Solenoids

[Guest]

I work in a paintball store & there's a type of marker called the "Autococker."

Spoiler

 

This is a very complex paintball gun that uses air to make all these mechanics move back & forth. About 10 years ago a company called Planet Eclipse created an electric type called the "E Cocker" where it uses a type of solenoid that looks like this:
 

Spoiler

Basically air is always flowing through the middle port & depending on where it's moved, air will flow out of the front or back hole. This was used to replace another part called a "Three Way" which looked something like this:

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The piston directs airflow from the middle input to the output in the front or back.

More information if you're interested: http://magman68.tripod.com/id2.html

 

 

I was interested in working with solenoids to create my own paintball guns using an Arduino as the micro-controller.

Could anyone point me in a direction to learn more about solenoids? I want to direct airflow & air pressures of 50-400 PSI. (Autocockers work in a variety of pressures as they need to be tuned & also have multiple air pressure regulators.)

 

If you could also give me any advice on how to power a solenoid without killing batteries that would also be cool. Someone was telling me I needed to use a capacitor, diode and a mosfet to drive the 6V solenoid or I'd kill my 9V battery very quickly. I may need a resource on general electronics. I only have formal education in theory behind electronics flow, not how to use any components.

 

If you throw me a link to a textbook on amazon you used in University, that would probably be the resource I may need to be looking for.