Tried that, it blew my Pi unfortunately :(

Is it a real cave or just a basement?

OMFG! I wish I would have read this earlier. Spent most of the day thinking I missed a step!

thanks for your comment, please share and spread!

+Angealies Thanks. Really happy with this one. My most complete relay video yet!

thanks.

+asim mohammed Thanks, that's very kind. Let me know if you get up to any of the projects on my channel.

Check your wiring, some wires may be out of sequence?

Check the amperage of the 5+v on the board, if it is higher than what your pi requires it will fry your pi, if it it is too much under the amperage then your pi will not work.

yes, grasshopper, after your toil in the garden of Herculean Code Edit and clean the Augean Stables of Rewire then you will eventually discover that 3.3v is correct and 5V will make you head spin for an interminable time. Only then can you pass the test and walk gently across the rice paper to brand your arms with the Rasperian logo.

thanks for the tip! helped in my case as well!

Thanks man.............You Saved me..............!...........Such a Big Help .......(y)

rasp 2b worked for me 2 ! thanks

John Layman just wanted to show different ways.

Anan My thoughts exactly! It will make the wiring, easy enough here, even more easier. What do we rate I2C or SPI? SPI Bus has great range and extendability in space. uk.farnell.com/microchip/mcp23017-e-sp/ic-io-expander-16bit-i2c-28dip/dp/1332088?CAWELAID=120173390001317605&CMP=KNC-GUK-GEN-KWL&mckv=PpFlXUmR_dc|pcrid|186409721995|&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8_PfBRC3ARIsAOzJ2up7DjZxOCZL_Cen37JrHBbdhxoFt6XbTe6iTy3dBNfTw0NxUHGfOmAaAjgKEALw_wcB

Check the amperage on the 5+v, it should be somewhere between 1.5+ amps to 3.0 amps to power the rpi. Connect the positive of you amp meter to positive post on the board and negative to negative post on the board. Depending on which pi you are using (check what voltage and amperage is required for that pi), you ought to be able to power your pi from that board.

The pi and the relay need separate power since it operates on 5V. There is a way to step down - but I don't do it. The question you asked though is can 12V power the relay, and power something on the other side too? Yeah, it can. Take a look at my "outdoor light setup" video, you'll see how I split the power.

I tried using the 3.3v and it destroyed my Pi :(

The only way it could sense that a light has been turned on is to have light sensor at the source of the light, otherwise all it could tell you is if the relay is working or not. It could not even tell you if there is a short in the wiring to the light.

+forklift385 I'd use HTML/PHP because I'm most familiar with that as a language, but I'm sure you could just use Python if you wanted.

+Eric Steed No, that's some unusual behavior. Are there shorts between your GPIOs? Are you sure you have an optocoupler relay? Are you supplying enough power to the Pi Zero (you should still use at least 1A)?

I don't remember why I did this. I think it's because I had two types of relay. One that started high one that started low, so this set them all to same state... But I'm not 100%

i have also the same problem, 2 channel relay works perfectly,when i connect 16 channel, the relays stay turned on forever.i am using 12v 2 amp power-supply for relay.

impossible to tell what you're asking - can you take a video and post it here?

Test your relay board, it may be defective?

They're activating on the low setting

turning off that pin, will turn it off. You will find that in the code as well.

Watch my 4 channel relay video to see more script examples

Awesome. Thank YOU

Do you have a model/part number that would be good for testing?

@@matthewdornfeld2126 it is about the one in the link in the discription. Further discussed here: arduinodiy.wordpress.com/2018/09/04/the-16-relay-module-and-the-raspberry-pi-not-an-ideal-marriage/

Are you using the BCM GPIO numbers or the GPIO numbers? Try changing the initial setting from hi to low to see if that changes the outcome.

Solid state relays might be a possibility, but they require higher voltages passing through them in order to operate.

do not play with mains electricity. wiring lights is dangerous! and must be left to professionals!

Exactly. Was I who made all the electrical network from my home.

Yeah this only interrupts one wire in the circuit. Positive or neutral it doesn't really matter. But in your example, yes interrupt the positive and the neutral goes straight back to power.

But I can ground back to relay also right?

@@dennischang5296 No, it's like a light switch. You only interupt one side of the circuit. Both sides don't terminate back.

I just bought a Sainsmart 16 way Level converter after reading the comments here. Could u guide me how to connect the pins between Pi, 16-way level converter and 12v 16-Ch Relay?

+Balgruuf The Greater I'd use this: amzn.to/1Jrihjt and poll it for status every 2 seconds or something.

Thanks

I know your comment is already three years old, but did you fix this issue? And if yes... how?

Lukas Weishaupt this is the issue I’m working on now let me know if you have a solution

@@turke6756 same issue here

Okay I got it to work with the raspberry pi. My particular relay board and probably yours too works on 5v logic and the pi is 3.3v logic. All you need is a logic level converter can be bought for dirt cheap. (Relays requires the 5v to signal off position so you can turn it on but not off)

Tim Neeley I think I figured it out check my comment below

3 years later nobody answered your question, how sad. yea you could but you would need a way to control 64 pins. think multiplexers. shift registers, etc. it is possible to control hundreds of gpio pins with only a few.

