> Looking at the pcb w/ chips, optos and triacs. It probably be good to get 2" > between the chips and the triacs.
That would be tricky, since the box only allows a 3.5" board. > Also, optoisolators need low impedance drive circuits. To achieve > hi speed with them they need power. Low speed. Cycles are on the order of minutes. > Even if you don't want them to fire quickly (can't > tell if your software is running them as dimmers) Nope, stricly on/off. The resistor on the opt's driver is the minimum I can get away with to limit current through the opto. > there is a benefit to a forceful drive. The new board will use a fet to drive the LED side of the opto, in case the CPU can't drive it. > It's that interference/surges getting onto the lines between the > opto and whatever is driving it (your latch it appears) will get > weighted down by the low impedance at this point ... making it > harder for those surges/emi to swim upstream and latch your logic, > or trip your latch. Hmmm... would it help if I timed the opto transitions to occur at a zero crossing? I was planning on putting a sensor on the AC anyway, as an additional clock and power detect, but I could use it to syncronize the optos. Remember, no dimming - stricly on or off, for minutes on end.
