Electronic – What component should I use to represent a solenoid valve in multisim

multisimsolenoid-valve

I'm trying to model a 12V 500 mA pilot assisted solenoid valve in NI Multisim, but it doesn't have any solenoid components that I see. I thought I could just model it with an inductor or relay, but I don't know what component to use or what values to give it. It doesn't need to be exact, just something vaguely approximating the electrical characteristics of a solenoid.

Best Answer

If you aren't doing anything super-fancy, you can probably safely assume that a 12V 500mA solenoid has an impedance of 12v / 500mA = 24 Ohms.

If it's going to be switched relatively slowly (1/sec is pretty slow), you can assume a 24 Ohm resistor and just remember to put a backwards-facing diode in parallel with the coil to protect your circuitry from the collapsing magnetic field's current when you get ready to build it.