(yes this is 3 years later but 3 years ago i was not into tech) it is possible using MCP23017 chips with IC2 controlling them, you're in for a long ride if you want 16 individual relays working though its a steep learning curve but there are several tutorials on this chipset

Take some electrician courses. They're typically offered at local community colleges and you can do the basics in just a couple of hours.

Thank you. I have other question: it´s necessary to use a resistor in each relay?

I am trying to write a script that would turn on one relay and it stays on while using ur script how would add or mod ur script to leave on one while the others are off if u could help you could give me would welcome

I am trying to write a script that would turn on one relay and it stays on while using ur script how would add or mod ur script to leave on one while the others are off if u could help you could give me would welcome

I just had someone else say the same thing on another video. Take a look to see if you can find a recent comment here that mentions the same

@@skiwithpete Found the issue, first of all the board works at 5v so for esp you need a 3v to 5v convertor (there are logical convertors for this). The relays requires a LOW state to activate and a high state to be off. The 3.3v from esp is not enough to be considered HIGH this is why the relay see 3.3v as LOW .. you need 5v to shut them off. Hope this helps other in this situation. After this implementation the integration works perfect

On the 8-channel relays there is a VCC and JD-VCC jumper connection which links pins for the 5V power to the board, to the 5V power for the optocouplers. On the 16 channel, there is no connection linking them. And when powered only 5V there is not sufficient power to run all 16 relays (as you'll find through experimentation). When running on 12V alone, the optocouplers do not trip (as you'll find through experimentation). So it is my assumption that the 12V runs the power for the relays, while the 5V is the power for the optocouplers - though I don't have any documentation to back up this finding.

@@petergosselin1180 Actually the voltage regulator on the board (LM2576) can supply up to 3A on the 5V rail, which is more than enough to drive the 16 optocouplers and other ICs on the board, and even has power left over to power a small pi (Zero W takes max 370ma). The 12V rail drives the relay coils, and when they're all on it draws a little under 500ma according to my experimentation. You cannot run this board on a 5V supply alone, as it won't drive the relay coils reliably. Furthermore connecting the 5V or 3.3V rail from the Raspberry Pi to the 5V rail on the Sainsmart board as shown in this video (with the USB power attached to the PI) is a bad idea and will likely end up killing the PI, and even if it doesn't it's bad practice. I found a really easy solution to this in the amazon reviews for this board of all places, which I posted in another comment.

==Credit to AJ in Amazon reviews for this method... it works great and gives you the ability to have led indicators for the relays external to the board. Scripts provided here will work as is== ====DO NOT CONNECT THE POWER PINS TOGETHER ON THE PI AND RELAY BOARD (Unless you are not using a USB to power the PI and want to use the 5v rail on the board to power a low power Pi-- I wouldn't do anything larger than a Zero W as other PIs draw a lot more power)==== For those that need help this is the easiest way to connect them to the Raspberry PI: The relays are triggered on when the pin of the relay is pulled LOW (0) volts. the pins are made for an Arduino but will work with the PI if you connect a 3V LED between the relay board and the PI GND pin on relay board ----------> GND pin on Raspberry PI Relay Board Pin------> LED Anode (Long Wire) / LED Cathode (Short Wire) -------> GPIO of Raspberry PI you will have to do this 16 times. This has the added benefits of; Indicator if relay is supposed to be on to mount in project box side/top (Unused just leave inside) Relays do not trigger ON when rebooting the PI Relays do not trigger ON when PI is off all parts are cheap and comparable with using resistors. How this works: When the LED is used this way it is essentially a device that drops the voltage by 3V. converting any excess power to light. The PI requires 3.3v maximum to its pins. This method reduces the 5v to 2v for the PI. (You can check with a multi-meter) When the PI GPIO is HIGH (ON) there is 3.3v at the PI and 5v at the relay board. Because the LED requires 3v to operate and there is only 1.7v the led does not conduct power and the opto-coupler in the relay board stays deactivated. When the PI GPIO is LOW (off) there is 0v at the PI and 2v at the relay board. Because the PI is forcing the pin low the LED begins to conduct, turning on, The current limiting resistors in the relay board keep the LED from conducting too much power (and burning out) and still provides enough to activate the opto-coupler causing the relay to activate.

if you're using relays with external power to trigger the relays you should be fine since the 5v is simply there to trigger the optocoupler to send the external power to energize the relay

Thiago Fabri this is likely caused by a non-optocoupler relay.

I just went and looked, and I can confirm that I have the 12V version of this board, exactly as linked, and that I'm powering with a 12V power supply and driving the relays with with the Raspberry Pi.

@@skiwithpete ok thanks for the confirmation. clearly there's an issue with my relay board or difference in raspberry pi's, maybe the rpi a has more driving current than the 3? Either way none of your scripts work for me. I mainly write all my code in javascript and it works fine with my 2 channel 5v relay boards when i have a handful of them connected. Gotta find my multimeter to debug the problem =( Figured i'd just follow someone elses known working code to rule out any issue with my software side.