Thread: Bad solenoid, maybe?

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I have used an irrigation solenoid but I decided for my next prop I would need a 4 way valve. I have never used one before so I wasn't exactly sure what to buy. I ended up on ebay and purchased this solenoid.

Rexroth Mecman Solenoid Pneumatic Valve Type 740 -NEW- - eBay (item 170256194866 end time Sep-04-08 08:39:49 PDT)

I got it in the mail thursday but haven't had time to play with it until today. I hooked up my air line to the inlet port and stopped the outlet port with my thumb to test the pressure. Air then started to leak out of the second outlet port. I plugged that one with my other thumb and the air then came out of the exhaust ports. I then supplied power to the solenoid to see if that had any effect. I heard the clicking noise but airflow did not change. I tried hooking up the air hose to all the ports just to make sure I had the right port for the inlet. Did I buy the wrong type of solenoid or am I hooking it up wrong? Or did I get a bad solenoid? Any help would be greatly appreciated because like I said this is my first try at a 4 way and it wouldn't surprise me if I did something wrong.

Try this link, Bosch Rexroth AG - hydraulics,controls,pneumatics,drives, valves,linear motion, actuator, engines, applications, piston, engineering, assembly,motors,fluid and go to directional valves and scroll until you get the series 740 valve. There is a PDF document that will have all the variations of this valve and it shows the inlet and outlet ports. According to part of the PDF there are 2 exhaust restristor screws in the exhaust ports, one is marked r and one is s these regulate flow of the exhaust air to help control the flow. You have 5 ports on this valve, center on the side with 3 ports is inlet, other 2 on that side are exhaust ports, the side that have only 2 ports are the cylinder outlet ports, these go to the cylinder to make it extend and retyract. Hope this helps

That means I was hooking it up correctly. I guess I just got a bad solenoid. It makes me a little gun shy about buying another one.