From a friend of mine; One of the points I was going to mention was the requirement or reasons to press estop in order To reset a block. 1. Estop puts the control system into a safe state, meaning output actuators off. This makes it safe for a person to travel to the remote block reset panel. 2. Pressing estop returns the control system to a full startup procedure requiring a complex startup with many actuations of the warning horn potentially giving a remote person a chance to get to the safe area.
Friend just came over, walked in and asked why I have a 65” 120 hz OLED and $5k of audio gear to watch someone sit at a desk and talk about coasters. That’s a damn good question.
Ehhhhh, For me it is the anti-rollback noise of Wooden PTC coasters built in the mid 1940's (phoenix, comet (HP) Comet (great Escape), and some of the more modern CCI, PTC train coasters. I hate the anti-rollback sound of GCI MF trains and the Timberliners, it sounds annoying.
@@WhatchamawhozitI like those, and I love the sound of an Arrow lift hill. Don't enjoy the loud ARBs on RMC coasters though...... yet I like the Arrow ones.
@@ryantheridemechanic yes, hearing the brakes while you're on a drop tower is the best sound at that moment😂. I do like that noise though. Love me a good drop tower. Kings Island has a GREAT drop tower. The one at Kings Dominion is pretty good too.
GOSH! I worked as a seasonal mechanic at a smaller park and ended up quitting because of the lack of information I was given. Watchin your vids has helped me understand now WHAT WAS GOING ON THERE!!! I wish this was clearly explained to me by the managers or FTs. FTs were too worried about being shown up by a seasonal instead of being concerned with efficiency of the rides they were in charge of!! I LOVED that job and still miss it to this day.
When I worked at Knoebels in the mid 90's, to start the Phoenix we would need the lock key (maintenance had one and Operations had one-Same key) we would start the lift but had to jog the transmission through the gears as this was originally built in 1947 and Knoebels kept a good portion of the original operation when they moved it in 1985. IIRC the lift had 6 speeds. We start at 1 to roll it for inspection purposes and then based on number of trains running we would either go right to 6 (one train, lift speed full) or speed 5 (2 train operation), 4 was only used for rain but still operation days. Because the phoenix used skid brakes, your have to adjust the tension of the brakes when entering the station using the tension setting lever, and you would lock it in either half way for normal great weather operations, but when it rained you would give full tension, if the train approached to fast the PLC system would auto engage the E-Stop and then we would call to have maintenance advance the train to the station and close the ride as the skid brakes were to wet to be effective. Until recently The Phoenix main operator, we call the pilot (the nickname for Phoenix was Air Phoenix because of all the air time) had full control for dispatch and train advance as it was a very manual operation using pneumatic push button controllers to raise or lower the skid brakes., Phoenix didn't even have air gates until recently, you just stood within a painted box behind the yellow line, but I dunno if this was a design problem, they put the operator control panel on the same side riders would load, so if they stood on or past the yellow line you could not see the train approach properly, I had suggested they relocated to the back of the train exit side... but they didn't do it, but when they built twister they built the control panel, exit side back of train. The phoenix while not the oldest ride at knoebels definitely keeps as much of its original tech in place while upgrading features to run two trains with block zones. 2 trains ops back in my day required the systems to be jumped by maintenance to trigger 2 train ops, if you removed a train and didn't jump it back it would constantly stop the lift, but you could always restart it, but you just called maintenance so you weren't turning around to restart and regear the lift speed. If we dropped to one train towards the end of a night... we more often than not did not speed the lift back up simply because it wasn't a pressing issue... the ride still operated and on the cooler nights the phoenix actually performed better during cooler evenings than it did during scorching hot days. I haven't worked at the park since 1999, but I do know the more detailed start-ups from having a Vekoma Whirlwind which required more process steps, and I am sure the newer Impulse looper they put in 10 years ago is quite as detailed tas trying to start up as most Intamins and B&M coasters... lots of safety systems. Twister's PLC closet is amazing 90's tech, sitting in the room and just watching it operate, hearing the click clack of the relays is amazing... And Twister has a variable speed lift, which stops 100% once the train has cleared that block (twister has 2 lifts). The tech today is amazing, but I won't lie I prefer to more manual operations of phoenix... back in our day if no one was in line you could slow the train down enough to resend it without stopping it... the tunnel speed needed to be less than 10 mph.... today you can't send it like that anymore as it requires 2 person dispatch before it will even leave the station.
