Any Electronics Gurus Out There?

hiddentacocatneddih · Apr 5, 2020

Sounds like that route you just need to know what your trigger voltage and power limits are aka the led circuit, coil power requirement for the valves and you'll be close. If you use transistors to amplify the signal to the valves, dont forget a fly back diode or something to act as a surge suppressor. If you can find a relay that works, chances are on a small enough valve you wont need a surge suppressor

If the hydraulics are twitchy you can add a flow control valve to dampen them

npalen · Apr 5, 2020

D3 hydraulic solenoid valve 4 way 3 position closed center 12 volt DC | eBay

Probably will try a valve similar to this except open center. I believe these draw less than three amps at 12 VDC.

Edit: Checked with vendor and holding current is 2.5 amps.

wvgca · Apr 6, 2020

you can go on ebay and get a 'machine receiver' which is a receiver with the driver circuitry built in to control an electro hydrualic valve ... the machine receiver is 500 - 700 dollars, but the electro hydraulic valve can be gotten at your local hydraulic shop for 100 -200 dollars depending on size and gpm flow ,, a 'bang bang' type [either all on or all off] is less money than a porportional ..

npalen · Apr 6, 2020

wvgca said:
you can go on ebay and get a 'machine receiver' which is a receiver with the driver circuitry built in to control an electro hydrualic valve ... the machine receiver is 500 - 700 dollars, but the electro hydraulic valve can be gotten at your local hydraulic shop for 100 -200 dollars depending on size and gpm flow ,, a 'bang bang' type [either all on or all off] is less money than a porportional ..

Sorry, but I don't think there is anything "out there" with driver circuitry for less than several thousand dollars. I would be very interested if anything was in the 500 - 700 dollar range and ready to drive a valve.
Even the better machine mount receivers with indicator lights only can run over a couple thousand.

npalen · Apr 6, 2020

https://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Level-Tool-40-6792-Display/dp/B003AM5DWA

This remote is available to plug into the johnson receiver shown in the first post of this thread. It can be plugged into the machine mounted receiver and placed near the operator for easier viewing.

wvgca · Apr 6, 2020

npalen said:
I would be very interested if anything was in the 500 - 700 dollar range and ready to drive a valve.

I was just on the auction site before posting ... look it up ..

wvgca · Apr 6, 2020

npalen said:
I would be very interested if anything was in the 500 - 700 dollar range and ready to drive a valve.

I was just on the auction site before posting ... look it up ..
This works very well with a box blade or level sweep

npalen · Apr 6, 2020

wvgca said:
I was just on the auction site before posting ... look it up ..
This works very well with a box blade or level sweep

Can you post a link?

npalen · Apr 6, 2020

This is a closeup of the photo diodes in the receiver. (thumbnail is rotated 90 degrees) The two diodes immediately adjacent to each other are at the center of the vertical cluster. The diodes are then positioned farther apart as they progress vertically away from the center.

It seems that it might make more sense to build a facsimile of this with an array of diodes outputting to a circuit board. I'm not sure, however, if it takes a special type of photo diode to pick up a red laser. Anyone know?

The amount of "on time" signal delivered to the valve solenoids could be based on the vertical distance of the particular diode receiving at a given time.

ddbackhoe · Apr 6, 2020

npalen said:
I was wondering about the arduino boards. Are any of them capable of 3-5 amps @ 12 VDC or would an external relay be required?
Thanks for your input!