Okay, let's talk about this SSR-60DA relay that's been giving me both joy and headaches.

First off - HEAT SINKS ARE NOT OPTIONAL PEOPLE! Learned this the hard way when I fried my first unit trying to run my CNC dust collector without one. Rookie mistake, I know. The replacement with proper heatsink has been working flawlessly for months now.

The good stuff: No annoying clicking sounds like mechanical relays! The zero-cross switching is super clean - no weird power spikes that could mess with sensitive equipment. And that epoxy encapsulation? Makes it feel indestructible (though as we'll see, that's not entirely true).

Now the not-so-good: These things run HOT. Like 'could fry an egg' hot at just 19A loads (way below their 60A rating). My infrared thermometer showed 170°F on the heatsink after just 12 minutes. That can't be normal, right? Even upgraded to an SSR-100DA thinking more capacity would help... nope, same overheating issues.

Durability seems hit or miss. Some users report years of service (like in dryer applications), while others have failures within weeks at moderate loads. My take? These work great for light-duty applications, but push them anywhere near their rated capacity and you're asking for trouble.

Pro tip: Always use thermal paste (not included) and consider active cooling if your application runs for extended periods. And maybe don't trust those max ratings too literally...