parallel port valve controler

[Frank Stutzman]

Or something like that. Bear with me, I'm a software kinda guy.

I've got eight valves I would like to put under computer control.
These valves are 12 volt DC latching (pulse). Or so they say on their
labels. I do know that there is a black wire and a red wire comming
out of them. If I put a red wire on the postive terminal of a battery
and the black one on the negative terminal, the valve will open. If I
reverse the wires, the valve will close.

I'd like to find something that will control these valves via the
parallel port on an old pc. What I would like to find is some like
store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/QK165
but that will able to reverse the polarity of the signals.
--
Frank Stutzman

 

[Someone]

That kit will work, but you have to get 2 of them, or 16 relays. You will
use 2 relays per valve. You would connect the contacts as follows:

Relay1: (+12)--------(Wire1)--------(0)
Relay2: (0)--------(Wire2)--------(+12)

Here is a similar cheaper kit or you can search eBay for "relay board".

http://www.mpja.com/directview.asp?product=6074+KT

There are relays that have dual contacts on them, so you would use 1 relay
per valve, but I couldn't find one cheaper than $250. These relays are DPDT
Relays. If you want to make your own, look for part number JW2SN-DC12V at
digikey. This is the cheapest that I could find. Search for it here:

http://www.digikey.com

It costs $2.33 USD each. RadioShack has a similar one for $5.29 each, look
for part number 275-249.

http://www.radioshack.com

The most important thing if you make your own is the diode that is connected
to the relay. This diode is there to protect the transistor from back EMF
from the relay. If you forget to install it, the transistor could short
circuit taking your printer port and your motherboard with it. See the
Datasheet at MPJA site on how it's done, very simple.

"Frank Stutzman" <stutzman@skylane.kjsl.com> wrote in message
news:dcs033$2lqm$1@stationair.kjsl.com...

Or something like that. Bear with me, I'm a software kinda guy.

I've got eight valves I would like to put under computer control.
These valves are 12 volt DC latching (pulse). Or so they say on their
labels. I do know that there is a black wire and a red wire comming
out of them. If I put a red wire on the postive terminal of a battery
and the black one on the negative terminal, the valve will open. If I
reverse the wires, the valve will close.

I'd like to find something that will control these valves via the
parallel port on an old pc. What I would like to find is some like
store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/QK165
but that will able to reverse the polarity of the signals.
--
Frank Stutzman

 

[CJT]

Someone wrote:

That kit will work, but you have to get 2 of them, or 16 relays. You will
use 2 relays per valve. You would connect the contacts as follows:

Relay1: (+12)--------(Wire1)--------(0)
Relay2: (0)--------(Wire2)--------(+12)

It would be cheaper to have one DPDT polarity-determining relay in
charge of the entire bank and a single pulsing (on/off) relay for
each valve -- 9 relays, and cheaper ones to boot. The software
would only be slightly more complicated.

Here is a similar cheaper kit or you can search eBay for "relay board".

http://www.mpja.com/directview.asp?product=6074+KT

There are relays that have dual contacts on them, so you would use 1 relay
per valve, but I couldn't find one cheaper than $250. These relays are DPDT
Relays. If you want to make your own, look for part number JW2SN-DC12V at
digikey. This is the cheapest that I could find. Search for it here:

http://www.digikey.com

It costs $2.33 USD each. RadioShack has a similar one for $5.29 each, look
for part number 275-249.

http://www.radioshack.com

The most important thing if you make your own is the diode that is connected
to the relay. This diode is there to protect the transistor from back EMF
from the relay. If you forget to install it, the transistor could short
circuit taking your printer port and your motherboard with it. See the
Datasheet at MPJA site on how it's done, very simple.

"Frank Stutzman" <stutzman@skylane.kjsl.com> wrote in message
news:dcs033$2lqm$1@stationair.kjsl.com...
Or something like that. Bear with me, I'm a software kinda guy.

I've got eight valves I would like to put under computer control.
These valves are 12 volt DC latching (pulse). Or so they say on their
labels. I do know that there is a black wire and a red wire comming
out of them. If I put a red wire on the postive terminal of a battery
and the black one on the negative terminal, the valve will open. If I
reverse the wires, the valve will close.

I'd like to find something that will control these valves via the
parallel port on an old pc. What I would like to find is some like
store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/QK165
but that will able to reverse the polarity of the signals.
--
Frank Stutzman

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.

 

[Si Ballenger]

On Thu, 4 Aug 2005 02:55:31 +0000 (UTC), Frank Stutzman
<stutzman@skylane.kjsl.com> wrote:

Or something like that. Bear with me, I'm a software kinda guy.

I've got eight valves I would like to put under computer control.
These valves are 12 volt DC latching (pulse). Or so they say on their
labels. I do know that there is a black wire and a red wire comming
out of them. If I put a red wire on the postive terminal of a battery
and the black one on the negative terminal, the valve will open. If I
reverse the wires, the valve will close.

I'd like to find something that will control these valves via the
parallel port on an old pc. What I would like to find is some like
store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/QK165
but that will able to reverse the polarity of the signals.
--
Frank Stutzman

Below are some pages I made that have some parallel port stuff
that might be of use.

http://www.geocities.com/zoomkat/output.htm
http://www.geocities.com/zoomkat/status.htm
http://www.geocities.com/zoomkat/switch.htm