Obviously triacs have been well known to be used in applications which don't really require a perfect sine wave to function.
However, what about say a triac to switch on and off more complicated devices such as phone/laptop chargers, TVs, audio equipment, pretty much everything else that you would find in the average household. I'm guessing it might depend on the front end of the power supply for the equipment, on its tolerance of its input voltage. However, does anyone have any practical experience with this?
What sort of waveform would you see if we switch a triac on, vs a mechanical relay switch? (i.e. triac switched on permanently)
To clarify, I mean a persistent on/off, in the way that a mechanical relay would be used to switch equipment on and off using an electrical signal. Probably a switch on the live line of the mains?
Best Answer
Rather than using a triac, I suggest using a solid-state relay instead. Most solid-state relays (SSRs) switch when the AC waveform crosses the zero point, so they provide a very clean transition between on and off.
Assuming the triac has an adequate rating for the device you want to switch, you should have no trouble using it to switch pretty much anything.