Exhaust in Solenoids

[dardeshna]

Originally Posted by FTC Team CC

Here is a diagram I drew of our setup for the solenoids

It might not be a great drawing, but I hope it helps you understand our setup a little bit better

http://imgur.com/a/g2MT4

Team 8 literally had this issue earlier today with the same manifold solenoid setup. While bridging A ports and B ports to plug them is probably also contributing to your issue, the way we resolved the original problem you described was actually quite simple.

Try unplugging all of the tubes from the manifold, unscrewing the solenoids, removing the rubber gaskets, and blowing out the internals of the solenoids and manifold with compressed air. Then reassemble carefully. And while you are at it, plug the unused ports properly with the loop setup someone posted a picture of above. For us, it was likely something was either loose or improperly installed.

You could think of this as the good old reboot! Good luck

Originally Posted by PVCMike

You can make your own plugs for the push fittings in a pinch, super easy. Cut a 2" piece of tubing, heat one end with a heat gun (until it's very soft), then clamp it between some pliers. I would not recommend you use this method on the robot, but we do all the time in testing.

Edit: ^^^ Haven't tried this myself but it does seem like a very good option for testing if you are out of connectors.

[DaveL]

Originally Posted by PVCMike

These manifold blocks can be confusing to look at because the associated A and B ports are not right above each other, they're diagonal. I think they have it plumbed right (That part anyways)

Thanks for the correction Mike.

One other point I'll make is that at each connector there is a chance of an air leak and each sharp bend causes internal air drag.

When you build the system for your competition bot, I would work out how to build the system with the fewest connections and the fewest bends.

For example: instead of having 2 air paths from storage, run air to tank1, then tank2 and then to the gauge. This eliminates, 2 tee connectors, 6 connections and 4 sharp bends.

Dave

[Daniel_LaFleur]

You can make your own plugs for the push fittings in a pinch, super easy. Cut a 2" piece of tubing, heat one end with a heat gun (until it's very soft), then clamp it between some pliers. I would not recommend you use this method on the robot, but we do all the time in testing.

Mike,

Just be aware that this method reduces the burst pressure of the tubing and can allow the tube to balloon and pop.

[FRC Team CC]

We tested it out, yet air is coming out from both valves (A and B) for one of the solenoids, but the diagrams show that it should only be coming out from one valve. For all the other solenoids, they work perfectly fine. We are not sure why this is happening, and are wondering if we need to buy a new solenoid.

[Mark McLeod]

Does it happen with each (all four) of your solenoids mounted to the manifold?

[Al Skierkiewicz]

CC,
A few items you might want to address.
Please use only one output port on the regulator, plug the unused ports.
The photo you linked has one way valves. These are air piloted valves that you show and if you back feed them with pressure (as shown in the photo), they will leak. Another source of leaking with the manifold you show, is damaged gaskets. The gasket between the manifold and the valves must be placed correctly on the valve body and the valve must be tight to the manifold. If the gasket is not placed properly and if the valve is loose, it will leak through the gasket from one port to another.

[PVCMike]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

Mike,

Just be aware that this method reduces the burst pressure of the tubing and can allow the tube to balloon and pop.

Totally. That's why I mentioned it was not a good idea to use on the official robot, good for a quick test if you don't have any proper on hand. We purchase off-the-shelf rated plugs to use on the real thing, although I don't think we've ever had one of our makeshift ones fail.

[FRC Team CC]

So we tested out the solenoids with all the advice you guys have given us, and have found out that one of the solenoids was just not working properly, while all others were, so we have ordered a replacement solenoid.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

CC,
Please reread my post. If you parallel these valves they will likely not work as intended.