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Unread 03-03-2016, 09:16
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GeeTwo GeeTwo is offline
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AKA: Gus Michel II
FRC #3946 (Tiger Robotics)
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Re: Pneumatic assistance

A complete set of pictures of how you're wired and plumbed would help.

I suggest adding a pressure valve close to the inlet of a valve to ensure that you have pilot pressure. Due to some strange plumbing, on our first iteration, once we made the initial switch from initial to "gameplay" configuration, we were dumping air so fast that we lost pilot pressure.

Watch all of your diagnostic lights (most solenoid valves have these) to see if the solenoids are getting the signal; this will tell you if your problem is on the electrical side or pneumatic side.

Some solenoid valves have polarized inputs. Reverse voltage will usually not damage them, but they won't function. Check this out. (IIRC, we have at least one solenoid valve which, if wired backwards, will light the LED but not actuate the valve; seems really strange, but there it is.)

Try the manual switch buttons/levers (most solenoid valves have these). This will also help you figure out whether you have an electrical or pneumatic side problem. (If things work with the manual, it's almost certainly electrical; if they don't, it's almost certainly pneumatic.)
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