I'm a complete newbee when it comes to electronics, so I need a little help here.
I have 100 12V DC solenoid valve Hot DC 12v Electric Solenoid Valve Magnetic N/c Water Air Inlet Flow Switch 1/2" for sale online | eBay .
I want to be able to control these valves from the Arduino. How can I control all ?
This https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11061 lets me control 54 of them, correct? And how much power do I need for all 100 ?
Thanks a lot
It's a little more complex than you might think, since you need to switch the 12V with an Arduino's 5V which means some kind of transistor setup like this. Someone who knows about such things may be able to point you to a chip to do a bunch of those at once so you don't need 100 separate transistors, but that's a guess on my part.
As to the current, I see the pic says 0.02-0.8Wpa and I assume the W is Watts but I don't know what pa means. (Presumably not "per annum")
Maybe 0.02 when inactive and 0.8 when active? If so then if you have them all active at once then that's 80W which /12 gives you 7 Amps.
Aside: these solenoid valves usually rely on the fluid pressure to open them. The solenoid "unlocks" the valve but the pressure actually opens it. I don't see where this one says how it works: there may be a minimum fluid pressure which you should check, if you didn't already.
It appears the valve is DC12 50/60hz
Not sure what this means.
Tell us more about what you are trying to do.
.
LarryD:
It appears the valve is DC12 50/60hz
Hmmmm how did I not spot that? Some kind of alternating direct current 
JimboZA:
It's a little more complex than you might think, since you need to switch the 12V with an Arduino's 5V which means some kind of transistor setup like this. Someone who knows about such things may be able to point you to a chip to do a bunch of those at once so you don't need 100 separate transistors, but that's a guess on my part.As to the current, I see the pic says 0.02-0.8Wpa and I assume the W is Watts but I don't know what pa means. (Presumably not "per annum")
Maybe 0.02 when inactive and 0.8 when active? If so then if you have them all active at once then that's 80W which /12 gives you 7 Amps.
Aside: these solenoid valves usually rely on the fluid pressure to open them. The solenoid "unlocks" the valve but the pressure actually opens it. I don't see where this one says how it works: there may be a minimum fluid pressure which you should check, if you didn't already.
Jim, that was actually Mpa (megapascals), rather than Wpa.
I was surprised to see that these units can handle 12VDC at either 50Hz or 60Hz. Bad labelling maybe? (I see that Larry also pointed this out as I was typing.)
There's no mention of current consumption so we can only guess. @pssf, can you measure the current consumption or the coil resistance of one and let us know?
100 is a lot, and will probably draw a lot of current if they're all on at once.
One way to control/drive them would be with shift registers that include power MOSFET outputs. The TPIC6B595 comes to mind. One of them could drive 8 solenoids, so you'd need 13 to control all of your solenoids. The outputs can handle up to 150mA continuous, from memory.
Search for and check out the TPIC6B595 datasheet for more info.
Here's a clearer shot of the label:-
Do you already have the solenoids. What is the coil resistance (or current draw).
This important info is not listed on that website, so you have to measure it yourself.
Shift registers and mosfets can be used, or maybe shift resisters with inbuild mosfets e.g. the TPIC6A595.
All depending on coil current.
CrossRoads (moderator here) has a 32output board available that might work for you.
Shift registers use three pins of the Arduino (for all 100 or more solenoids).
An Uno might do, depending on the complexity of the program.
So what do you want to do with these valves.
Small area, all spread out, etc.
Give us the full picture.
Leo..
Wawa:
e.g. the TPIC6A595.
All depending on coil current.
I just learned something - the TPIC6A595 can handle 350mA continuous, 600mA max whereas the TPIC6B595 that I mentioned can only handle 150mA cont, 500mA max. (I didn't even know there was a TPIC6A595 until now.) Thanks.
Also, the TPIC6A595NE has more GND pins
Found a link to another one here. Quite sure it's the same one ... are those photos detailed or what?
It says the rated power is 5W, so it looks like for the coil we have:
Volts 12VDC
Amps 416.7mA
Resistance 28.8Ω
Power 5W
How can I control all ?
All at the same time? Ahem, that's at least a 12V/50A supply!
