PiRelay EXPANSION BOARD FOR RASPBERRY PI Raspberry Pi A+/B+/2B/3B/3B+ Loads up to 240VAC/7A,125VDC/10A by SB Components

Very easy to install. Board relays are clearly labelled (relay 1, relay 2, etc) and each relay has its own indicator light. Relays are rated high enough to be used with 240 VAC at 7 Amps. I use the relays on this board as 12 V gate controllers. I can find no fault with this expansion board and definitely recommend it!

I used it in my project

I am using this with a 3b+ with Hoobs and a garage door Homebridge Plugin. Works really well.I wrote a python script that you can copy/paste and run that tests each relay.Keep in mind that typically apps on the RPi will use GPIO assignment numbers and not physical pins. So this python uses the physical pin number only. Copy everything below.import RPi.GPIO as GPIOimport timeGPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)GPIO.setup(7,GPIO.OUT)GPIO.output(7,GPIO.LOW)GPIO.setup(11,GPIO.OUT)GPIO.output(11,GPIO.LOW)GPIO.setup(13,GPIO.OUT)GPIO.output(13,GPIO.LOW)GPIO.setup(15,GPIO.OUT)GPIO.output(15,GPIO.LOW)try:GPIO.output (7,GPIO.HIGH)print ("First Relay ON")time.sleep(2)GPIO.output (7,GPIO.LOW)print ("First Relay OFF")time.sleep(2)GPIO.output (11,GPIO.HIGH)print ("Second Relay ON")time.sleep(2)GPIO.output (11,GPIO.LOW)print ("second Relay OFF")time.sleep(2)GPIO.output (13,GPIO.HIGH)print ("Third Relay ON")time.sleep(2)GPIO.output (13,GPIO.LOW)print ("Third Relay OFF")time.sleep(2)GPIO.output (15,GPIO.HIGH)print ("Forth Relay ON")time.sleep(2)GPIO.output (15,GPIO.LOW)print ("Forth Relay OFF")time.sleep(5)GPIO.cleanup()print("ALL OFF..... Good Bye !!!!")except KeyboardInterrupt:print("QUIT")GPIO.cleanup()

My plan for this relay was to control my PSU and LED of my 3D printer using Octoprint. After getting everything hooked up I was sad to see that the relays were not working. The status LEDs for the relays did light up, but for some reason the relays were not clicking over. After TWO replacements, and little help from the company, I decided to try and figure it out for myself. The Raspberry Pi GPIO pins output 3.3V at 16mA, and this unit has 5V relays so at first I thought this was the issue. After looking up the technical specs for the relays themselves and looking at the screen print layout of the board, and testing the relays with 5V I figured out the issue. At 3.3V GPIO signal, the relays did not trigger and the LEDs lit up dim. When triggering the relays using the jumpers with 5V, the relays triggered and the LEDs lit bright. So I tried triggering the relay with 3.3V, but shorting out the LED contacts (bypassing the LED). IT WORKS! The status LEDs and the associated resistors create too much of a voltage drop across the coils of the relays to trigger them. So long story short, if you want to use this relay (I liked the layout for my install with the wires going straight out the back), just unsolder the 4 relay status LEDs and replace each one with a short wire and everything will work just fine. So one star to the company for apparently NO testing, poor electrical design, and poor customer service. These should all be pulled from Amazon's stock as being defective. Photo shows unmodified board, but the culprit LEDs are circled.

Initial impressions are not good. The first one had a device on the back broken off it's solder joint. The replacement is dirty, and looks used in other ways: the header pins were bent as well as the jumpers. FYI: The labeling on the jumpers doesn't map to the labeling on the header pins. The jumpers go by pin position on the header, and I'm guessing the header labeling is based more on the Pi labels. A simple continuity test before wiring is advised.

I purchased five of the SB Components over three order. When I first connected one of the relay boards to the Pi and installed the software and mobile phone app I was very impressed. the relay seemed to be functioning correctly. It was only after several days when I actually connected the relays to a circuit did I realize that although the individual LEDs were turning on and off the individual relays were not switching. The mobile app is great, the LED turn on and off remotely, but the physical/individual relay never switched states. Thinking it maybe just one unit I tried three more with the same results. I emailed support explaining the issue. After waiting 5 days and not receiving a response I requested a refund from Amazon. The next day I received an email from SB Components stating that were unable to duplicate the issue I was having and that they would gladly send me a new unit. I replied that as in my first email I had purchased 5 units and provided the order numbers. I stated that I would leave it up the them to decide if they wanted to replace the units or if I should follow through with the refund with Amazon. Unfortunately I have still not received a response and I have returned the items to Amazon for a refund. I would think that it is a manufacturing/component defect as 4 out of the five I used failed.

Not sure why this board features stacking headers. The relays are tall and block any use of the stacking headers. I’ll be sending this back due to this design flaw.

The media could not be loaded. Tried all 4 channels, testing NC/NO on each, but nothing worked. Shame, as I would have settled for it if even only 1 was functional.