I am trying to control a latching (pulse) solenoid valve with an arduino and an L293d dual H Bridge. The latching solenoid opens on a 50ms pulse of forward voltage and closes when reverse voltage is applied, hence the need for the H-Bridge. The problem I have been having is that the solenoid wont close, except when I apply constant voltage, which defeats the purpose of the latching feature, and will make the coil burn out quickly. I have tried this method on 3 different latching valves, and they all have the same problem. I can get them to open, but not close again, except when constant current is applied. The solenoids run on 3.6v to 24v dc. Could someone familiar with these types of devices chime in and point me to a schematic for controlling the solenoids. Nothing I have been doing has worked thus far.
Are we to guess on the part number? Or can you offer some more data there?
A schematic of how it is wired up would also help.
I've done some work with irrigation valves of this type. I used a power MOSFET arrangement to toggle them, and they worked just fine. I also had a 1000 uF capacitor across the power to get a surge of amperage when needed. Could it be some anomaly in your power supply?
Good luck,
John Doner
Is the solenoid getting enough current?