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?
Itâs probably that you havenât enable the âair assistâ sink.
The âStatusâ goes low or âsinksâ current anytime the machine is in ârunâ mode. Seems pretty common that itâs 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 ârunâ mode you will have low pressure.
If you enable âair assistâ on a layer⌠when that layer executes, the âWindâ 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, Iâd suggest the lower cost single solenoid valve. I use these.
Does that mean the solenoid isnât operating or that you put a volt meter across it?
Some of those solenoid models have diodes in the âcaseâ so ensure you paid attention to polarity if itâs marked. Usually red/black wires or on the case where it goes into the solenoid body.
Have you ensured the solenoid is working? Iâve been burnt by these before, they are my first âgo toâ 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 âwrongâ direction⌠making them useless for this application.
I have a 6442G, I doubt it operates differently. Donât remember what the âSâ version is for.
The function of the âStatusâ sink is to indicate itâs in ârunâ mode. I donât know how you could change it.
When I received my machine, âair assist enableâ was off and I was using the âStatusâ 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 âWindâ sink, and had to enable itâŚ
We might want to go over the specifics again. Something doesnât sound kosher.
Jack, thanks for that mate. When i say âdoes nothingâ 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 âWindâ port, that I know of.
Maybe we are not talking about the same thingâŚ
Yes, check the pin, from 24v to the pin, being negative.
While you are there, check that the âStatusâ goes/stays low during ârunâ mode.
If you have any connectors, itâs relatively easy to put a resistor/led together and just plug it in to see if itâs working. I like to ensure a âloadâ since they are open collector outputs.
I doubled checked and i have âenable wind assist outputâ 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 âStatusâ I would expect it to work with âWindâ.
Do you get full 24v across the solenoid when connected to âWindâ?
Not sure where to head here, if âAir assistâ is enable on the layer and on the controller is should be working. I have never seen a âpartialâ current like that.
Since you know the solenoid works both âon the benchâ and via the âStatusâ I think youâve gone the only route available⌠I always hate to say itâs hardwareâŚ
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.
