Solonoid valve -Inductance/Saturation Current/Initial current 1

[schnell]

Hello,

Here is a normally-closed solonoid valve (the 24VDC one) which i wish to use to keep open (or indeed closed) a pipe of water in a domestic household in UK..........

SOLONOID VALVE:

http://www.hydralectric.com/docs/solenoid_valves_008.pdf

The rail voltage which i can use to actuate this valve is 36V.

i wish to use a current regulator to keep the solonoid current constant at 390mA (390mA = the stated nomimal current).

-the current regulator will simply comprise a series FET and freewheeling diode.

However, in order to properly design this current regulator, i need data which is unfortunately missing from the solonoid valve datasheet..........

-firstly, i absolutely need the saturation current level of the solonoid when the valve is fully actuated.
-also, i need the inductance value of the coil when the valve is fully actuated.
-also, i need to know the "actuation current level", i.e. that higher level of initial current that is needed to actually actuate the valve and move it open.

....my current regulator is an efficient switch mode type, and as you know, the current will have a rippling effect, and if i don't get the frequency high enough , my peak current could well saturate the solonoid.

So do you know how i can find:-

1. the saturation current level of the solonoid when fully actuated?
2. The inductance of the solonoid when fully actuated.?
3. also, i need to know the "actuation current level", i.e. that higher level of initial current that is needed to initially actually actuate the valve and move it open.?

 

[gerhardl]

Hello Schnell,
As you can see I am mechanical, not electrical, but have many years experience in specifying and supplying solenoid valves.

Customers seldom need the degree of details you are asking for, exception is product development, as seems to be your case,and should because of this be properly supported from supplier and producer directly.

There could be several reasons you are not able to get information from your supplier:

-the supplier do not bother with this degree of service

-the data are not readily avialable (good producers and suppliers should be able to answer relatively fast)

- the variation from valve to valve, defaults in practical applications, and failures will be larger and wide compared to data.

- data never checked by producer.

Conclusion: try producer directly or a competitor to compare (some hundreds on world-wide basis, at least some tens available within UK?), or try to get a supplier to support with a number of valves to check out and experiment.

If this is a one-off case you will probably just have to buy 'best available' for all components and jump into testing directly if dependability is important.