Pondering Solinoids...

[Paintchucker]

I started playing paintball in 1992, with a Bushmaster Pump. Couple years later, I was so addicted, I was playing amateur level tourney. We were sitting around one night drinking and talking gun technology, etc. Me and a buddy started discussing using a solinoid on a gun. Everyone told us we were crazy. I dropped out of paintball for about 5 years and started playing again this summer. I was kinda surprised to find solinoids in trigger frames.

Okay, now to my ponderance. I have always wondered, why you couldn't take two solinoids, a small computer board, and attach it to a gun. One solinoid would pull the bolt back to allow a paintball to fall and then close, then the second solinoid would "tap" the air valve to release air. The computer board would handle the timing between the two.

This setup would allow you to use a closed bolt setup, and should be pretty quick.

Interested in others thoughts on this...

[Jonny05]

You must realize that there is the high pressure behind the valve to shoot the ball. For a small on board battery it is almost impossiable to open the valve with such little power. If you had a bigger solinoind hooked up to a small motorbike battery it might work. I think a few people have tryed your idea in different ways but have never managed to get it to work.

The best way to do it is get a ram assembly and put a little tiny solinoid valve to direct air pressure to push the ram out and in. It gives it the power it needs to open the valve. Or use a spool valve like in a matrix/ nova/ mayham. Thats how most "electro" guns work these days.

[Paintchucker]

First solinoid moves the bolt back and forth to load a ball in the chamber Then the second solinoid is similiar to existing trigger frames taps the on-off on an existing mag valve.

[Jonny05]

you would need a really powerful battory and a really powerful solinoid.

You would also need to design an increadiably high flow valve.

[Hexis]

The E-Mag solinoid does two things, releases the bolt and closes the on/off. It's not as simple as just closing the on/off.

[Vegeta]

See my thread on the new marker desing. Toward the end me and PBJosh discuss this. The solenoids couldn't have enough power (i doubt it) to push the bolt forawrd andd back... why do that at all? Why have a bolt? Instead, there should be a valve (again, see that thread to see more about this) that is powered by a pnematic ram/solenoid. The Solenoid would simply open a poppet valve that would allow air in from the reg to the gun. So easy!