SainSmart 101 70 102 8 Channel Relay Module Review

We use it in an automated test device and drive it directly with a USB data acquisition module from a world famous company in Austin. It works great, especially for the money, but adding plenty of capacitance to the 5VDC rail is recommended to dampen spikes when switching relays - we had some latching issues when switching high capacity loads until we added capacity.

The good news is that you can download the documentation (diagram and specs) from the manufacturer's website. You can easily isolate the coil power from the low level signal power and the board features opto isolators on each input. The downside is that in production, the solder joints on the back of the board look cold (they are matte rather than shiny) and there is uncleaned flux on the front of the board. It works perfectly, so I'm deducting a star from the rating.

Works well but had problems with channel response. They work most of the time, but when I ran a simple program I found that channels 1 and 2 weren't turning off. I created a slow startup sequence before my loop and that seems to have fixed the issue. Now I'm having an issue where they all go out for a second or two just before the 0.25 second blink sequence. Not sure if this is too quick for an answer, but sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. Luckily my application isn't critical, so…

Ideal device for automation projects with Arduino, Raspberry Pi,. Can use 3.3V but needs 5V to drive the relay more effectively. No documentation available. I had to do a bit of googling to find out what some of the pins mean and how much voltage each can handle. Essentially you can drive the transistors and "control" pins with 3.3V or 5V, but if you use 3.3V you need to apply 5V to the auxiliary pin (JDVCC) to fully/ activate effectively. The relays can then power 120V loads applied to them…

This 8 channel relay board works as expected. Please note that you need a separate 5VDC power supply to use the isolators. This was certainly necessary in my application. Otherwise, back EMF and/or noise would return to the Arduino and cause failure. It is important to note that the ports on the bottom are open. If you're using AC power, you'll need to insulate them. In my case, the case it fell into does this. If not, open AC power is seriously dangerous. Still, I would isolate.

This 8 Channel Relay Board works as expected. necessary. Otherwise, back EMF and/or noise would return to the Arduino and cause failure. It is important to note that the ports on the bottom are open. If you're using AC power, you'll need to insulate them. In my case, the case it fell into does this. If not, open AC power is seriously dangerous. Still, I would isolate.

Some technical knowledge is required for installation. This particular relay uses feedback signals (add "#define ON 0" and "#define OFF 1" to your code, then use ON and OFF to turn devices on and off). Be very careful when setting up the 110v side, you will never need much insulation. This allows me to control up to 8 regular devices that you would normally plug into the wall using my Arduino. My dad showed me how to solder relays to 8 sockets and we installed them in a socket holder we found…

I bought this relay to work with my Arduino and experiment with turning on indoor Christmas lights with music. As many have said, the documentation is limited, but there is enough information on the web to get it up and running fairly easily. I turned several electrical devices on and off for about 30 minutes. It's not the product's fault, but they are very noisy, so I had to put them in a box with soundproofing material for the purpose of "Christmas lights with music". Most relays click when…

Experience: Software developer, learning electronics with Arduino. My father EE told me about all current measurements. SETUP: - Connect Arduino 5V power supply to VCC - Connect Arduino digital ground to ground - Connect Arduino digital output to any IN1-IN8 - You're in business! CURRENT: I wired my meter in series and found that I am drawing 64mA through the Arduino 5V power supply and 1.9mA through the Arduino output pin. I flipped it and measured 7100 ohms at the coil, which means the coil…