We went to Seabreeze last year, and their old woody is still 100% manual operation. They had one girl working the ride. She would send the train, jump the track, fill the station, jump the track again, and be at the levers before the train came back. She was pretty good. It was cool watching that old ride operate.
@@Spike-sk7ql Sea Breeze outside of Rochester??? That place still exists??? I went to that park in the late 80's early 90's when i still lived in Syracuse, NY. Although Darien Lake was my preferred park of the two, hell I even went to the defunct Roseland and did multiple credits on the Skyliner before it was moved to Altoona, PA the year after Phoenix was moved from Texas. I even ended up hurt on Roselands dark ride as it jumped the rail when it went down the hill as the brake pads on that vehicle were worn down to the point they did nothing... oh those years of being a teen in the 1980's and when breaking a bone or two was like getting bit by a mosquito.
@@Whatchamawhozit wow that’s really some interesting history. I’m amazed at the lift have a transmission for speed. Honestly makes complete sense just I’ve not heard that before. Thanks for sharing.
@@ryantheridemechanic yw for the share. Yeah many of the old PTC built coasters had speed gearing, I don't know if transmission is the right word, might be just how much juice is sent to the motor to increase speed of lift chain, but yeah if you have seen any videos of the phoenix it is an old style lift system. Here is a video showing some of the lift machinery but not how you speed it up. ruclips.net/video/iPxyMtAC5eA/видео.html The lift gear box is located in the operator control area, if 2 train operations are happening and the block zone isn't cleared, the lift would shut down, a second operator that sat in the control area would be responsible for starting the lift. You would go over return the selector/gearbox to 1, hit lift start and slowly speed it up hopefully hitting speed 5 before the train cleared the drop. I am basing my knowledge on how things operated in the 90's when I worked at Knoebels... and while the station set up has changed slightly and the systems have been more modernized I have not seen any changes to the lift components, and since it is a lift that is on at full speed all day long, it is definitely not variable in nature. Twister, their other wooden coaster uses 2 variable Square D powered hydraulic lift motors, one for lift #1 and one for lift #2 Twister has a unique lift system as it is folded on top of it self as the ride is so large and based heavily on the original Elitch gardens Mr. Twister, slight modifications had to be made in order to fit the ride in the available footprint. I dunno if you watch POVs but there are plenty of POVs of both Phoenix and Twister, especially phoenix since it has been rated the #1 wooden coaster every year since 2018.
Similar to your preferred manufacturers video, I would love a video about different ride control system companies! Definitely a niche, but this whole channel is a niche. History/preferences as a mechanic/programmer. Irvine Ondrey, Consign, altec, CLX, etc, and how they interact with PLC companies. Maybe it would be worth taking a look at how a control system company tackles a new ride and how they approach the project
Oh and also how they interact with companies like Holovis and others with theming elements and timing! Do they tie into the same systems/sensors/etc or are they two autonomous control systems for ride safety and theming?
The new Nemesis control panel at Alton Towers has an additional key for block resets. It's not enough just be to in manual mode. I believe this key is only held by the maintenance directors, not regular maintenance personnel, and all trains need to be empty before it can be used. They learned the hard way at this park.
They added a panel in front of when the smiler crash happened, it looks like 3 people are required to do a block reset on that block now (one at the base of lift 2, one in front of where it crashed and one at the main control point)
Really enjoyed the video! I have been out at the park a lot this year, and you answered quite a few questions I had. Now, Im going to go see if I can get Gatekeeper to leave me in lift park for a bit of a nap. Hahaha.
