does anyone have a full print out off how the hook up goes? also what are the best solneiods to use? my team has used to festo’s but they dont work that well. any suggestions thank you
click this link:
what exactly doesn’t work that well?
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We have usually traced problems with the Festo valves back to not having square cuts on the tubing. (This applies to all quick connect fittings.) I’ve found scissors do not work well. For best results we use an Exacto or utility knife with a back and forth motion to ‘saw’ through the tube to avoid crushing it in the process.
More general how to information on pneumatics is available at (http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FRC/Game_and_Season__Info/2010_Assets/2010%20Pneumatics%20Manual%20Rev%20-.pdf).
Hope this helps.
we have used the festos and they give issues of not working or leaking air. is there another type of solenodie(sorry for spelling) that we could use??
I’ve seen a lot of people using SMCs but we are getting some Parker solenoids in on Monday.
with the SMCs how do they hook up??? is it one spike relay for each side of it
The typical way to wire a solenoid valve is to use one half of a Spike for each coil. The positive side of the coil goes to a Spike output pin, and the - side goes to a black power return on the power distribution board. That way you can control both sides of a dual SMC valve with a single Spike.
Or you can use the Solenoid Breakout on the cRIO module instead of a Spike.
anyone have a different explanition i didnt follow that:confused:. is there a picture somewhere. this is the first time i have used the SMCs before the festos have worked but they were too many issues.
I followed it OK.
How it works: you take the ground wires (black) of the solenoid and run them back to the distribution board’s power return. Then you take the other wires of the solenoid and run them to the Spike, attaching one to each of the two output connections on the Spike. Not sure how you’d program it, though–Alan would know that.
Or, the simpler option, use the Solenoid Breakout and avoid the Spike altogether.
Programming a Spike connected to a dual solenoid valve this way is pretty simple. Set the Spike to “Forward” and the solenoid valve will switch one way; set the Spike to “Reverse” and the solenoid valve will switch the other way. Setting the Spike “Off” will let the solenoid valve hold its last commanded position without using extra electrical power, but the necessary power is very small and every solenoid valve I’ve seen used in FRC is able to handle continuous current.
Don’t set both halves of the Spike on at the same time. The solenoid valve will get confused and not know which way to switch. Any particular one will probably pick the same way every time, but different ones can act differently.
thanks for the help to all. 
just to make it clear and that i did this right. i took the 2 red wires and put on M+ and M- of the spike then combined the black wires and wired them into the elctrical board.
is that correct???
It sounds correct to me.