Solenoid Valve Question

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hockeyoligist2

hockeyoligist2

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close to greenville sc
We have a newly upgraded (one year old) sewer plant. A lot of the solenoid valves are starting to buzz loudly. The coils ohm out the same as the new spares. I can't see any corrosion, ect. I have had some buzz like that for years and they keep on working. The plant manager wants them to stop the buzzing. I have Googled, checked Asco's web site and can't find any info. Any Ideas?
 
hockeyoligist2 said:
We have a newly upgraded (one year old) sewer plant. A lot of the solenoid valves are starting to buzz loudly. The coils ohm out the same as the new spares. I can't see any corrosion, ect. I have had some buzz like that for years and they keep on working. The plant manager wants them to stop the buzzing. I have Googled, checked Asco's web site and can't find any info. Any Ideas?
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Have you checked the voltage directly at the solenoid terminals?
 
this happens fairly frequently with these types of valves..I am not for sure the typer you use but if they stay fairly warm you can use a little grease on them..if they get cold lite coating of oil helps..if they have a spring return on them the spring might be getting weak, just stretch it a tiny bit..I hope this helps..
 
hockeyoligist2 said:
Yes, all are 118-122V. I shimmed one this morning and it quietened down. I'll check it again in the morning.
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You are on the right track. A loose coil will make quite a racket.
 
some solenoid valves are not made for continuous energization. they cost more so it is not unusual for people to buy the cheaper model.
 
I just recently installed a solenoid valve on my compressor so I could have remote On/Off. It was working fine for a few days, but suddenly started buzzing like you described. At first I thought this was catastrophic and pulled the power instantly, but as time went on, I realized that everything was running fine and stopped worrying about it quite as much.

I realized that rotating the solenoid coil was enough to stop the buzzing, and that is when I also decided that there was no inherent problem. I haven't tried to fix mine yet, but the idea of grease or shims sounds like a good solution. Unless someone suggests otherwise, I think I will try this.

My previous alternative was going to be to replace the 24 volt AC power supply with a better one, but I am now thinking that this may not be the final issue.
 
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