One question that always comes to mind when you discuss these topics is why there are no sensors at the lowest points of the roller coaster where a valley train is more likely to occur. Only check that there really is nothing there before resetting the blocks. Human check should be enough but then you have the smiler on a foggy day. Btw, idk if it's because of the microphone or the room but you should try a Deesser on the audio track, sometimes is too harsh. Again, super cool video ❤
@@Hugo.Spain. more sensors means more to go wrong means more downtime for the ride means less people means less money made. Some parks are putting optical sensors in these areas as an advisory but the majority rely on people following procedures and being diligent in their efforts. The action is such a rare thing to happen.
Human factors is a complicated subject. You don't want people becoming complacent. People might think these sensors at the low points are flawless and not do the necessary checks as thoroughly
@@alsty21 That's a good point but I wouldn't know where to put that line, at the end, the only ones in danger are the riders. Manufacturers trust that the maintenance crew of the park will keep the ride in optimum conditions but even with that they add extra safety features just in case. You have the Fury 325 example, if you think maintenance is going to make their job perfectly you don't add enough tolerance so your track can operate with a missing support for days (just an exaggerated example but i think you've got the point). So why a 1h stop is ok, as Ryan said for the RMC, but few more sensors are a waist of money and compromising revenue with false triggering (which shouldn't be a problem because the ride system must just check those sensors during a block reset or whenever makes sense). Btw, i completely understand your points, I'm just trying to add some sauce to the comments 😂
@@Hugo.Spain. like everything, it's always about striking the right balance and you have to be careful your well intentioned changes don't actually increase risk. For example, adding more sensors = more faults and therefore more ghost trains. More ghost trains = more block resets are needed = risk of complacency because they happen more regularly
And I've even noticed certain parks go for a redundant safety at the operator stations by having floor sensors(pads) that verify they are standing in their station as they push their dispatch/enable button. Some parks even have those floor sensors at the exit gates. The one at blue streak operates the mag switch on the gate. I was first to the exit gate and I guess the floor switch didn't deactivate the magnet on the gate and it wouldn't open. I just stepped off and stepped back on and the magnet released.
Could you possibly do a video on how spinning roller coasters work? Spinning wild mouse, Mack extreme spinners etc.. I'm curious how they're able to spin, and what cause them from spinning too much etc..
Re. Overshoots and undershoots - pressing Lock All Restraints (or the equivalent labeled button) on a B&M panel will jog the train backwards to home if it's overshot to a point where it's out of home.
I’ve seen on behind the scene episodes at Cedar Point that on Millennium Force, in order for the ride to start, the maintance person has to take the venicular up the lift, check out the track and at the top of the lift has to come down the other side on the cat walk and half way down the hill there is a reset button that must be pushed to tell the computer the ride is safe. I guess it’s something that Intamin automatically installs on their rides. Not sure if all manufacturers use this technique
When brand new roller coasters are constrected and power is connected to the ride for the first time do they go through the same modes when they start it up for the first time, like say when a dive coaster does a test for the first time the holding brake does not engage to first few cycles or not activated would love to hear a topic on that.
@@kristierasmussen9000 when you aren’t using complex instructions or safety rated devices there really isn’t much of a difference. Start turning the scans up to monitor safety critical and some of the cheaper DL series struggle. In general the ratings aren’t there for DL to be used in amusement stuff. I’ve used them in play features and they work great!! Get them linked up with “do more” HMI and you have a nice controls package at little cost.
Ryan I had to rewatch the second half twice. I was so tired when I got home I fell asleep lol. The content was very interesting. When you have a fault happen where electricity is shut off to a coaster what happens to the trains that are freely moving between block zones? Do they valley ? If I’m understanding correctly.
@@christiwright3604 gravity powers the trains. Blocks stop the train. Blocks need power to open and operate. So power outage trains stop in the brakes and that’s it. You won’t know the power out until you hit the brakes.
@@ryantheridemechanic gotcha I think I chose the wrong words. Freely = gravity in my brain . Didn’t realize block brakes worked without electricity. The more you learn the more you know lol
@@ryantheridemechanic gotcha I think I was thinking about brakes unable to stop trains rather than releasing them. I was thinking the absolute opposite. I love learning about how coasters work. Still learning. I am an enthusiast. Now I’m delving into how they all work. Lol I found your channel from your other one learning how to replace a battery in my old VW car fab lol your regular channel showed up an hour later with the fury 325 crack.
