Driving solenoid with PXI-2564

[reewrb]

Is it possible to drive a solenoid using the PXI-2564 without additional hardware?

[Nick_Storton]

Hi reewrb,

You should be able to drive a solenoid using this switch as long as you make sure you stay within the voltage / current specs of the relays. I would suggest that you check to see if the solenoid has back emf diodes fitted, if not you might want to fit some external ones yourself just to ensure that any back emf generated does not get back to the switch module and damage the contacts.

Hope this helps,

Nick

[chericks1]

Hi reewrb,

Solenoid drive current can be DC, AC, or a pulse-width modulated waveform that is partly DC and partly AC. If you're using the NI PXI-2564, this driving current needs to be supplied by additional hardware.  Also, as Nick suggested, relay protection would be recommended.

You may want to check out the NI PXI-2567, a 64-channel general-purpose relay driver module for the PXI platform. The NI PXI-2567 is already designed (with protection) to handle up to 0.6 A drive current and up to 50 V drive voltage. The NI PXI-2567 also has two sources (a 5 V and a 12 V) available. The 5 V source can provide up to 1.25 A of current. The 12 V source can provide 0.50 A of current.

Let me know if you have further questions!

Chad Erickson
Switch Product Support Engineer
NI - USA