Making an SSR (MOC3023, BT136-600E)

[Spankyty]

Hello again! I decided to just make my own relays since it is a lot cheaper and supports dimming. I know it is not as safe but if anyone has a recommendation for me please add on to it. I am no electronic king so if you are please double check my schematic. I don't want to die. If any parts are wrong please let me know. I am not sure about the resistors. I am in the USA with 120v AC Lighting. Soon I would like to make these on 1 single board with 20 outputs.

 

[dirknerkle]

The Wiki can be your friend. Lots of schematics there. Here's one for a popular SSR: Make the comparisons and go from there.

http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:SSRez_Schematic.jpg

If you're considering one board with 20 SSRs, consider that the total amperage on the board will be HUGE. That alone may not be safe. That's why most SSRs have only 4 channels -- it mitigates the total current the board carries so that it's safer.

 

[ukewarrior]

Having designed the SSRneon, I can tell you that a high channel count AC SSR can be a tricky beast.
Dirknerkle's warnings are all too true.
Unlike PCB designs for low level DC, you have to pay extra careful attention to SPACING of your AC traces as AC will arc across traces causing disastrous results.
How many amps do you Really plan to use on each output? Even restricting yourself to 1 amp per output would be 20 amps and the input traces for 20 amps can be very large. You will also find yourself having to purchase high ounce count copper PCBs which are very expensive. Once you move past the 1 ounce 'standard/common' copper trace PCB the prices go up exponentially.
So, I too would encourage you to go with tried and true current designs, unless your AMPs per channel is very low. Like < 500ma.

As far as the schematic goes, there are tons of reference material out there. Do some searching.
The real choices are what you plan to use to provide optoisolation between the AC side of the house and the DC side that communicates with your show controller.