Probably way out of my price range but where does one go to buy some of the stuff you have for your displays like the half a coaster wheel and some other stuff ?
@@DareDevil0504 some parks sell things. Some parks give thing away for ACE events here in the US anyway. But most of the components on rides are just industrial things that can be purchased from all sorts of places. But If your looking for a rollercoaster specific thing like a wheel or a chain dog. They are extremely hard to come by. Maybe someone else knows a good outlet to get things.
@ryantheridemechanic ok thanks I was just wondering I know I seen like old bumper cars and stuff on Facebook market place but I like the half a wheel you shown in a video a few videos ago and didn't know if it was a company that could be purchased at or if stuff like that was rare to come by I figured most stuff you had was just stuff you collected over the years of work
@@DareDevil0504 most of the stuff I have I just “trash from work” but I was in a spot to collect it. Had to fill out some paperwork so there was a release of liability. Very lawsuit driven by parks. They worry about broken things making their way back into rides. Not necessarily theirs.
At major parks what would be your guess as to how many techs. they have in employ? Also do these type of parks have more than one shift of techs. working? Another observation I have noticed in my area we have a large drop tower that has been hit by lightning several times. And each time the ride is down for weeks at a time. Should it not have a system of surge protectors to keep the electronics from getting damaged by the lightning?
@@fredreubens89 I can’t even guess what parks do large to small. Small ride at a small park might have 1 person taking care of 15 rides. Universal might be 10 people to 1 ride. It’s such a dramatic swing. As far as lightning, when things are hit it blows apart wiring all over the place and just does soooo much damage. Surge protectors can handle near strike events but not a strike.
@@ryantheridemechanic Thank You for the quick response. Enjoy all yoyu videos so informative. Was just curious about how many techs would be on hand. Say for a six Flags park or someth9ng like a Sea world park. Understand it would very depending on park size and number of rides. Thanks Again ooking forward to the next video>
I believe that’s how our Irvine startups were as well (2009-2017 builds), tho I’m not sure we were told to actually do a Christmas tree test verification. Im pretty sure the training was along the lines of “it’s going to flash at you, hit acknowledge” I’m sure it was in maintenance’s startup, but I know it wasn’t an initial line on our startup sheets or part of our block testing training. Also I have a good Irvine-Ondrey control system failure that luckily due to our vigilance and hitting estop before the fault condition was met kept us out of the news. Email to come to your inbox soon, honestly would love to hear Irvine’s off the record take on the situation! I’m sure they were contacted as the fix required reprogramming
How would they re-program blocks for rides that change over time? Is this an easy change or can that be difficult to do? Let's use American Eagle at SFGAm for Example. The giant helix is referred to as "The Barrel" and it has brakes on top of it. Eagle used to run three trains on each side and that acted as a block zone but now the block extends all the way to Brake 5 which is the last Helix. Have you ever seen Reprogramming bugs? Because Eagle used to have a funny one where it would say a part of one of the old spiels like "THE AMERICAN EAGLE" in a deep male voice from the 80's.
@@DokiKimori a professional engineer has to make any changes to the block system and the company that owns the ride has to sign off on. It as well as insurance. These things are considered major modifications to the ride.
Speaking of key switches on ride control panels, what brand/company of key switches and buttons are most commonly used on rides? When I was a ride operator at Six Flags St. Louis at the end of March and the beginning of April, out of the three rides that I operated (and all of the rides in the park in general) they all have the same beefy and robust-looking buttons and keyswitches, and I've been curious as to what brand/company is most commonly used on rides. Could you also give me a link to where I can see a list of all of the buttons and key switches on the company's website if I were to buy some? Thanks!
@@MrEngineer20051 they are all out of the Allen Bradley (AB) catalog. AB won’t sell to the general public. The series of buttons and switches is the 800-T. An illuminated push button with aluminum guard will run about $190 each. Key switch is in the same price range.
@@ryantheridemechanic thanks! I’m actually making a 8 button control panel for no limits 2! I haven’t gotten to the wiring or programming yet BUT… I’m excited to finish it!
