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| RetroACTIVE:
A solenoid is basically a short. It's a coil of wire that is low resistance. When voltage is applied across the coil it creates an electromagnetic field and causes the plunger to get pulled in. These devices are meant to be momentary (at least in this design). If a basic solenoid like these are left energized, it turns into a toaster!!! Unlike pinball coils/solenoids which are a bit different, they have two windings, one high voltage for the kick and a secondary that uses lower voltage for the hold (so they can stay energized without melting down). Long story short... Don't leave these solenoids engaged/energized. 2 Amps is sufficient for your average 24V recoil (momentarily energized) solenoid. |
| AndyWarne:
--- Quote from: 8BitMonk on October 22, 2012, 09:55:02 pm --- Also before I had the right power supply I hooked mine up to a standard PC 12v power supply just to test (which I think is 25amps) and left it sit for about 10 minutes and the solenoid got super hot and melted both sides of the gun shell so I'm pretty certain the amperage needs to be low. --- End quote --- Oh dear... this would be totally expected. The solenoid is supposed to be activated for 40 milliseconds max not 10 minutes! The power supply can be 5 amps or greater. You could use one which can deliver 100 amps if you wish. The normal ohms law calculation of power drain does not apply in this case because the solenoid is being pulsed for a short time. Coils do not obey ohms law at the point of being energised because energy being fed in is absorbed by the action of the induction on the plunger. Once they are powered continuously they do obey Ohms law and the power drain becomes simply based on the very low resistance of the coil, and is very high. Too high in fact. This is the reason for the 40 millisecond pulse. |
| 8BitMonk:
--- Quote from: RetroACTIVE on October 22, 2012, 11:12:39 pm ---A solenoid is basically a short. It's a coil of wire that is low resistance. When voltage is applied across the coil it creates an electromagnetic field and causes the plunger to get pulled in. These devices are meant to be momentary (at least in this design). If a basic solenoid like these are left energized, it turns into a toaster!!! --- End quote --- --- Quote from: AndyWarne on October 23, 2012, 06:02:20 am ---Oh dear... this would be totally expected. The solenoid is supposed to be activated for 40 milliseconds max not 10 minutes! --- End quote --- All of the other components were hooked up as well, ie. the PCB controlling the trigger and activation of the solenoid so I didn't expect it to be drawing constant power, I'm still not sure why it was. --- Quote from: AndyWarne on October 23, 2012, 06:02:20 am ---The power supply can be 5 amps or greater. You could use one which can deliver 100 amps if you wish. --- End quote --- Why does the documentation say 'peak current of 5amps'? |
| pinballjim:
--- Quote from: RetroACTIVE on October 22, 2012, 11:12:39 pm --- Unlike pinball coils/solenoids which are a bit different, they have two windings, one high voltage for the kick and a secondary that uses lower voltage for the hold (so they can stay energized without melting down). --- End quote --- That is only true about flipper coils. The rest of them are one winding which is why they'll melt down if you have a stuck switch. |
| RetroACTIVE:
--- Quote from: pinballjim on October 23, 2012, 11:07:53 am --- --- Quote from: RetroACTIVE on October 22, 2012, 11:12:39 pm --- Unlike pinball coils/solenoids which are a bit different, they have two windings, one high voltage for the kick and a secondary that uses lower voltage for the hold (so they can stay energized without melting down). --- End quote --- That is only true about flipper coils. The rest of them are one winding which is why they'll melt down if you have a stuck switch. --- End quote --- Yep ... I should have clarified that. |
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