SSR Question

I'm completely frstrated with an SSR design I'm working on.

Facts:
I'm working with a Potter & Brumfield SSR-240D50.
I'm trying to switch a simple resistive heating coil that comes out at a
little over 4 amps at 124V.

Initially I had this hooked to a pin on my printer port. I have other, much
smaller, SSR's that I run this way. For some of my tests I put a 9volt
battery across the drive lines.

Wiring:
I have, quite literally, an electrical cord that I spliced the SSR into.
One side of the cut is on pin 1, the other side is on pin 2 (which are
labeled 120/240vac).

Observations:
Whenever the cord is plugged in I read 124v at the plugged. There isn't
enough current to drive anything, but there is energy. This concerns me.

Tests/Result:
LPT: First test was totally dead.
LPT: Second test I plugged in a light bulb, worked perfect for many
cycles.
LPT: OK, I hooked up my heating coil... dead.
9V Batt.: Back to the light bulb... works (here I'm pretty frustrated)
LPT: Hook it back up to my heating coil... Works!!!
LPT: Do some tuning on my code that drives the device, run it again...
Works intermittently, once turned off it wouldn't always come back on.

Dismantle, hook drive lines directly to 9 volts... Dead
Never works again.

(Step 10 - Hit the newsgroups at www.deja.com, find little of value, deicde
to post)

Can anyone see what I'm missing? I have similar designs running on 3amp SSR.
Is it possible that I have a bad SSR.

Here is the spec sheet for the SSR:
http://www.steveneng.com/Tech_Support/PDFs/37SOLID.PDF

<Please respond to the newsgroup> bwoods114<at>charter(dot)<net>

Thanks,
Brad

 

Subject: SSR Question

Hi, Brad. You've probably got a bad SSR, if it doesn't work with a 9V battery
(check battery voltage). Driving an SSR directly from a printer port pin is a
little unorthodox, but whatever lights your bulb...

Good luck
Chris

 

You were right. My local supplier replaced it. All is well now.

Thanks,
Brad