Hey,
We are trying to use this Solenoid Valve: 15A Ceramic Tube Fuse Set (100-Piece Pack / 6 x 30mm) - Free shipping - DealExtreme
To open/close it you should power the red wire for 30ms and then to open/close it the black wire for 30 ms, but how can you make a proper circuit to run this? It pulls 500 mA so perhaps a relay, but what would be the best way to connect it?
Does anyone have an idea for this or an example?
Thanks,
MaartenWoutTycho
(Sorry for the bad English, we're Dutch)
Since the valve needs polarity reversal a H-bridge would be the obvious choice.
A sn7544 will do the trick.
Would it also be possible with an Arduino Motorshield?
And this H-bridge works with 4.5V instead of 3.6V, would that be a problem?
Yes the motorshield would be possible.
The voltage is no problem. Firstly since the 7544 is bipolar it will have a considerable voltage drop so feeding it with 5V will get you about the right output voltage. Secondly as long as the voltage is high enough to operate the solenoid it will work. Too high a voltage can cause unnecessary heating in the solenoid coil and even damage, but this can be counteracted by shortening the pulse.
Also be advised that when shopping from DX or MiniInthebox or similar from inside the EU you will have pay VAT. The shipment company normally does this for you and charges you afterwards and adds some additional fee for this.
Okay thanks, we'll see if we can figure it out.