I am attempting to use an Inkbird ITC-100RH to control an SSR that switches a water heating element on and off. The Inkbird ITC-100 series manual says that the RH can be used to control a SSR but goes into no further detail. So far I’ve tried wiring the SSR to terminals 7 and 8, and then to terminals 6 and 8, but the SSR doesn’t light up and the load terminals don’t show continuity.
The big picture of my setup is 5 used solar panels wired in series directly to a heating element in an electric water heater with just two DC breakers, one inside and one outside, and an SSR controlled by a PID. No MPPT or batteries at this time.
The SSR is rated for 220 VDC output and 3-32 VDC control input. The open circuit voltage coming from the solar panels is 206 VDC with 9 amps of current. The heating element is 2500 watts.
I haven’t changed any of the PID’s configurable parameters. For now I am just using the PID to show the temperature of the water in the tank and have been unable to get it to control the SSR. Currently the SV readout shows 50 while the PV is around 14 (temp in Celsius of the water in the tank). I’m using a K-type thermocouple to measure the temperature of the water in the tank.
Can anyone help my figure out how to control the SSR with the ITC-100RH? It may be that I just need to get a different PID. If so I want it to operate on 120V and control the SSR that I have. But hopefully the RH can do the task and I just have not wired it correctly. Maybe control the SSR using the alarm output? Maybe use a relay or contactor instead of an SSR? I am stumped.
