Solenoid Valve Installation & Maintenance

Solenoid valve is one of the most commonly used valves in automatic control system. It is favored by users because it is cheap, simple to operate, convenient and reliable, which can directly receive switch signals of PLC or DCS. Of course, only when it is used properly can the solenoid valve play its full role. Here are some tips in the installation and maintenance of solenoid valves for your reference.

Installation

• First check whether the solenoid valve is consistent with the selection parameters, such as power supply voltage, medium pressure, pressure differential etc. If the voltage of power supply is chosen wrongly, it will burn the coil. Generally, the power supply voltage should meet the fluctuation range of rated voltage: AC +10%~-15%, or DC +10%~-10%. Besides, the coil components should not be disassembled normally.
• Wash the pipe before connected with the solenoid valve, cleaning out the metal powder, seal material residues and rust in the pipe. Take care of the purity of media. If the medium mixed with dust and other impurities hinder the work of solenoid valves, the filter should be installed in the pipe.
• Generally, the installation of solenoid valve should ensure that the solenoid coil part of the solenoid valve is vertical upwards and the valve body horizontal. Thus it should be installed in the pipeline horizontal to the ground. If the solenoid valve needs to be installed on an upright pipe due to space restrictions or working conditions, please be informed in advance when ordering, otherwise, the solenoid valve may not work properly.
• The manual stop valve should be installed before and after the solenoid valve. At the same time, there is supposed to build a bypass, which facilitates the maintenance of the solenoid valve in the case of failure.
• The solenoid valve is generally directional, so it cannot be installed upside down. Usually there is a sign “→” on the valve body to point out the direction of the medium flow. Therefore, the installation should agree with the direction of instruction “→”. But it can be reverse installed in a vacuum pipeline or in a special case.
• If the medium may generate "water hammer", the solenoid valve with the function of preventing the "water hammer" shall be selected or some measures should be taken.
• Try not to let the solenoid valve in energized state for a long time, so that it can easily reduce the service life of the coil or even burn the coil. That is to say, the normally open and normally closed solenoid valve is not interchangeable.
• A drain valve should be installed on the inlet side of the steam solenoid valve. This part of connection shall slant.

Maintenance

• Regular inspection and maintenance, once or twice a year, is the best way to ensure the solenoid valve reliable work and long service life.
• When the solenoid valve is put into operation after the installation or after a long time stop, it needs to inject the medium for several times for test runs. The solenoid valve cannot be placed into service until it works normally.
• The power supply must be cut off and the pressure of the medium should be discharged before the maintenance.
• The coil components should not be disassembled.
• All parts of the solenoid valve should be put in order when the valve is disassembled for cleaning. Thus, it is able to assemble the parts in order after cleaning.

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