The choice of the ELCO heatsink is a very important choice. There is the possibility to choose a product without a heatsink and buy it later or choose a product with an integrated heatsink. Either way, you need to know where the product will be installed in order to purchase a suitable one.
If we have a static relay and want to buy a separate heatsink, we should consider the following fundamental parameters:
- ambient temperature,
- device usage (intermittent or continuous),
- load current
- and power to dissipate.
With these 4 information it will be possible to calculate the thermal capacity of a heatsink which is expressed in ° C / W. The thermal capacity is the fundamental data to buy a heatsink suitable for your use.
In the case of an integrated heatsink instead, only the load current needs to be analyzed.
Having these data it will be possible to choose the suitable product, relay plus heatsink. Each product with integrated heatsink is calibrated for continuous cycle use at 40 ° C ambient temperature. Obviously, composing a battery of products or using the product on an intermittent cycle will have a different result.
For more information, in the Video section there is the ELCO Technical Seminar # 2 which accurately explains how to choose a heatsink.
