R
OK disclaimer first
Not a professional, novice looking for help.
What I am trying to do:
I am trying to automate a misting and fogging system for an amphibian display vivarium. I have a small diaphragm pump (Aquatec CDP 6800) and am working with ¼ OD tubing and almost all ¼ push connect fittings and a couple of 1/8 NTP threadings. I then need to split the water coming from the pump. 1 path leads to misting nozzles. I am trying to use a normally closed 24VDC 4.8 watt solenoid for this. After the water had misted a normally open solenoid is used to release the pressure. This stops the nozzles from dripping in theory. The other path leads to a fogger. It is also controlled by a normally closed 24VDC solenoid. This solenoid when open fills a reservoir that contains a small ultrasonic fogger (the type for ponds and parties) Water enters the reservoir and overflows to keep the water a consistent height and then drains back to a holding container below. All of this is controlled by a programmable timer outlet that can independently turn on and off 5 separate outlets with accuracy the minute.
The problem:
The solenoids I am using do not seem to be able to consistently completely seal the water. 1 solenoid going to the fogging path seems to work fairly well, but the other solenoid leaks a bit so when I am trying to fog, I get some dripping out of the misting nozzles. In addition when I try to mist, the last solenoid that is used to release pressure does not seem to hold pressure very well and also leaks. So I cannot get good pressure to keep all the misting nozzles making a good clean spray without dripping.
I am also highly space constrained so you can imagine all this rats nest of adapters, 3 24VDC wall warts and 3 solenoids is a mess. It all has to fit in a 18 x18 x6 inch space above the vivarium which also contains 3 lights, computer fans for circulation and cooling and the programmable 6 outlet strip.
I am assuming I just made some sort of mistake and have not used a properly speced solenoid. Could someone please let me know what I need to look for in a solenoid?
Second as said the space is constrained and I have a feeling that if I could just find the right words I could find a part that would work much better. Is there such thing as a potable water safe solenoid that can handle the pressure of my pump (I think about 150PSI max) that will split water into 2 paths that can be independently controlled and also vent? I know this is common with pneumatic solenoids.
Here are some pictures to give people an idea of what I am working with.
http://rudy.sloup.org/projects/splitface_vivarium/humidity_layout.jpg
http://rudy.sloup.org/projects/splitface_vivarium/pump.jpg
http://rudy.sloup.org/projects/splitface_vivarium/humidity_control.jpg
http://rudy.sloup.org/projects/splitface_vivarium/top.jpg
Not a professional, novice looking for help.
What I am trying to do:
I am trying to automate a misting and fogging system for an amphibian display vivarium. I have a small diaphragm pump (Aquatec CDP 6800) and am working with ¼ OD tubing and almost all ¼ push connect fittings and a couple of 1/8 NTP threadings. I then need to split the water coming from the pump. 1 path leads to misting nozzles. I am trying to use a normally closed 24VDC 4.8 watt solenoid for this. After the water had misted a normally open solenoid is used to release the pressure. This stops the nozzles from dripping in theory. The other path leads to a fogger. It is also controlled by a normally closed 24VDC solenoid. This solenoid when open fills a reservoir that contains a small ultrasonic fogger (the type for ponds and parties) Water enters the reservoir and overflows to keep the water a consistent height and then drains back to a holding container below. All of this is controlled by a programmable timer outlet that can independently turn on and off 5 separate outlets with accuracy the minute.
The problem:
The solenoids I am using do not seem to be able to consistently completely seal the water. 1 solenoid going to the fogging path seems to work fairly well, but the other solenoid leaks a bit so when I am trying to fog, I get some dripping out of the misting nozzles. In addition when I try to mist, the last solenoid that is used to release pressure does not seem to hold pressure very well and also leaks. So I cannot get good pressure to keep all the misting nozzles making a good clean spray without dripping.
I am also highly space constrained so you can imagine all this rats nest of adapters, 3 24VDC wall warts and 3 solenoids is a mess. It all has to fit in a 18 x18 x6 inch space above the vivarium which also contains 3 lights, computer fans for circulation and cooling and the programmable 6 outlet strip.
I am assuming I just made some sort of mistake and have not used a properly speced solenoid. Could someone please let me know what I need to look for in a solenoid?
Second as said the space is constrained and I have a feeling that if I could just find the right words I could find a part that would work much better. Is there such thing as a potable water safe solenoid that can handle the pressure of my pump (I think about 150PSI max) that will split water into 2 paths that can be independently controlled and also vent? I know this is common with pneumatic solenoids.
Here are some pictures to give people an idea of what I am working with.
http://rudy.sloup.org/projects/splitface_vivarium/humidity_layout.jpg
http://rudy.sloup.org/projects/splitface_vivarium/pump.jpg
http://rudy.sloup.org/projects/splitface_vivarium/humidity_control.jpg
http://rudy.sloup.org/projects/splitface_vivarium/top.jpg