Thread: Urgent Solenoid Help

Tweet

Ok, so I bought a solenoid from Fright Props in Feb 2011. I was going to build a TCT prop in March but my wife and I had twins and life got pretty busy(in a great way). Anyways, here comes October so I finally decide to begin the build. Everything is perfectly in place but when I try to power up the solenoid, all I get is a clicking sound. It calls for 110 AC, and that is the way I hooked it up, but nothing. I've tried 12 DC just to give it a shot but nothing as well. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? We have a group of people coming over Saturday that I was wanting to show this prop, and our Halloween party is Oct 28th. So I've got to get this fixed quick. Thanks in advance for any input!

Do you have your air lines hooked up right? Also do you know if the cylinder is single or double acting? Is the solenoids a 2/3/4 or 5 way?

Its double acting, 4 way solenoid. I have the airlines hooked correctly because whenever I pull the stroke all the way out and turn the air on, the the stroke quickly goes into the cylinder.

Is there a manual plunger (i.e. red test button) ontop of the valve? If so, press it and see if it shifts the valve manually. Also, some valves are "pilot assist" valves requiring a certain amount of minimum pressure to be applied before it will shift. Or it could be that the valve shifter inside the body is "stuck" due to moisture/condesation from prior usage. You can try putting some pneumatic oil into the ports on the valve, then increasing the pressure (don't exceed max PSI!!!) and "shock" the shifter by activating the valve.

...oh and one more thing, does the exhaust port have a "muffler" inserted into it? If so, remove it for testing.