Spring 2016 3D SMD: Solenoid Valve Trade-Off Study

/in /by

By Henry Nguyen ( Electronics and Control)

Table of Contents

To satisfy requirement L2-7B:

A solenoid valve for vacuum system shall keep a stable temperature under 160° F during operation.  

Introduction

In order for our machine to be able to pick and place components, we will use a solenoid to restrict the airflow from our vacuum pump when our machine is placing components. We are to test the limits of our solenoid valve in order to see if it is suited for our 3D pick and place machine. A factor to consider is that our plastic tubing can only withstand 160° F or 71° C.

—Equipment and Materials

  1. 12V solenoid valve

Screen Shot 2016-03-27 at 8.33.21 AM

Figure 1. 12V Solenoid Valve

 

Datasheet Price Pipe Size Orifice Temperature Operation Pressure Dimensions Weight
Datasheet $10.99 1 / 4” 2.5mm -5 – 80 degree Celsius Min. 0kg/cm^2 –

MAX 10kg/cm^2

 3.1 x 2.1 x 2 inches 10.4 oz

 

  1. Non-contact infrared thermometer

Screen Shot 2016-03-27 at 8.33.10 AM

Figure 2. Thermometer

  1. 12V DC power supply (obtained from ET-113)

Procedure

  1. We will be connecting our 12V DC power supply to our solenoid valve in order for our solenoid valve to be kept in the open position.
  2. We shall allow our solenoid valve to be on for 75 minutes and check the temperature of our solenoid valve consistently.
  3. We will also be constantly turning on and off our power supply in order to switch our solenoid valve off an on.

Results

After 75 minutes of run time, we were able to measure the temperature of our solenoid valve. Based on the following data, we were able to conclude that our solenoid valve will heat up rapidly to approximately 82° Celsius but will not heat up more than this. The rated temperature for our solenoid valve is -5°  – 80° C. When running our tests, we found that our solenoid valve heated up more than 80° C.

 

0 minutes 10 minutes 20 minutes 30 minutes 40 minutes 50 minutes 60 minutes 75 minutes
25° C 55° C 70° C 75° C 80° C 82° C 81° C 82° C

 

Table 1. Temperature of 12V Solenoid valve over time.

Conclusion

We have decided to return this solenoid valve because it is not suited for our 3D pick and place SMD machine. Since the solenoid valve heats up more than our maximum temperature of 71° C of our plastic tubing, it will not be ideal to use this solenoid. It is possible that our plastic tubing may melt onto our solenoid valve if it heats up pass 71° C.

Reference

Solenoid Valve Image:

DC 12V 1/4 Inch Electric Solenoid Valve for Air Water. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2016, from http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KKIH1YK/ref=sr_ph_1?ie=UTF8