Ciao,
Grazie mille for sharing so much work and effort!!
This is by far the most comprehensive irrigation project I have found.
I purchased all the electronic components for my new irrigation system after seeing your project, and purchased 5 solenoids ahead of time to have them ready before the board and relay arrive.
Regretfully I now found that they are 12VDC latching type, not continuous.
Today I was told in the store that those are the standard type for irrigation purposes.
So I have a question: is there a way to have the system work with this type of solenoid? Can I make any changes to have it work properly? The store is not willing to replace them...
Thanks again!
Ciao,
Gary.
Ciao,
Thanks a lot for your time and patience. Since I don't have any electronics skills, I don't think I will attempt to solve this hardware issue - I'll leave it to other more competent people.
I will simply purchase the correct NC solenoids and use the circuit as you published.
Grazie mille e ciao,
Gary.
Ciao,
I see, this is definitely a Hardware problem, as there is a requirement for reverse voltage.
If this can help, I found a very simple circuit that might provide the solution (in theory).
If you try it please let me know, this should be a very interesting testing.
Ciao,
Grazie for the quick reply: "Through the use of a permanent magnet, the latching valves are bi-stable in either shifted state. This allows the valve to stay in either state indefinitely without drawing power. To shift the valve from one state to another, a short 50 millisecond DC voltage is applied to the coil. To shift the valve back, a reverse polarity pulse is applied to the coil."
I think the solution may not be entirely software dependent but rather with the relay itself as well.
Worst case, I just buy 5 more solenoids...
Ciao,
Gary.
Hi Gary, Can you give some more details about the working principle of the latching type solenoid? Maybe with some little change the SW can be updated to include them. Regards