@@ryantheridemechanic Batman Night Flight (Dominator, but it was Batman at Geauga Lake) 3 times, Twisted Timbers 5 or 6 times, Apple Zapple once, Berserker a couple times, Flight of Fear, Rebel Yell (Racer 75) Drop Tower a few, Grizzly a few times..... pretty much did the whole park at least once. It was a very light crowd day, and we have all season fast lane so everything was a walk on for us.
![Eminem - Like My Shit [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vx_IMvFkrfA/mqdefault.jpg)
From a friend of mine;
One of the points I was going to mention was the requirement or reasons to press estop in order To reset a block.
1. Estop puts the control system into a safe state, meaning output actuators off. This makes it safe for a person to travel to the remote block reset panel.
2. Pressing estop returns the control system to a full startup procedure requiring a complex startup with many actuations of the warning horn potentially giving a remote person a chance to get to the safe area.
Friend just came over, walked in and asked why I have a 65” 120 hz OLED and $5k of audio gear to watch someone sit at a desk and talk about coasters. That’s a damn good question.
@@drdremd A: it’s not the only thing I watch.
For surround sound pneumatic noises, duh!
Is it just me or is the sound of compressed air being fired one of the most satisfying sounds ever?
@@owen24165 I love the sound of the brakes on a drop tower. (That’s my favorite sound)
@@ryantheridemechanic Now I gotta go watch your drop tower nerd shots video 😂
Ehhhhh, For me it is the anti-rollback noise of Wooden PTC coasters built in the mid 1940's (phoenix, comet (HP) Comet (great Escape), and some of the more modern CCI, PTC train coasters.
I hate the anti-rollback sound of GCI MF trains and the Timberliners, it sounds annoying.
@@WhatchamawhozitI like those, and I love the sound of an Arrow lift hill. Don't enjoy the loud ARBs on RMC coasters though...... yet I like the Arrow ones.
@@ryantheridemechanic yes, hearing the brakes while you're on a drop tower is the best sound at that moment😂. I do like that noise though. Love me a good drop tower. Kings Island has a GREAT drop tower. The one at Kings Dominion is pretty good too.
GOSH! I worked as a seasonal mechanic at a smaller park and ended up quitting because of the lack of information I was given. Watchin your vids has helped me understand now WHAT WAS GOING ON THERE!!! I wish this was clearly explained to me by the managers or FTs. FTs were too worried about being shown up by a seasonal instead of being concerned with efficiency of the rides they were in charge of!! I LOVED that job and still miss it to this day.
@@Littlefreetime some parks just don’t get it from the top down.
When I worked at Knoebels in the mid 90's, to start the Phoenix we would need the lock key (maintenance had one and Operations had one-Same key) we would start the lift but had to jog the transmission through the gears as this was originally built in 1947 and Knoebels kept a good portion of the original operation when they moved it in 1985. IIRC the lift had 6 speeds. We start at 1 to roll it for inspection purposes and then based on number of trains running we would either go right to 6 (one train, lift speed full) or speed 5 (2 train operation), 4 was only used for rain but still operation days.
Because the phoenix used skid brakes, your have to adjust the tension of the brakes when entering the station using the tension setting lever, and you would lock it in either half way for normal great weather operations, but when it rained you would give full tension, if the train approached to fast the PLC system would auto engage the E-Stop and then we would call to have maintenance advance the train to the station and close the ride as the skid brakes were to wet to be effective.
Until recently The Phoenix main operator, we call the pilot (the nickname for Phoenix was Air Phoenix because of all the air time) had full control for dispatch and train advance as it was a very manual operation using pneumatic push button controllers to raise or lower the skid brakes., Phoenix didn't even have air gates until recently, you just stood within a painted box behind the yellow line, but I dunno if this was a design problem, they put the operator control panel on the same side riders would load, so if they stood on or past the yellow line you could not see the train approach properly, I had suggested they relocated to the back of the train exit side... but they didn't do it, but when they built twister they built the control panel, exit side back of train.
