I am planning to power 6 to 8 12VDC solenoids with a 12V 5Ah battery. There will be 3 groups of 6 to 8 solenoids(so total solenoids used would be 3*8=24 solenoids). Each group of solenoids will be controlled via a servo driver which will then be connected to a signal pin on the arduino. Do i need to add anything in particular for the solenoid. Like perhaps a diode or what not? I am not really sure what exactly i need for the solenoid circuit. Like do i just connect the solenoids directly to the battery pack?
I am curious as to how you use a servo driver to drive solenoids. Why a servo driver? What servo driver?
Post a data sheet for the solenoids.
Usually one uses a MOSFET with a flyback diode for a solenoid driver.
In order to save pins on the Arduino use shift registers or IO expanders to control the MOSFET drivers. There are some high current shift registers that may drive your solenoids directly (without MOSFET drivers).
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I am using an analog servo driver at the moment because the only two types of drivers provided in the school lab(its for a school project) are here (https://newerasystems.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ADVANCED-Motion-Controls-Datasheet-AMC_Datasheet_25A8.pdf) and syren50. i had some problem with voltage distribution of coils when using syren50 so i switched to this driver instead which seems to be working well albeit an overkill. I believe technically, a motor driver can be used to actuate a solenoid as far as the arduino is concerned with it although it seems a little weird. There is an internal mosfet drive in the motor driver. The solenoids (https://www.hobbytronics.co.za/Content/external/1274/D2512640695.pdf) i bought are from China and have limited data specifications. In fact one problem is that although the data sheet says rated 300mA, i cannot drive the solenoids when directly connected to a bench power supply at 300mA. I require about 1A to actuate one solenoid just by directly connecting to the power supply.
Right now i am looking for a possible circuit design to actuate 6 solenoids simultaneously with a driver and a signal pin from arduino. I doubt i have to save pins because i am using an arduino mega2560
Also just to add on, initially i did not realise that connecting a solenoid requires transistors, relays and diodes. Which might explain why after actuating the solenoids several times with a power source directly, they cease to actuate well(perhaps the temperature rise or the fact that when i on/off quickly, the inductive kickback occurs?)
The goal is to on off the solenoids at a certain frequency so the on time wouldnt be too long. But it is of concern to me that the solenoids draw 1A each which is a lot
Hi, @iberico
Welcome to the forum.
Please read the post at the start of any forum , entitled "How to use this Forum".
This will help with advice on how to present your code and problems.
How do you mean
What do you mean by a servo driver?
Can you post a circuit diagram of your project?
Can you post links to specs/data of your hardware if possible?
Thanks.. Tom... 
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