Hi at all.
I'm searching for an economical cheap solenoid valve to drive water flow in a new project that I need to realize.
I need to buy somethink like 250-280 solenoid valve that I will mount in a graphic waterfall application. So I need to buy a really economical model (due to total quantity....).
Could some one help me searching for that valves?
Many thanks...
What os a 250 to 280 waterfall valve please ?
Holy Toledo! Are you saying you need to buy 250 to 280 separate valves?!?
Wow. I can see why you'd want them cheap.
Do you actually need that many separate water flows, or will only some be active at certain times? Are you going to have a pump big enough to drive all of those? All of them normally closed? (Closed unless you apply power.) How much flow per valve? (a trickle or gallons per minute?)
hi kjmclark,
yes I'm saying 250-280 separate valves... 
I need economical due to a "big" cost they have...
I am determining what kind of pump I need. The valve must give me not gallons of water but only a little water flow, just more than a trickle.
just to give an idea I post a youtube video link: AMAZING Japanese waterfall (Japanski vodopad) - YouTube
How cheap and how good do they need to be? If you really need cheap, you might want to try plain push-pull solenoids pushing on surgical tubing that's carefully positioned. That's what peristaltic pumps use. You don't need a lot of water to do what you have in mind, and it would be pretty easy to mock that up for a demonstration. They're pretty fast acting too.
I'm betting in applications like the video they're using industrial automation solenoids, and they aren't cheap.
You have not told us the water pressure, or volume etc. Or if there is anything special about the valves you need
Have you looked on eBay
I just did a quick search and found this one
$3.70 US sounds a reasonable price to me for such an item.
If you look on AliExpress you can get them a bit cheaper if you buy in bulk
e.g.
One thing about these valves is that they are 12V and you're going to need power a power supply and power transistors to drive them.
Alternatively you could get mains voltage solenoids, which means you don't need a 12V PSU, but you'd then have mains voltages near water (never the best idea), and you'd need to drive the solenoids with solid state relays or some other device that takes the 5V output from the Arduino and converts it to be usable for mains devices
The same power conversion is also needed if you use 12V, but the devices that will switch 12V e.g. a power FET are going to be cheaper than solid state relays.
BTW. I presume you are turning these solenoids on and off quickly to make some sort of fountain display, hence I'm not suggesting you use normal relays.
You also need to look carefully at the expected number of on / off cycles that any of these valves are supposed to do before failing, as I suspect cheap valves will not have a long MTBF or MCBF (Mean Time Between Failure or Mean Cycles Between Failure
Either way, when you multiply anything by 300 its going to end up costing you thousands of dollars to build.
thaks for response.
I am searching for valves... I found this:
http://www.ebay.it/itm/261348128049?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
http://www.ebay.it/itm/400422235090?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
OK
They are 12V and 24V
You will need an Arduino FET module to interface to each one
e.g.
But as you need so many, you would be better off getting a custom PCB made and order the FET's in large quantities
Speak to Crossroads on this forum I believe her designs PCBs and may be able to help you
many thanks
you might want to try something simple, proof of concept....
As you said, you might only need small amounts of water. better to get 10 and make sure your volume is not too great. most of the valves posted are higher volume to fill a washing machine or such.
if you contact e-bay sellers who offer free shipping, you might be able to get 30 sets of 10 per box for free shipping. once you get too heavy, the cost of shipping goes way up.
Something you may also wish to check is the minimum operating pressure.
Washing machine valves do not work often when the pressure drops below a few psi.
Boardburner2:
Something you may also wish to check is the minimum operating pressure.Washing machine valves do not work often when the pressure drops below a few psi.
Yeah I was going to say much the same thing. The way I understand it is, the solenoid doesn't actually hold the valve open- it merely unlocks it, so that the water pressure opens it. Very much like a turnstyle; it unlocks, but you still have to push through. So it takes a certain force to push the unlocked valve open.
yes right!
data:
I will try to contact an ebay seller and ask for solenoid valves for that application.
If comes any other ideas please fullfil this tread.
Thanks.
akard:
yes right!data:
G82I will try to contact an ebay seller and ask for solenoid valves for that application.
If comes any other ideas please fullfil this tread.
Thanks.
Hi,
I need something similar to a new project. What solenoids did you end up using? They were precise ? Do you have a video of your project? Thanks a lot
Start your own thread this is two years old
Or contact the op with a pm.
I am not a specialist of solenoid valves, but I bought and used some.
First, you have to find out what kind of valve you really need, only then you can start to check prices.
What is the flow rate you need? What are the pressure and temperature? Is it clean water or is there some corrosive contamination in it?
The flow rate you need will determine the size of the orifice (the hole which is closed and opened by the valve). Price is very sensitive to orifice size (not only the valve itself, but also the solenoid, power supply, electricity bill). If you oversize your valve then you will not only waist a lot of money but you may and up with a less reliable valve if you stay on the cheap side. So if you buy a large quantity you should make some calculations...
Your choice of materials is probably brass and plastic. There is a big difference in price. This is again a hard decision. Even the best domestic washing machines use plastic solenoid valves. Never in my life I had problem with solenoid valves in washing machines or dishwashers. Industrial washing machines all use brass or stainless steel valves. (Although I am not a reliable source in this question...) How often do you want to activate your valves? How reliable they should be?
People often forget that the valve needs to be fitted in the line. Tube fittings may easily be more expensive than the valve itself. So you have to consider both in the same time. If you build a new system, then again, you have to make a careful sizing.
Alibaba is a good source for valves.
How critical is reliable operation? If
Flow rate for a
One important factor
I just bought some solenoid valves on Alibaba from the Chinese company Hoyan. (These are stainless steel direct acting solenoid valves working up to 200 bar.) One of the most important factors in price is the flow rate. If you over
Oops, there remained some rubbish at the end.
Hi kgyd,
The principle is the one found in waterfalls like this one Vodni tiskalnik, grafična vodna zavesa, sLOVEnija - YouTube
I have found some cheap solenoids in eBay but don't know what one is better and more reliable... I don't know anything about solenoids but I wanted to achieve something similar to this video... what kind do you recommend? Also, I'm planning using around 100