Hello Everyone!
Some of you may remember me posting here asking for help with a custom manifold. Well thanks to some help from the community and a master tech I was able to find a solution through the combination of a new gasket, using an aluminum manifold (resin and nylon threads would flex under pressure causing a leak), and using a lot of lube to seal up any gaps. Now that my Ego 11 is working I have decided to call it an Ego 11.6. Here is the final post regarding how I did it and what this looks like for anybody who wants to either do this themself or have it done on their Ego 11.
Manifold Design
In order to build this I had to create a custom manifold for the Lv1.6 Solenoid to mount to the Ego 11 upper. This manifold will utilize the Lv1.6 Manifold-Solenoid Gasket, the Ego 11 Manifold Gasket, and the Barb, Retaining Hook, and Filter from the existing Ego 11 Manifold. I do plan on offering the manifold by itself for $70 (More on the reason for that pricing in a bit).
Build Process
There are a couple things to note on this conversion and for assembling the parts together.
1. This conversion is not cheap. I really wished I could bring down the cost of the manifold or the parts but unfortunately that's not really easy to do because it needs to be custom manufactured on a 5-axis CNC. The holes connecting the solenoid ports to the marker-side gasket are not straight through holes due to the tight fitment in the marker making it impossible to align for manufacturing on a 3-axis CNC.
2. When placing the Lv1.6 Manifold-Solenoid Gasket onto the manifold. It is extremely important that you put a thick amount of lube on both the manifold side where the gasket will go and a thick layer on the manifold-side of the gasket itself. You will also need a thick layer on the solenoid-side of the gasket after you set it into place. Then go through and clean out the slots with something thin and small like a screw driver to keep them clean and unblocked. After you have done this you can then screw the solenoid into place. This is extremely important to remember if you ever do maintenance on the solenoid or manifold, otherwise your marker will leak air.
3. The Ego 11 board sends out a 5V signal to the solenoid to operate. the Lv1.6 Solenoid is designed to operate at a range of 3.3V. YOU ARE OVERVOLTING THE SOLENOID. This can lead to eventual overheating, I haven't run into that as an issue yet, but I imagine it will eventually decrease the lifespan of the solenoid, I know it does on solenoids operating 24/7. There is a way to modify the electrical input to the solenoid in-line, however it requires soldering and knowledge of how a voltage step-down works. I do plan to make a custom plug-and-play voltage stepdown unit that can fit inside the marker. I will begin including this as a $10 option (or for $10 + S&H on its own) in any conversions that I do once I have a functional unit for that. Additionally, you may need to adjust dwell along with some other settings due to the quicker actuation of the solenoid at higher voltages.
If You Would Like a Conversion on Your Ego 11
I do plan on offering to do the conversions for people for $300 plus shipping. As mentioned earlier, I do need the following parts in order to make it work along with about $50 to produce the manifold. The total cost to produce a working marker is around $250 for me and everything else goes towards obtaining materials, time, and the milling work that needs to be done on the frame to fit the solenoid which I will include a photo of below. My goal is to help people keep their Ego 11s alive and I'm not really setting out to make a whole lot of money off of this so please be patient. I expect each conversion to take a couple of weeks as I am also employed full-time.
Additional Photos
Some of you may remember me posting here asking for help with a custom manifold. Well thanks to some help from the community and a master tech I was able to find a solution through the combination of a new gasket, using an aluminum manifold (resin and nylon threads would flex under pressure causing a leak), and using a lot of lube to seal up any gaps. Now that my Ego 11 is working I have decided to call it an Ego 11.6. Here is the final post regarding how I did it and what this looks like for anybody who wants to either do this themself or have it done on their Ego 11.
Manifold Design
In order to build this I had to create a custom manifold for the Lv1.6 Solenoid to mount to the Ego 11 upper. This manifold will utilize the Lv1.6 Manifold-Solenoid Gasket, the Ego 11 Manifold Gasket, and the Barb, Retaining Hook, and Filter from the existing Ego 11 Manifold. I do plan on offering the manifold by itself for $70 (More on the reason for that pricing in a bit).
Build Process
There are a couple things to note on this conversion and for assembling the parts together.
1. This conversion is not cheap. I really wished I could bring down the cost of the manifold or the parts but unfortunately that's not really easy to do because it needs to be custom manufactured on a 5-axis CNC. The holes connecting the solenoid ports to the marker-side gasket are not straight through holes due to the tight fitment in the marker making it impossible to align for manufacturing on a 3-axis CNC.
2. When placing the Lv1.6 Manifold-Solenoid Gasket onto the manifold. It is extremely important that you put a thick amount of lube on both the manifold side where the gasket will go and a thick layer on the manifold-side of the gasket itself. You will also need a thick layer on the solenoid-side of the gasket after you set it into place. Then go through and clean out the slots with something thin and small like a screw driver to keep them clean and unblocked. After you have done this you can then screw the solenoid into place. This is extremely important to remember if you ever do maintenance on the solenoid or manifold, otherwise your marker will leak air.
3. The Ego 11 board sends out a 5V signal to the solenoid to operate. the Lv1.6 Solenoid is designed to operate at a range of 3.3V. YOU ARE OVERVOLTING THE SOLENOID. This can lead to eventual overheating, I haven't run into that as an issue yet, but I imagine it will eventually decrease the lifespan of the solenoid, I know it does on solenoids operating 24/7. There is a way to modify the electrical input to the solenoid in-line, however it requires soldering and knowledge of how a voltage step-down works. I do plan to make a custom plug-and-play voltage stepdown unit that can fit inside the marker. I will begin including this as a $10 option (or for $10 + S&H on its own) in any conversions that I do once I have a functional unit for that. Additionally, you may need to adjust dwell along with some other settings due to the quicker actuation of the solenoid at higher voltages.
If You Would Like a Conversion on Your Ego 11
I do plan on offering to do the conversions for people for $300 plus shipping. As mentioned earlier, I do need the following parts in order to make it work along with about $50 to produce the manifold. The total cost to produce a working marker is around $250 for me and everything else goes towards obtaining materials, time, and the milling work that needs to be done on the frame to fit the solenoid which I will include a photo of below. My goal is to help people keep their Ego 11s alive and I'm not really setting out to make a whole lot of money off of this so please be patient. I expect each conversion to take a couple of weeks as I am also employed full-time.
Additional Photos
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