Frustrating solenoid valves won't open

[jnaranjo]

Our rookie team is building a pneumatic T shirt cannon in the off season.
We have a 24V FESTO double sided valve, and a 12V CKD single sided valve.
We are using standard components from the Kit of Parts.
On the 24V FESTO, we are using a 12V battery on the power distribution board, and we are wiring the solenoid to the 24V port on the power distribution board, but we don't know how 12V are magically turning in to 24V, or if they even are.

We have a simple pneumatic circuit set up, with a compressor, relief valve, pressure switch, and solenoid. We just want the solenoid valve to open when we energize it.

I've uploaded pictures of both of the valves. We are currently manually completing the circuit for each solenoid we test. For both of them, we hear clicking but no pressure is being released.

Both are 5 hole solenoids (3 on one side, 2 on the other).

We have the tube from the compressor to the #3 hole in the solenoid (the only one that does not let air through when not connected. It is the one on the side with three holes on one of the sides).

We have nothing connected to the output holes.

On the FESTO, we hear clicking when we power it, and we see a light come on.
We've tried flipping the polarity, and we've tried both sides of the double action solenoid.

On the CKD solenoid, we just hear clicking.

We've played around with the buttons on both solenoids (twisting, turning, pressing, depressing, etc...) and nothing happens. We've tested two FESTOs and one CKD.

If anyone has any suggestions on anything we could try to get these to work, we would be very grateful. We've been banging our heads against the wall for 3 days trying to figure this out.

Thank you!

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by jnaranjo

Both are 5 hole solenoids (3 on one side, 2 on the other).

We have the tube from the compressor to the #3 hole in the solenoid (the only one that does not let air through when not connected. It is the one on the side with three holes on one of the sides).

We have nothing connected to the output holes.

On the FESTO, we hear clicking when we power it, and we see a light come on.
We've tried flipping the polarity, and we've tried both sides of the double action solenoid.

On the CKD solenoid, we just hear clicking.

If anyone has any suggestions on anything we could try to get these to work, we would be very grateful. We've been banging our heads against the wall for 3 days trying to figure this out.

Thank you!

The compressor should be connected to port 1 on the FESTO.

[apples000]

I believe that the air from the tanks/compressor connects to port 1 on the festo valve, and that the one you have it connected to is the exhaust. Also, it is designed to let pressure out of either port 4 or port 2. If you want to use the valve as a single valve (to fire a t-shirt) you should plug 4 and use 2 as your output. Also, this valve probably isn't the best for a t-shirt cannon, as it will let the air out slowly.

[IndySam]

Also these are pilot operating valves, they will not function without air pressure. The air actually moves the valves not the electricity.

[Alex Cormier]

What type of gasket do you have in between the solenoid and the solenoid bank? You may have one that has no holes in it that is used as a 'plug'.

[jnaranjo]

Originally Posted by apples000

I believe that the air from the tanks/compressor connects to port 1 on the festo valve, and that the one you have it connected to is the exhaust. Also, it is designed to let pressure out of either port 4 or port 2. If you want to use the valve as a single valve (to fire a t-shirt) you should plug 4 and use 2 as your output. Also, this valve probably isn't the best for a t-shirt cannon, as it will let the air out slowly.

Sorry about that, we actually were using the valve #1 on the FESTO valve initially. We just switched it to test the others out because we were desperate, and we just forgot to switch it back for the picture!

I did notice that some people suggested plugging the second outpuut port that we don't intend to use. Could that be the source of our problem?

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by jnaranjo

Our rookie team is building a pneumatic T shirt cannon in the off season.
We have a 24V FESTO double sided valve, and a 12V CKD single sided valve.

You're going to need a much larger valve to make the cannon work well. Those have very little flow. Look into how to specify valves using C_v, the flow co-efficient.

Also, consider running the system at a higher pressure (and using hardware designed for that).

[jnaranjo]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

You're going to need a much larger valve to make the cannon work well. Those have very little flow. Look into how to specify valves using C_v, the flow co-efficient.

Also, consider running the system at a higher pressure (and using hardware designed for that).

Thanks! Where would we find a valve suitable for our needs? We have a 120 psi circuit, but we intend to shoot it at a much lower psi. We actually don't know how much we need.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by jnaranjo

Thanks! Where would we find a valve suitable for our needs? We have a 120 psi circuit, but we intend to shoot it at a much lower psi. We actually don't know how much we need.

Take a look here for some ideas, many of which are not FRC-legal.

(It's worth prototyping with familiar valves first, before buying the huge one that 254 uses.)