what does a solid state relay actually do?

Answer 1

sometimes a control circuit might be a different voltage than the electrical components actually doing the work. For example- in residential heating and air conditioning the indoor fan will sometimes run on a 110 volt power supply. The thermostat uses a 24v circuit for control. So in order for the thermostat to be able to turn on the fan, a solid state relay would would be used. Basically the 24v side activates a magnetic coil that "pulls in" the circuit for the fan.
Solid state relays are used in everything from door controls, elevator and escalator operations, and in most cars. As technology of digital controllers increases, solid state relays will be slowly replaced by logical controllers- but for now they'll be around for quite a while.

Answer 2

A relay is a switch. It turns something on or off. Solid-state is an old term that means it doesn't have tubes.

Answer 3

Well there is no obvious reason that it will not work. I guess you have to ask yourself if you feel lucky today. Ordering the one that the tutorial specifies is pretty much a sure thing and while the e-bay one looks good, the only way to know for sure is to hook it up and see. Then if it works great otherwise that high shipping cost will start to look not so high after all.

Answer 4

It is an electrically controlled switch.

You know what a relay does, correct?

This is the all-electronic version without the electromagnet in the process.

Answer 5

It acts like a switch.
It switches a high voltage source using a low voltage source.
It can also acts as an insulator, insulating the higher voltage source from the lower voltage source.

Answer 6

There are two poles to throw a coil, Then there are at least three contacts: N/o and n/c and comon.

Answer 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_state_relay