G.D. Dryer Down AGAIN!!!

[alan802]

It's been running fine.  I did burn out another contactor on the radiant panel.  I think that this time one of the wires had worked it's way loose and caused the problem, where in the past it was burning those out because of the temp controller.  I replaced the temp controller for the radiant panels about a year ago and it hasn't burned a contactor until this week, and it was doing it at least quarterly before.  There are quite a few wires that are looking suspect and a lot of them could be re-wired and have new connections put on, but that could take a lot of time.

I appreciate all your help Winston.  If anyone wants to know anything and everything about dryers, Winston is the man.  Every time I got off the phone with him I told the guys I work with how much smarter I was for having that conversation.  I feel lucky that I've got about 4 industry guys that I can call all at anytime and just sit back and listen and learn, I'm privileged.  I love getting off the phone having learned a ton, and that happened every time I talked to Winston.

[CityMachine]

It's been running fine.  I did burn out another contactor on the radiant panel.  I think that this time one of the wires had worked it's way loose and caused the problem, where in the past it was burning those out because of the temp controller.  I replaced the temp controller for the radiant panels about a year ago and it hasn't burned a contactor until this week, and it was doing it at least quarterly before.  There are quite a few wires that are looking suspect and a lot of them could be re-wired and have new connections put on, but that could take a lot of time.

I appreciate all your help Winston.  If anyone wants to know anything and everything about dryers, Winston is the man.  Every time I got off the phone with him I told the guys I work with how much smarter I was for having that conversation.  I feel lucky that I've got about 4 industry guys that I can call all at anytime and just sit back and listen and learn, I'm privileged.  I love getting off the phone having learned a ton, and that happened every time I talked to Winston.

older machinery utilizing contractors can be easily made more reliable with Solid State Relays {my 2 cents}

do you have a phone number for Winston?

[californiadreamin]

City Machine, your 2 cents is very good advice!

winston
(904)3430848
winstric@yahoo.com

[Frog]

Equipment knowledge has never been his problem, more of a behavior issue. 

[blue moon]

There are numerous advantages to SSRs, but they are more sensitive to the heat than regular contractors. Ask me how I know! Good heat sink and airflow over it are a must.

Pierre

[alan802]

There are numerous advantages to SSRs, but they are more sensitive to the heat than regular contractors. Ask me how I know! Good heat sink and airflow over it are a must.

Pierre

The airflow might be a problem.  It get's so damn hot inside that compartment. I take the panel off in the summertime because things start melting in there during the summer months.  There is a fan that blows the hot air out but it's not enough.  The air coming from that compartment is 180+ degrees when it's really hot.

[Northland]

There are numerous advantages to SSRs, but they are more sensitive to the heat than regular contractors. Ask me how I know! Good heat sink and airflow over it are a must.

Pierre

The airflow might be a problem.  It get's so damn hot inside that compartment. I take the panel off in the summertime because things start melting in there during the summer months.  There is a fan that blows the hot air out but it's not enough.  The air coming from that compartment is 180+ degrees when it's really hot.

Mount the SSR's in a separate fan cooled enclosure ??

[Frog]

There are numerous advantages to SSRs, but they are more sensitive to the heat than regular contractors. Ask me how I know! Good heat sink and airflow over it are a must.

Pierre

The airflow might be a problem.  It get's so damn hot inside that compartment. I take the panel off in the summertime because things start melting in there during the summer months.  There is a fan that blows the hot air out but it's not enough.  The air coming from that compartment is 180+ degrees when it's really hot.

I run an old American, and when my original control panel  fan failed, I replaced it with one with more oomph, figuring that it could only help.

[californiadreamin]

Pierre & Alan Great Post!
Heat Is the enemy for electrical controls.
Airflow with CLEAN air is critical. (keep filters clean, spray adhesive free)
Most (not all) industrial controls are only rated at about 125 degrees F.
It can be a real problem in a shop setting where the ambient temp in the
shop is over 100 degrees with no machines running. The controls can go haywire!
Turn on a dryer, a few flashes and its over 125 degrees easy. In most shops(not all)
it is not uncommon to see fans in control cabinets full of lint and spray adhesive, and
sometimes the fans have burned out long ago. It surprises me that some of these machines
are running at all. Regular maintanance and lots of clean airflow, and most important, a clean
shop, will go a long way!  Machines, no matter the brand, will always fail or give problems,
when you need them the most, have no spare parts, 5 pm on a friday or holiday eve, the
shirts are due tomorrow morning for a dated concert that night, the customer is calling every
hour, to see how you are doing? And  remind you that they can't pay you unless, the shirts
make it on time. You need the profits, to pay the utility bill that is waaaaay passed due, your
employee is asking for a raise, you are broke, the lease company is threating to ruin your already bad credit. And you tell them, that you had no idea that the shirts that you sub, sub,sub contracted printed for 25 cents with the fish design for Walmart, and your getting
 "Charge Backed" after 1 year, because some artist in Florida went viral on the internet with
your proud print, that is some how washing out!
  MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!
winston

[alan802]

Putting it somewhere else would work.  But something tells me I shouldn't spend too much time and effort on this old gal...I put the old dryer on craigslist last week to see if there was any interest in it, and I've got zero replies for it.  Sure, it's old and it's going to go down a few times a year but after talking to Winston, there really isn't much to this thing.  Maybe we'll keep it and wait for someone to come around and buy it, but I'd like to at least get a few thousand for it to buy some mesh and frames.

[nobrainsd]

Knowing when to walk away from a piece of equipment is hard. I tend to renovate everything, so I can't give any good advice about that.

If anyone is interested in replacing their contactors with SSR's I have done this myself. Heat is a big issue. But that is easy to deal with if you use oversize heat sinks. That might sound complicated, but solid state relay assemblies are available with all of the components required to replace a contactor. Here is a link to the company that supplied the SSR assembly for my American Phoenix Turbo dryer. http://www.power-io.com/library/appnotes/solid-state-relay-terminology.htm  These SSR assemblies have held up well. They are silent. No more clunking of the contactor! I'm just a garage printer now and I appreciate leaving my door up in the summer without annoying the neighbors and I can listen to my tunes un distracted. Wish my OEM contactor had failed years ago.

[inkman996]

I hope everyone realizes City Machines is you know who, and is creating a stink on the other board. Just saying

[nobrainsd]

Really? A post by the infamous one 

Ignore the man behind the curtain.

SSR's are designed for quick cycling. I tend to run my dryer at the upper end of it's capabilities and the dryer does cycle quickly. Contactors don't like that much. I do not expect to ever replace my SSR assemblies. If you need to replace a contactor why not spend just a little more and have the quietest and most reliable alternative?