Restoring Ego11 solenoid

[tyronejk]

It looks like I've found a way to restore previously dead Planet Eclipse MAC solenoids.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4ZsOoVCHQ8c

I want to do some more testing (e.g. the pressures in this gun are set pretty low, I don't know if all of these solenoids have the same failure mode, etc.) but it seems promising so far.

Does anyone have a PE gun that uses one of these MAC solenoids that they want to volunteer for testing?

[tyronejk]

Here's what I'm testing. I don't know why, but it seems the solenoid coil itself is not producing the same magnetic flux as it did new. I don't know how this is possible and thought since these coils are just wire, they should either work or not work and not show degradation in performance. If there are any electrical engineers or physicists here who can chime in, that'd be appreciated.

So to make up for the reduced coil performance, I made a new stationary core with the most mass (i.e. attempting to maximize magnetic flux density - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solenoid) possible by measuring and CAD-ing the solenoid coil + housing + spool (accounting for the valve throw). This new core is slightly larger in all dimensions than the original core so it should have more "magnetic flux density". Note: I don't think the big thin flange I have here contributes to magnetic flux since it sits outside the coil but it was easier to machine this for retention instead of the tiny threads on the original core. I'm not sure what the washer/flange/tube component of the original core is supposed to do either.



testing demo: https://youtu.be/3naA56MoTt0

The issue I have now is low velocity, despite maxing out the adjustments on both HPR and LPR. This is the same problem this gun had ~10 years ago when I first got my hands on it. I'm not sure if the reg output pressure ranges have drifted off from new, so I turned a couple pressure testers to see where it's sitting. Now, I just have to figure out what these pressures are supposed to be from the factory.

[tyronejk]

Update on this before I forget again: velocity got back up after bumping up the dwell a couple ms. More thorough testing is needed.

[imped4now]

Very cool project. The required additional dwell time supports the weakened coil performance. But, the "why" remains.