I was WRONG! Sonoff Zigbee Switch Smoke Test

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I was WRONG! Sonoff Zigbee Switch Smoke Test - 1500 Watts

Рет қаралды 15,073

digiblur DIY

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 69

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

UPDATE! I did an automation of switching 1200 watts over and over - kzfaq.infoNAWR19q5JrU

@RossReedstrom Жыл бұрын

Sounds like they actually did the right thing, and derated the total device compared to the relay, so there's some safety headroom. I'm actually impressed.

@Fluffywings84 Жыл бұрын

Love the video. It is great to put manufacture claims to the test. I agree with the fuse, especially if you don't know what the loading will be.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I was sad but yet happy with the whole thing. I wanted to see smoke but I was kind of glad I didn't to know that this thing was pretty safe.

@Fluffywings84 Жыл бұрын

@@digiblurDIY Based on this video I would expect a failure to be pretty rare within it's rating and when it does fall to be anti climatic.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Totally agree.

@marcusone1 Жыл бұрын

Need to cycle the relay while under load. Use a hair dryer or something that will come on istantantly with the relay (which will bounce a few times within a few ms), that should kill it eventually :D

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

That or a little toaster oven that I have that is 1200watts. I'll be sure to have the extinguisher close by just in case.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Done! kzfaq.infoNAWR19q5JrU

@djashjones Жыл бұрын

Gutted about the lack of magic smoke but well done sonoff. Best vid of 2023

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Oh wow! Thank you! Yes I wanted to see sparks fly and some miserable failure but then I was happy to see it held up. I have another quick one coming!

@MyProjectBoxChannel Жыл бұрын

In the UK, lighting circuits are normally protected by a 6Amp circuit breaker. So the 5A fuse is probably not needed. On UK/EURO 230v we get double the Watts, for the same current drawn, on our lighting circuit. Once the relay contacts are closed they can generally handle quite a bit of current without any problems. It's making or breaking that load under heavy current, that's when the contacts really suffer. You should do a test with the relay cycling on and off, Maybe with a small electric heater. Inductive loads like motors, are even worse for relay contacts.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Actually have some footage for a quick short of a 1200 watt heat gun doing this very thing over and over. Just need to edit it down.

@JaguarInfinity Жыл бұрын

So I've really been impressed with these and find they're ideal for the UK no neutral lighting. I currently have 4 deployed with possibly more in the future. But as much as I love them there's one observation I'll make that might have a little impact on your test. 6A at 240v is just shy of 1500w and it's rated for that. Now I know you were using lower voltage and so putting more amps through, but maybe the reason it managed to not completely fail is because while you were certainly pushing it with double amps you were only slightly above in terms of watts? I'm not an electrician so not sure how relevant it is, but maybe it's enough to be a factor in this test?

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Amps is going be the key here. It is why I did the 15A test as it is pretty universal there.

@ronm6585 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Travis.

@Sylvan_dB Жыл бұрын

More than continuous use in excess of the rating, switching on and off in excess of the rating tends to cause problems.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

I only toggled it a few times during the load. Have another smoke test attempt coming with quick toggles

@saninnsalas Жыл бұрын

Pretty nice video! I am kind of sad that a similar test for the ZBMini does not exists. Or I haven't found anything.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

I don't have a working ZB Mini at this time but might snag another as it has me curious to try it as well.

@stevephipps9305 Жыл бұрын

Still would not use anything rated less than the same rating on my breaker.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Fully agree. Only secondary method is to fuse it at the device. I have seen another 3A relay by another company and they had an onboard fuse.

@miguelavello7493 Жыл бұрын

I love this video. Very well done and THANK YOU for pointing out the 6A design constraint. I have 1 question. Is it possible to use this device in a 3-way switch ??? I have in my garage 3 switches in 3-Way and I do not have a Neutral. Can you advise ???

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Check their page for the diagram. They call it 2 way in other countries.

@tengelgeer Жыл бұрын

Nice test! Still don't think a fuse is necessary as long as you wire it to known loads (like some fixtures, not a socket). Chances of that failing in an heavy load scenario is slim and as seen here, the load probably poses a bigger risk than this thing :) When used with a fixture it's like the same as a fixture with a 0,5-0,75qmm (AWG 18-20) cable.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

If we planned to only load circuits with the right amount and never have shorts we wouldn't need breakers either though so I do get the requirements of keeping everything the same capacity even with simple LED loads on circuits.

@tengelgeer Жыл бұрын

@@digiblurDIY Then I have it you also don't use Christmas lights? They also have no fuse and that wire certainly isn't rated for 15/16A either. Or inline switches for fixtures? Shorts are not a problem for stuff like this, resistance isn't nearly high enough to pose a risk in case of a short to not pop the breaker.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Those have the little glass slide in fuses in the plugs. I so wish we had those in all extension cords and mandated! It would save so many lives and fires.

