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I am having the follow solenoid valves : 2W-320-32, which is marked to work on 24V, but seems like they open on 12V as well, so I am wondering :

  • What would happen in long terms if I am powering solenoid valve which is marked to work on 24V with 12V source ?
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    \$\begingroup\$ Lower voltage means less margin. So they might fail to pull in at higher ambient temperature (higher coil resistance), or with a low battery, or when they're old and getting sticky or worn, or when you build another one and the valve is from a different batch. As long as you can tolerate a failure to operate without serious consequences, go for it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Neil_UK
    Commented May 16, 2021 at 14:06
  • \$\begingroup\$ it turns out that only one of the all valves is working this way. probably wrongly marked. the rest does not triggers on 12V .. \$\endgroup\$
    – Yordan Yanakiev
    Commented May 16, 2021 at 16:27

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If they work reliably then you will extend the life of the solenoid valve forever. Since the power dissipated in the coil is given by \$ P = \frac {V^2}R \$ you will reduce the power to 25% when you reduce the voltage.

Possible problems might be that the valve will not open fully or fail to initially pick up. Usually you will find that there is hysteresis between pickup and release and I would have expected that you might need about 16 V to energise the solenoid and that it might not release until you lowered the voltage to about 8 V or so.

Solenoid valve

Figure 1. Solenoid valve cross-section. 1. Valve Body 2. Inlet Port 3. Outlet Port 4. Coil / Solenoid 5. Coil Windings 6. Lead Wires 7. Plunger 8. Spring 9. Orifice. Image source: Wermac.

If you have a variable bench power supply it would be worth checking the actual pick-up voltage to give you some confidence of your operating margin.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ It seems like it works fine, but I was fear that this will result increasing the current, which will leads to higher heat, and probably damage of the coil.. \$\endgroup\$
    – Yordan Yanakiev
    Commented May 16, 2021 at 14:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ @YordanYanakiev It will decrease the current, because solenoid coils are dominated by their resistance in normal operation; they're not constant-power loads. (the inductance is still significant enough that you need an antiparallel diode though!) \$\endgroup\$
    – Hearth
    Commented May 16, 2021 at 15:11

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