lifetime of the board, why not choose a socket-mounted version, thus being able to simply pop out a $2 relay instead of tossing a $50 board? Second, if the cycling of that electromechanical relay is so apparently detrimental to its lifespan, why not use a solid-state relay instead? From what I have read about these (from Mouser and other places), they are quite reliable and are suitable for applications such as this (based on my estimate of the current draw used by this thing).
For reference, the relays on this board are FT K1CK012W, and looking for it on Mouser, this appears to be a Fujitsu relay. Interestingly, the relays on my board say "Japan" on them, while everything I find on the web says "China".
Since I don't have the means to entirely remake their IC, what I'd like to do is remove that relay, then replace it with some type of generic socket that would allow me to plug the same or a compatible relay into it (I assume a socket-mountable device doesn't use the same type pins as a soldered one, hence I say "compatible" one). This would allow me to have an easily replaceable relay for the next time it fails.
Alternately (and really the more "improved" version of the board), I would like to simply replace that electromagnetic relay with a solid-state one. Howeer, as I look at different solid-state relays, none of them appear to have the same pinning / form-factor, so retrofitting it onto this board might be difficult (or perhaps even impractical if they are for some other reason not electrically compatible with the circuit design for the current relay.)
Any thoughts or advice on this would be greatly appreciated!
I have a HarvestRight freeze dryer, and the unit isn't working. I've diagnosed the problem down to a relay mounted on the relay board in the unit. The relay seems to have failed and while the coil energizes, there is no high voltage coming from the contacts to energize the heater inside the machine. HR is replacing the whole relay borad, but I'm keeping the old one and I intend to replace the bad relay on it so that I have a backup. I would actually like to make an "improved" version, which is why I'm here. That brings to mind two general questions...
1) Is the pinning / shape / size (what I would call the "form factor" in the vernacular of computer components) the same for relays within a certain family / style of relay?
2) In keeping with #1, do other components (like a socket, for example, or a solid-state relay versus an electromechanical relay) share the same form-factor / pinout?
The reasons I ask this quesion might make sense with a bit of background on the issue... The relay that failed on this board is a relay that activates a heater that cycles on and off during the freeze-drying process. The coil on the relay seems to energize (it "clicks" when activated), but no high voltage comes off of the contacts, e.g. no heater. The manufacturer of the machine says this is a common problem because the relay goes on and off quite a bit, and therefore its contacts wear out (seems peculiar ot me, as it's only a few months old and not THAT heavily used, and I would certainly expect a higher MTBF on a component like this, but I digress). As an engineer, my thoughts here were twofold: First, if the relay is expected to fail well within the reasonable lifetime of the board, why not choose a socket-mounted version, thus being able to simply pop out a $2 relay instead of tossing a $50 board? Second, if the cycling of that electromechanical relay is so apparently detrimental to its lifespan, why not use a solid-state relay instead? From what I have read about these (from Mouser and other places), they are quite reliable and are suitable for applications such as this (based on my estimate of the current draw used by this thing).
For reference, the relays on this board are FT K1CK012W, and looking for it on Mouser, this appears to be a Fujitsu relay. Interestingly, the relays on my board say "Japan" on them, while everything I find on the web says "China".
Since I don't have the means to entirely remake their IC, what I'd like to do is remove that relay, then replace it with some type of generic socket that would allow me to plug the same or a compatible relay into it (I assume a socket-mountable device doesn't use the same type pins as a soldered one, hence I say "compatible" one). This would allow me to have an easily replaceable relay for the next time it fails.
Alternately (and really the more "improved" version of the board), I would like to simply replace that electromagnetic relay with a solid-state one. Howeer, as I look at different solid-state relays, none of them appear to have the same pinning / form-factor, so retrofitting it onto this board might be difficult (or perhaps even impractical if they are for some other reason not electrically compatible with the circuit design for the current relay.)
Any thoughts or advice on this would be greatly appreciated!