Monthly Archives: December 2011

Cravenly resorting to commercial solutions in underwater solenoid valves

I’m having trouble with the upper valve that will allow air to be released from the hull (thus decreasing buoyancy and giving some downward thrust).  I mean, I’m having trouble with everything, but that’s why I’m doing this, right?  Anyway, I decided to order a couple underwater solenoid valves in the hope that I could stick one in the robot and have it work (hahahahaha).  I found several suppliers in China listed on this site alibaba.com, and settled on Nuoling Pneumatic.  Most of the other options either weren’t waterproof, were too big, didn’t support a 12 V power supply, or had a large minimum order size. The two I bought were $12.35 each, which is less than I was expecting (although the shipping was $55 for two units).

Underwater solenoid valve from Nuoling Pneumatic

Underwater solenoid valve from Nuoling Pneumatic

The valves were a lot bigger and heavier than I expected.  You can see it’s basically a big chunk of brass connected to the waterproof electrical components.  Fortunately it’s easy to take apart:

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