Hello I have a question about the wiring of the white festo to a spike. I have it wired where the positive goes to the M+ and the negative goes to the M- and I do have it wired correctly according to the festo diagram. I have the positive wired to positive and the ground wired straight to ground. Is there anything that I am doing wrong? The spike clicks as if it works properly yet the festo wont work.
This might help. Although it sounds like you already have the references that you need.
I am assuming you are using the valve with a pressure greater than 30psi? (see note 1 on linked page). I also assume that you are using the spike in the forward and off, as opposed to forward and reverse settings. (Although doing the “direct to a battery” test kind of takes care of that issue…)
Aside from that… I have had good luck with these valves over the years so I don’t have a lot of trouble shooting suggestions, sorry.
Jason
We had the same thing happen to us, the spike was good, it was getting powered, and it worked manually. A lot of people have had bad luck with Festos. We got another one at the MN regional from St. Anthony High School I think (can’t remember the number) and it turned out that one had failed too.
To sum that all up, it could be just a bad festo.
“I have it wired where the positive goes to the M+ and the negative goes to the M- and I do have it wired correctly according to the festo diagram. I have the positive wired to positive and the ground wired straight to ground.”
I’m not sure what the “festo diagram” for FIRST has in the way of wiring (I guess I could look it up), but when linking most power coils to a relay such as a Spike, you should include a diode across the terminals of the valve coil. Back EMF from firing the coil can actually produce a momentary static voltage higher on the negative side that will not let current flow so the pilot valve in the Festo won’t actuate.
If you install the diode across the terminals, make sure the white line on it is on the “+” terminal. For that valve, the coil is very small, so any of the small
diodes at Radioshack will work fine.
If this doesn’t help, the valve may be bad, but that is doubtful, FESTO are very high quality products.
BOB
posted twice
Our team had very bad luck with Festo valves. The valve worked manually, and when we hooked it up to a spike, the light came on, but nothing happened. So we sent it back and got a replacement. The replacement didn’t work either.
You’ll have much better luck with the SMC valves.
I may be that your tubing is hooked into the valve incorrectly, therefore the valve does not have enough working pressure to work.
For us, the input is “1”
“3” and “4” go to the pneumatic cyllinder.
You never know, someone may unhooked it then accidentally hooked back up incorrectly. Charge the pneumatic system to 60 psi, then test. If not, then try a new spike.
Team 1523 had an issue with the Festo values at FL Regional. It turns out that the relay coil was open inside the valve,
Measure the resistance between the coil pins, We got three defective solenoids from parts supply before getting a working unit from another team.
I have seen this also. I took the Festo wiring connector off and tested each pin on the valve with a + and - wire straight froma battery. You need to have air connected and greater than 30 psi. When I found the combination that caused the valve to operate, I rewired the connector to match. Sorry, I did not check to see if it matched the official wiring diagram.
You may wish to refer to this thread:
There should be a little light on the festo that will light up when activated. See if you can see that.