Hello,
My team is using double-acting pneumatics for our wings this year. We are using a finger valve (VHK3-04F-04F) in order to keep the cylinders retracted to stay within the size limit for the start of the match. However, when we switch it on or off, it releases all the air and does nothing to retract them. Our current setup is: reservoir–>finger valve–> t-fitting, and then connects to two pressure regulators, solenoids, and cylinders. We have tried rearranging it a few times, but has still had the same effect each time. If someone can help find the problem or show us another way to keep the cylinders retracted before the match starts, it will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
The design of the on-off valve is not for positional control, but rather to shut off the pneumatic system while keeping all the air in your air tank. It is an “exhausting” valve, in that, as you have discovered, releases all the pressure on the process-side of the valve (thus rendering your pneumatic system safe and unpressurized) without loosing all the air on the storage-side of the system (consider, for example, an industrial system with a 100 gallon air tank that we don’t want to drain every time we need to do service on the system).
When the pressure is “on”, double acting cylinders will be pressurized to extend or retract, depending on your plumbing. What you will need to do is find out which side of the solenoids are pressurized at the start of the match, then connect the “retract” side of your air cylinders to that side of the solenoid.
In contrast, if you had single-acting cylindres, they are retracted by an internal spring, and the solenoid valve switches between “exhaust” and “pressure”, rather than alternating “pressure” and “exhaust” on the ports.
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