  The magnetron-style $H^{-}$ ion sources currently in operation at Fermilab
use piezoelectric gas valves to function. This kind of gas valve is sensitive
to small changes in ambient temperature, which affect the stability and
performance of the ion source. This motivates the need to find an alternative
way of feeding H2 gas into the source. A solenoid-type gas valve has been
characterized in a dedicated off-line test stand to assess the feasibility of
its use in the operational ion sources. $H^{-}$ ion beams have been extracted
at 35 keV using this valve. In this study, the performance of the solenoid gas
valve has been characterized measuring the beam current output of the magnetron
source with respect to the voltage and pulse width of the signal applied to the
gas valve.

Accelerator Physics