Greetings,
This might be asking a lot but I’ll give it a shot.
I have put together a very brutish vacuum pump system that I am using for vacuum pressing veneers or epoxy/resin laminations. The pump I am using is driven by a 1.5 hp 240v motor and draws 29 inHg. Because my pressing needs to be done at around 18 inHg I have built a two tank system with the necessary pressure switches to keep each tank at separate levels.
The first tank maintains 29inHg. The second tank maintains about 18inHg. The reason I do this with two tanks is that starting the motor and running it once every 15 minutes is preferable to the motor cycling on and off every few minutes as there are inevitably going to be leaks in the vacuum bag or film.
I am using latching relays, mechanical, to control the switching of the pressure controlled valves.
What I would like to do is control the valve to the second tank with Arduino having the level of vacuum be adjustable with an interface to adjust vac level up or down.
I have a good understanding of the wiring but keep hitting the wall when I try to make things work with Arduino. I’ve followed tutorials to turn things on and off so get the basic idea and expect something like this would be possible. The adjustable part of the sketch as well as the sensor and interface to use has me stumped.
As I see it I need the following... at least.
-vac sensor
-interface to adjust vac level-
-mechanical gauge I can tap into manifold close to interface for current vac level
-Arduino- I have several that I have used to do very simple things with.
Any suggestions on components would be appreciated.
I’m including the schematic of the system I have set up now. I could also simply tap into the vac line befor the second tank to get high level vacuum but if I can work in Arduino control I’d learn something.
The need for higher level vacuum is degassing of silicon.
Thanks ,
Karl