Hi all, i have a vevor black and red cutter that im trying to hook up a cloudray ultimate air assist kit (bought directly from them).
I have it wired up as per the image attached. When i enable/disable blower in rdworks/lightburn it only seems to enable/disable the status pin. The air assist solenoid has the led barely lit and no change when runnings jobs with air assist on or off.
If i connect the ground line of the solenoid to gnd it fires ok. Im not quite sure what ive done wrong? Does anyone know what i should be checking?
It’s probably that you haven’t enable the ‘air assist’ sink.
The ‘Status’ goes low or ‘sinks’ current anytime the machine is in ‘run’ mode. Seems pretty common that it’s used to enable air to the machine.
After that it goes through some type of restrictor to get low pressure for engraving. So anytime the machine is in ‘run’ mode you will have low pressure.
If you enable ‘air assist’ on a layer… when that layer executes, the ‘Wind’ goes low, picking a bypass solenoid to allow for full pressure air.
Make sense?
Beware of those solenoids… I found it was worth hooking them up and testing them before I used them.
I use two regular air solenoids, lower cost and less like to some other way… One for main air/high pressure, the other bypasses the restrictor.
If this is your application, I’d suggest the lower cost single solenoid valve. I use these.
Does that mean the solenoid isn’t operating or that you put a volt meter across it?
Some of those solenoid models have diodes in the ‘case’ so ensure you paid attention to polarity if it’s marked. Usually red/black wires or on the case where it goes into the solenoid body.
Have you ensured the solenoid is working? I’ve been burnt by these before, they are my first ‘go to’ suspect.
These are not only used for switching one feed to one of two outlets. The two outlets could be inputs to combine one with another. Flow is in the opposite direction. Look the same but they only function in the ‘wrong’ direction… making them useless for this application.
I have a 6442G, I doubt it operates differently. Don’t remember what the ‘S’ version is for.
The function of the ‘Status’ sink is to indicate it’s in ‘run’ mode. I don’t know how you could change it.
When I received my machine, ‘air assist enable’ was off and I was using the ‘Status’ to start the compressor and fan via a ssr. I had it that way a good month or more before I started dealing with the ‘Wind’ sink, and had to enable it…
We might want to go over the specifics again. Something doesn’t sound kosher.
Jack, thanks for that mate. When i say “does nothing” i should say the solenoid doesnt fire /no change on the led. Ill check that model number i may have mis-remembered it. Ill check the pin with a multimeter tonight.
What led? There is no led for the ‘Wind’ port, that I know of.
Maybe we are not talking about the same thing…
Yes, check the pin, from 24v to the pin, being negative.
While you are there, check that the ‘Status’ goes/stays low during ‘run’ mode.
If you have any connectors, it’s relatively easy to put a resistor/led together and just plug it in to see if it’s working. I like to ensure a ‘load’ since they are open collector outputs.
I doubled checked and i have “enable wind assist output” set to true. The led i mentioned is the led on the solenoid. If i hook the solenoid up to the 24v and ground pins it fires and draws around 300ma. The same when it is hooked up to 24v and status when running a job. However when hooked to 24v and wind i only get around 40ma which doesnt switch when start and stop a job.
This is odd… Since it works with ‘Status’ I would expect it to work with ‘Wind’.
Do you get full 24v across the solenoid when connected to ‘Wind’?
Not sure where to head here, if ‘Air assist’ is enable on the layer and on the controller is should be working. I have never seen a ‘partial’ current like that.
Since you know the solenoid works both ‘on the bench’ and via the ‘Status’ I think you’ve gone the only route available… I always hate to say it’s hardware…
You shouldnt get power on the wind pin. It is a ground switch. You get pwr from 24v and use it to power your relay and gnd through the wind pin. With mine i was always getting a ground with a high restriction no matter what. Where the new unit there is no ground until i run an air assist layer.
