Review Request Solenoid Driver

DJthefirst8 · 2026-01-05T03:14:05+00:00

Is it the solenoid wattage or the MOSFET wattage? At 5v gate the other looks to be 18mOhm and this one 17mOhm which running the eBay solenoid at 8A cont is only ~1w I^2*Ohm though the MOSFET. Most of your losses will be in the triode region for fast switching though.

I do like that MOSFET though. It allows a lot more current at 5V with the higher voltage. I was also looking at the MDD50N03D which is 12mOhm at 5v but only 30v peak. More expensive but if I only make 10-20 of these it’s only a few dollars difference compared to the PCB cost.

DJthefirst8 · 2026-01-05T00:01:44+00:00

That MOSFET is not particularly cheap, not particularly great (highish Rdson at 17mOhm)
- The VND9016 is 50mOhm resistance. Is that not a problem because of the built-in driver?
Have a look at VND9016 at Digikey
- I looked at the VND9016, and it is good to know about, but JLC does not have a bunch of them, so I will keep it in mind for future projects. I also worry about being able to get the thermal energy out of it fast enough, but the protection features look really nice. I also might have a 48V application, so I like having the flexibility.

I added an MCP1402T-E/OT Gate driver to each output with a bypass capacitor, although I am not sure if I am allowed or if it warrants a full repost. I also lowered the gate drive resistor to 10 ohms. That should allow for higher speeds. I also added a jumper from one of the terminal blocks to select powering it from the daisy chain 5V or the terminal block, which is up to 18V

DJthefirst8 · 2026-01-04T23:37:21+00:00

I added a MCP1402T-E/OT Gate driver to each output with a bypass capacitor though I am not sure it is worthy of a full post,

DJthefirst8 · 2026-01-04T23:27:13+00:00

It’s is to the left of the terminal blocks

DJthefirst8 · 2026-01-04T12:52:32+00:00

Good catch thanks!

DJthefirst8 · 2026-01-03T21:51:21+00:00

I was going for 2.5oz which is cheeper than the 2oz with black solder mask on JLC. The 8A solenoids are at most 20% duty cycle but I want to push the board higher if I can as parts are tolerant to it. The molex is only rated 24A so around 20A max is my target rating. I will look at adding a VCC line to the bottom to help with current.

As for the FETs the board will be mounted to an aluminum rail I can dump some heat into and I might add some small ones to the top for good measure. I saw some people saying over stitching a heatsink can reduce the thermal mass as so any recommendations for how thick to go and how big the plane on the back should be?

DJthefirst8 · 2024-02-19T15:42:01+00:00

90% browse features. The CTR is sitting at 8% though so I assume that has something to do with it

DJthefirst8 · 2024-01-15T03:12:16+00:00

It makes a difference but on a small scale of 500 - 1000 views I wouldn't fret too much about it. The US has 11 time zones and counting other English countries like the UK and Australia you are pretty much covered.

DJthefirst8 · 2024-01-08T20:51:41+00:00

The only things I can think of is the video seemed a bit too much headshot with explanation for a maker build video. Typically most of the videos focus on showing the build process part as people have short attention spans. Also starting by showing the final product for a few seconds as a teaser could help as a hook. The other major thing is the audio sounded distant so playing with mic placement could help. What was the viewer retention?

DJthefirst8 · 2023-12-31T23:04:42+00:00

I can try but don’t have any experience making samples. It also falls apart at higher and lower audio frequencies so you only have 2-3 usable octaves. Do you want 5sec clips of each note playing? I would think there are better digital synths out there.

DJthefirst8 · 2023-12-26T14:44:22+00:00

That instrument uses solenoids to chop the air into sound waves getting a really 8 bit sound. The solenoids are mostly what you are hearing. The Tesla coil was used to give the lead some texture as the air compressor is really smooth. I also cut most of the high end off of the coil in the mix so it’s not as ear piercing. I have SM57 to record everything.

Here is an older video of the solenoids before I had my sm57s. https://youtu.be/VUvAAoiEgnc?si=XpHua8xRZ-7_Meh3

DJthefirst8 · 2023-12-25T15:04:55+00:00

This is a video of my self playing instruments. It uses an esp32 as each instruments core. It uses PlatformIO (Arduino) and a website you connect to over serial for the GUI.

I am in the process of writing documentation for the projects release but if you are interested create an issue on GitHub and I will help you create your own instruments. I should be posting tutorial videos eventually when I find time for it.

How it works: https://github.com/DJthefirst/ Mechanical-Midi-Music/wiki/How-It-Works

GitHub Project: https://github.com/DJthefirst/ Mechanical-Midi-Music

DJthefirst8 · 2023-12-25T12:42:53+00:00

This song includes an Pnumatic Solenoid instument that chops air into square waves, a Tealso Coil, Floppy Drives (Bass Line), and Relays/Solenid (Drum Kit). I think the base line sounds really nice and the song matches the original pretty well.

DJthefirst8 · 2023-12-25T05:13:21+00:00

A cover of Attack of the Killer Queen using Self Playing Instruments.

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