@tengelgeer Жыл бұрын

@@digiblurDIY Also in a fixture cable? Here (Europe mainland) they don't and I don't see a problem it that. I disagree it would safe any life. People will find ways to do stuff even more wrong. And even simple stuff (like you have to retract the full cable of your vacuum) Think switching to LED saves way more lives. And in case of a normal short circuit the breaker will pop. Yeay, there is a limit, but 1/3 the breaker rating isn't it in my book.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

So abolish all fuses is the way? Got it.

@OldCurmudgeon3DP Жыл бұрын

OK... It "carried" the load... Will it make or break that load reliably though. 🙃🙃

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Yes. I didn't want to drag it out too long with the various segments. I toggled the relay several times and it worked just fine. Of course the heat dropped a little so it wasn't as fun.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

I still have it setup on the board... I do an automation to toggle the relay every 20 seconds or so to see if it will smoke! Game on! Do a 1 minute short thing maybe if something good happens.

@MrJanulis Жыл бұрын

@@digiblurDIY Usually it doesn’t smoke but relay contact welds together and you wouldn’t be able to disconnect the load

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Relay still works. Going to run it through another switching run.

@Amsteffydam Жыл бұрын

I know it's not a cheap product, but I would love to see this type of test done with the NSPanel. It has a 10a relay, but Sonoff only rated it for 2a.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Yes. That's why I coined it the Not Safe Panel. Not sure if I still have it around. I can check.

@OldCurmudgeon3DP Жыл бұрын

Hey! I have that same thermal dongle. 😜

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Nice! Pretty inexpensive. Perfect for us hobbyists.

@TradieTrev Жыл бұрын

No short circuit test? Even though it doesn't have a neutral, what would happen should you have an active to earth fault on a fixture or wiring? Does the device blow or trip the circuit protection? I'm certainly the type to experiment, heck do an insulation resistance test @ 1Kv to see. I'll blow it up :D

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

So I did think of that but didn't want to cause some damage to the breaker panel or cause some other fire issue. If you have some ideas to help isolate that in a safe manner let me know and still go to a shorted state I am open to trying.

@TradieTrev Жыл бұрын

@@digiblurDIY it's about your upstream protection, you want to have a cascade effect.

@vtecfred4796 Жыл бұрын

What happens if you turn it on and off and on with 1000 watt load?

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

I did it a few times but didn't include that segment. It might not have done much due to the soft'ish start of the battery charger. So I am going to do it with a 1200 watt toaster oven to toggle over and over quickly

@KennethLavrsen Жыл бұрын

A fuse and the holder you show are not designed for or rated for being part of an electrical house installation. A small fuse like this near its rating gets pretty warm. No fuses blow at their rating. They always have a huge positive tolerance. Hiding such a few in a wall or plastic enclosure in the wall is a fire hazard that I personally will be more worried about than the Sonoff module. In UK where fuses are inline they are part of the plug which is approved and tested for the heat from a fuse and the plugs are never inside a wall but well ventillated. A glass tube fuse like this should be inside an enclosure of metal or a plastic that is rated and tested to not burn with open flame. An inline fuse with heat shrink or even worse, electrical tape is not correct. These inline fuse holders are typically made for low voltage applications and normally used for DC power cables in a vehicle.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

I only had 16awg ones on hand to try on the test board but it does claim it is rated for 250VAC but you never know. I have seen the glass fuses like that used on many mains products in the past. Usually mounted on the back of the product with the little thumb screw that pops it out.

@brendanm720 Жыл бұрын

Do we think one of those chips on the big fat traces is one of those e-fuses?

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

I haven't looked up the sheet on them but they look damn close to the mosfets you see on drone ESC boards.

@m.h.323 7 ай бұрын

Do I need a fuse if my load will only be 10-15 watts (lights) ?

@digiblurDIY 6 ай бұрын

I'd still make sure the fuse/breaker matches the device rating.

@m.h.323 6 ай бұрын

@@digiblurDIY that was the question, why? Who has such a small breaker and only for lights?

@digiblurDIY 6 ай бұрын

Probably more of a non 120v area thing as I have a mix of 15 and 20 amp breakers for single phase.

@JesseG2573 Жыл бұрын

I want the panty dropper🤣🤣

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

They are indeed fun! Wish I had some myself! The vehicle that is...not the panties.

@Tntdruid Жыл бұрын

How much is that in C? 😋

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

Can we use Kelvin?

@waynenocton Жыл бұрын

If you like it put a fuse on it lol.

@jmr Жыл бұрын

Anticlimactic in a good way I guess.

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

You know I want more! Been raining a bit and the back patio has a layer of humidity on it but as soon as it dries the extreme relay test is on!

@running_rich Жыл бұрын

Can't believe it passed. But I'm just not a fan of no-neutral devices. And I stay away from Wegos in permanent installs- did you notice if they heated up significantly?

@digiblurDIY Жыл бұрын

I don't think anyone is a fan of the no-neutral devices, especially the people that have no neutrals in their walls. On the wagos, nothing crazy but the smaller gauge wire did heat up causing the wagos to heat up. A proper test for the wago would be to use 12awg wire for this. I've seen many tests of doing 30A or more on wagos before.

@TradieTrev Жыл бұрын

Wagos are better than wire nuts!