Picking a Qwiic relay kit

Qwiic System
1

Hi,

I’m starting a Raspberry Pi project, that needs to use a relay, and I thought to use one of the Qwiic ones =).

I did send through an email, and got an auto-reply to use the forums for any support - so putting my questions below - hopefully this is the right place.

I see that you have this quad-relay board, which is unfortunately out of stock:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/16566

Question 1 - Do you happen to know when this might be available again? (i.e. are we talking weeks, or months here?)

But then there’s you also have this Qwiic quad-relay kit:

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/16833

which is only slightly more expensive.

Question 2 - Do you know if there are any drawbacks to my using the quad-relay kit, versus the out-of-stock quad-relay board?

Question 3 - Sorry if this is a stupid question - but is it possible to update the firmware on the quad-relay kit? Or is that not really a thing?

Question 4 - The kit video mentions the standoff screws are an additional item - but I’m confused exactly which item in hookup accessories I should be getting - are you able to get me the exact URL, or item code please?

Question 5 -

I see there’s also a dual-relay version which is double the price.

Does anybody know why the dual-relay version is more expensive please?

Dual relay - https://www.sparkfun.com/products/16810 - $94.00

Quad relay - https://www.sparkfun.com/products/16833 - $48.50

Thanks,

Victor

2

One of the first things you need to define is what are you trying to switch. The answer to Question #2 is discussed on the [hookup guide within the section titled “Solid State vs Mechanical Relays” and the [blog post referenced within it.

For question #5, the more expensive one seems to be designed to handle more power and using more robust SSRs.

[EDIT]

One additional item to consider associated with #2: With SSRs you need to ensure which type of load they are capable of switching; some SSRs can only switch AC, others can do AC/DC.](Switching to Different Relays - News - SparkFun Electronics)](SparkFun Qwiic Quad Solid State Relay Kit Hookup Guide - SparkFun Learn)