1/4inch DC 12V 2 Way Normally Closed Electric Solenoid Air Valve

I bought this to install on my compressor to drain water from the tank. works great!!

Good item at a reasonable price. I used this for a water rocket launcher, using a battery and a remote switch to trigger the solenoid, which allows compressor air to fire the rocket. So far, has worked well and my grandkids were thrilled with their new toy. They think Grampa is cool!

These are good valves for the price. I used these to build a remote controlled braking system for a vehicle for crash testing purposes. The valve is energized remotely and then allows air flow from a storage tank to a shock mounted to the brake pedal. Has enough flow and pressure to fully move the shock, around a 5 in stroke, and maintain pressure on the pedal. Survived a 40 mile per hour impact and is still working fine. Very pleasantly surprised by the performance of this valve.

Not sure why so many other reviewers received valves with 1/4" NPT ports. I ordered these valves (AOMAG 1/8" 2 Way Normally Closed Pneumatic Aluminum Electric Solenoid Air Valve 12V DC) more than once, and each order received always delivered 1/8" NPT threads on both inlet and outlet ports.However, the ports are not tapped perfectly - standard 1/8" male NPT fittings only screw in about 1-1/2 or 2 threads. I have dealt with this by chasing the threads to the bottom of the valve's ports with a 1/8 - 27 NPT tap that I happened to already own. Doing this enables 3 to 4 full turns before standard male fittings are tight. Since these valves are being used on robots in FRC competition, I think more threads need to be engaged so the fittings will not loosen during matches with frequent high vibration. For those interested in doing something similar, be sure to keep the metal chips and dust that result out of the valve interior. I stuffed tissue paper to the bottom of the ports before doing the tapping, and cleaned the ports well afterwards, before assembling. If you don't already own a 1/8 - 27 NPT tap, of course, this approach would be less appealing.As to performance, the design of these valves do meet our prime requirement - for use with vacuum they needed to be direct acting (i.e. not piloted). All 6 tested valves, when fed 12VDC, switched reliably against vacuum of 25 inHg (and probably beyond - that's all the vacuum pump can achieve). In the OFF state (normally closed) they also held 25 inHg overnight without leaks. Two other valves purchased are spares, and have only been tested for switching (not holding) vacuum, but for the tests run, 8 of 8 passed. On the whole I am very pleased with performance so far.If you use this valve for switching vacuum, be sure to attach the Output port towards the vacuum generator. I can only conjecture how these valves will perform for switching pressure, since I have not tested for that. However, I would think as long as the Input port is kept on the compressor side, and the pressure is kept within the specified limits, they should work for that as well.I would have given 5 stars if the 1/8 - 27 ports had been tapped a little deeper from the factory. But the price was acceptable, and the work to make them better was relatively minor, so I only reduced the rating one star.

Holds vacuum

The valve was ok initially, although the flow was noticeably less than my prior air horn solenoid and in turn much quieter. Now the valve sticks open and slowly closes after actuating it less than 20 times. One quick warning tap of the horn button blows the horn for 3+ seconds which is obnoxious. Unfortunately, I bought two of these and there is no warranty and past the return period. Look elsewhere.

Installed 2 of these in my car to actuate a pneumatic exhaust cutout. Knowing so little about inductive loads at the time of purchase I was surprised when it stalled my car upon releasing power. I didn't know it at the time but the collapse of the magnetic field in an inductive load sends a NASTY voltage spike into your electrical system. I added a diode backwards between the positive and negative leads when rewiring them and I never saw the problem again. They have worked as expected this entire time with absolutely no issues.

I was (at my own fault) unprepared for how little CFM gets through this valve. The internal orifice is less than 1/8". They do work on less than 12v. At 12v mine took 530ma. Worked fine with air, water, and cutting fluid for my mill. I successfully modified one to have a higher flow rate by drilling all the passageways larger and replacing the valve seat with a small brass pipe just smaller than the plunger seal pad.