Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve - 12V - 1/2 NPS quit working

General project help for Adafruit customers

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
willowdog96
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:25 pm

Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve - 12V - 1/2 NPS quit working

Post by willowdog96 »

Hi,

I've had this valve hooked up to and Arduino and it's been working fabulously -- until it didn't this weekend. Nothing on the project changed but the valve will not close. When I press the button I've always used to open the value I hear the 'click' but water flows whether the button is on or off.

Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bruce

User avatar
adafruit_support_mike
 
Posts: 67446
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm

Re: Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve - 12V - 1/2 NPS quit working

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

If you disconnect the solenoid wiring, what resistance do you see through the coil?

User avatar
willowdog96
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:25 pm

Re: Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve - 12V - 1/2 NPS quit working

Post by willowdog96 »

Not 100% sure what you mean by disconnect the solenoid wiring but if I disconnect the valve from Arduino I see 4.3 ohms.

Note: the strange thing is that the valve is stuck open, even disconnected from board. I would have thought the default, power off, mode would have been valve closed.

Thanks,
Bruce

User avatar
adafruit_support_mike
 
Posts: 67446
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm

Re: Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve - 12V - 1/2 NPS quit working

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

That's about the expected value, so we can probably rule out a short in the coil.

As a sanity check, what are you using to control the power that flows through the coil. When connected to a 5V supply, the coil will draw about 1A.. far more than an Arduino's GPIO pin can handle.

User avatar
willowdog96
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:25 pm

Re: Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve - 12V - 1/2 NPS quit working

Post by willowdog96 »

The circuit is driven by a TIP120 with a 1N4001 snubber for kickback as in:

https://www.bc-robotics.com/tutorials/c ... h-arduino/

What's strange is that, again, the valve makes the 'correct' noises, it just won't close when you take the power away. Will the valve easily come apart and go back together so I can look inside? What makes the valve 'open'; what mechanism?

User avatar
adafruit_support_mike
 
Posts: 67446
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm

Re: Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve - 12V - 1/2 NPS quit working

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

There's a solenoid inside the housing that opens and closes the valve.

Go ahead and disconnect the valve from the rest of the plumbing and check to see how the valve behaves when you can see down the bore. Something is obviously blocking the valve, but it will help to know if there are any visible effects.

User avatar
willowdog96
 
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:25 pm

Re: Brass Liquid Solenoid Valve - 12V - 1/2 NPS quit working

Post by willowdog96 »

Yeah, took it all apart, everything looks and works great. Don't know if the springs wore out or what. I run such low pressure it's laughable. That's the reason I couldn't use the cheaper one.

I can't fool around with this any longer. I purchased another and will hope it lasts longer than a few months.

Bummed,
Bruce

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “General Project help”