DC8 with CO2 regulator solenoid

[collins]

I connected my CO2 regulator solenoid to my DC8 and although the outlet was switched on, the solenoid wouldn't create the circuit. It would work if I unplugged and plugged the solenoid back in. It would again fail if I switched the DC8 outlet off and on with the controller.

The outlet on the DC8 works fine with my fan and other devices and the DC4HD works fine with the solenoid.

Could it be a current issue?

 

[collins]

Does anyone have a CO2 solenoid plugged into a DC8?

 

[clp]

What brand/model number? The is the first I've heard of anyone having trouble. Have you tried multple outlets on the DC8?

Curt

 

[collins]

Thanks for responding Curt.

It is a M3 deluxe regulator and I have tried multiple outlets. I have discovered another device that doesn't work correctly with the DC8, but does with the DC4HD - A LiterMeter 3 pump. Although power does get restored to the outlet, the power restoration somehow trips the pump to all pumps off mode rather than resuming in last state.

I do not know very much about triacs (an attempt to read a white paper on them resulted in temporary blindness ).

Initially I thought it was a current issue , but I am thinking the way that they switch is the cause of my issues. I'm very interested to hear what you think.

 

[clp]

It doesn't make much sense to me why these things don't work with the DC8. The differences in the DC8 compared to a DC4HD are:

- The outputs are turned on/off on the zero crossing of the AC voltage.
- DC8 uses triacs. There is a small amount of leakage voltage (~5V w/ triacs), and there is no voltage when relays are off.

To see which maybe causing the problem, try plugging in an additional load (light a small light bulb, or wall wart transformer), into the outlet with the solenoid or litermeter. If it works correctly then it is the leakage voltage causing the problem.

Curt

 

[kattner]

My DC8 works correctly with my Litermeter III. When it turns back on, it correctly starts all the pumps. I will do some more testing on mine to see if I can duplicate the problem, but so far it has worked fine.

 

[collins]

I should clarify the LM3 issue. When connected to the DC8 it works correctly 75% of the time and returns to the last state on power resumption, but switches to pump to ALL PUMPS OFF the balance of the time.

The CO2 solenoid never reengages when power is restored, but the circuit closes when I unplug and re plug in the solenoid.

Both devices work correctly when connected to my DC4HD.

Curt I will test the LM3 with and additional >= 5V load to see if it resolves the problem.

Thanks for working through this with me

 

[collins]

Curt
I ran the test that you requested. I added an addition 12V load to the outlet powering the CO2 solenoid and the LM3. The additional load corrects the problem as you predicted.

It is the 5 volt leakage causing the problem.

Thanks again for your help Curt

 

[clp]

Sorry, I don't know a good solution other than plugging in an additional load. It seems very strange that they would design a solenoid with some type of hystersis that it would not turn on until the voltage first goes to 0 Volts.
Did you also test the LM3?

 

[collins]

yes and it responded properly when the additional load was added. It was tested 20 times and worked each time, but also works without the load most of the time.