Ah.... that later pic with different label but same part number says "Mpa" not "Wpa" so is presumably the pressure not the power, although the abbreviation for Pascal is "Pa" not "pa" so it should be "MPa".
edit.... my local supplier has similar devices which they say require a minimum of 3psi to operate; under that it won't open. Since 0.02MPa is 3 psi, presumably this one works the same and won't open under that. The upper value 0.8MPa (~115psi) is presumably where it bursts.
pssf:
I'm a complete newbee when it comes to electronics, so I need a little help here.I have 100 12V DC solenoid valve Hot DC 12v Electric Solenoid Valve Magnetic N/c Water Air Inlet Flow Switch 1/2" for sale online | eBay .
I want to be able to control these valves from the Arduino. How can I control all ?
This https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11061 lets me control 54 of them, correct? And how much power do I need for all 100 ?
Thanks a lot
No arduino can give you hundreds of I/Os, But here you can use IO Expander IC like PCF8575 which have 16 I/Os. This IC is works on I2C so you will only need 2 lines from arduino. you can connect up to 8 chips on single I2C network that gives you 16*8 =128 IO lines. You can use 100 to trigger your solenoids.
I have said you can just trigger the solenoid driver and not to actually drive the solenoid.
To drive the solenoid there are many options we can adopt. You can use BC457 drive the 12V load or even a small relay will also do the trick (using relay is not advisable as it will add too much noise in circuit, but it is just a option to state here.). My favorite is using SSR which can drive 3.5A load and can be trigger by 3.3V~30VDC.
using PCF8575 is a bit complex as this IC is sinking and not sourcing please find datasheet here.
Hope this will work for you to control the solenoids.
Looking towards the power supply you will need to drive the solenoid is a actual headache. summing only your solenoids is defining a power supply of 12V 50 Amp which is a big one. My idea in this case is to dived all your solenoids in several groups say group of 16 solenoid and power them with individual powering circuit. It will definitely going to affect the size of your project and the cost but will work safely without running overloaded when you operate all coils at once. Also keep Arduino and control circuit power supply isolated from others. You will be needed to tie all the PSU grounds at a point too.
First question to be answered - "What is the maximum number of valves to be operated at any one time"
For example, if only 1 valve then you will only need a 12V 5W power supply; if 100 valves then you need a 12V 500W power supply
Also if 100 valves, the inductive spike produced by what in effect is a single 500W solenoid will be quite substantial.
Hi,
Those valves are the ones I like I have to replace in our Auto Washing Machine every couple of years. (hence the HOT reference in the URL.)
Tom...
TomGeorge:
......(hence the HOT reference in the URL.)
I think that's just a coincidence, Tom.
I was looking through a few of that seller's other listings earlier and noticed that they like to begin with the word "Hot".
Here's a couple of examples of their listing titles:-
Hot 4x18650 Battery Storage Case Box Holder USB For Bike Samsung w/LED Light
Hot Mini Three Line LED Small Panel Meter Display Digital Voltmeter DC0-100V
Hot Portable Bluetooth Tracker GPS Locator Antilost Tag Alarm For Car Pets Child
Hot Micro SD TF Mini USB Speaker Player Music Portable FM Radio Stereo PC MP3
Hot New Throat Mic Air Tube Earpiece Headset for Baofeng UV5R BF-888s
Hi,
Thanks for all the feedback, it's really useful. I'm not stick to those solenoids, I have purchased them but don't have them yet, and I have someone interested in them if the solution for me is another type of solenoid...
Let me explain what I'm trying to do first:
-Have an array of 100 solenoids that would drop a simple drop of fluid. This could be done in extreme cases all at same time. Don't now if it's possible or not with arduino, but I think I would only 1 at a time, this is, open 1 and close, open 2 and close and so on.. or it's possible to open all at same time?
This is for an artistic installation and each drop will make a sound depending on the x and y (this is a software done in openframeworks and kinect.) This part is not the problem here
So, I need really fast fluid valves on/off. Do you recommend any ? Also if possible with lower power consumption.
For power supply something like this ?
If I go with just 50 solenoids, can I use Arduino Mega 2560 R3 ? Just this and resistors ?
I don't think those are "single drop" solenoids, more like turning on a hose.
Maybe the scientific lab equipment suppliers do devices that can do drops?
Hi JimboZA,
In this case 'single drop' would be the minimum water I could get, doesn't have to a literal single drop
So the fast the solenoid could open/close better
Ah so more like a "sploosh"....
I was thinking you meant like a pipette can deliver.