The phoenix while not the oldest ride at knoebels definitely keeps as much of its original tech in place while upgrading features to run two trains with block zones. 2 trains ops back in my day required the systems to be jumped by maintenance to trigger 2 train ops, if you removed a train and didn't jump it back it would constantly stop the lift, but you could always restart it, but you just called maintenance so you weren't turning around to restart and regear the lift speed. If we dropped to one train towards the end of a night... we more often than not did not speed the lift back up simply because it wasn't a pressing issue... the ride still operated and on the cooler nights the phoenix actually performed better during cooler evenings than it did during scorching hot days.
I haven't worked at the park since 1999, but I do know the more detailed start-ups from having a Vekoma Whirlwind which required more process steps, and I am sure the newer Impulse looper they put in 10 years ago is quite as detailed tas trying to start up as most Intamins and B&M coasters... lots of safety systems.
Twister's PLC closet is amazing 90's tech, sitting in the room and just watching it operate, hearing the click clack of the relays is amazing... And Twister has a variable speed lift, which stops 100% once the train has cleared that block (twister has 2 lifts).
The tech today is amazing, but I won't lie I prefer to more manual operations of phoenix... back in our day if no one was in line you could slow the train down enough to resend it without stopping it... the tunnel speed needed to be less than 10 mph.... today you can't send it like that anymore as it requires 2 person dispatch before it will even leave the station.
We went to Seabreeze last year, and their old woody is still 100% manual operation. They had one girl working the ride. She would send the train, jump the track, fill the station, jump the track again, and be at the levers before the train came back. She was pretty good. It was cool watching that old ride operate.
@@Spike-sk7ql Sea Breeze outside of Rochester???
That place still exists??? I went to that park in the late 80's early 90's when i still lived in Syracuse, NY. Although Darien Lake was my preferred park of the two, hell I even went to the defunct Roseland and did multiple credits on the Skyliner before it was moved to Altoona, PA the year after Phoenix was moved from Texas.
I even ended up hurt on Roselands dark ride as it jumped the rail when it went down the hill as the brake pads on that vehicle were worn down to the point they did nothing... oh those years of being a teen in the 1980's and when breaking a bone or two was like getting bit by a mosquito.
@@Whatchamawhozit wow that’s really some interesting history. I’m amazed at the lift have a transmission for speed. Honestly makes complete sense just I’ve not heard that before. Thanks for sharing.
@@ryantheridemechanic yw for the share. Yeah many of the old PTC built coasters had speed gearing, I don't know if transmission is the right word, might be just how much juice is sent to the motor to increase speed of lift chain, but yeah if you have seen any videos of the phoenix it is an old style lift system.
Here is a video showing some of the lift machinery but not how you speed it up. ruclips.net/video/iPxyMtAC5eA/видео.html
The lift gear box is located in the operator control area, if 2 train operations are happening and the block zone isn't cleared, the lift would shut down, a second operator that sat in the control area would be responsible for starting the lift. You would go over return the selector/gearbox to 1, hit lift start and slowly speed it up hopefully hitting speed 5 before the train cleared the drop.
I am basing my knowledge on how things operated in the 90's when I worked at Knoebels... and while the station set up has changed slightly and the systems have been more modernized I have not seen any changes to the lift components, and since it is a lift that is on at full speed all day long, it is definitely not variable in nature.
Twister, their other wooden coaster uses 2 variable Square D powered hydraulic lift motors, one for lift #1 and one for lift #2 Twister has a unique lift system as it is folded on top of it self as the ride is so large and based heavily on the original Elitch gardens Mr. Twister, slight modifications had to be made in order to fit the ride in the available footprint.
I dunno if you watch POVs but there are plenty of POVs of both Phoenix and Twister, especially phoenix since it has been rated the #1 wooden coaster every year since 2018.
@@Whatchamawhozit awesome
Similar to your preferred manufacturers video, I would love a video about different ride control system companies! Definitely a niche, but this whole channel is a niche. History/preferences as a mechanic/programmer. Irvine Ondrey, Consign, altec, CLX, etc, and how they interact with PLC companies. Maybe it would be worth taking a look at how a control system company tackles a new ride and how they approach the project
Oh and also how they interact with companies like Holovis and others with theming elements and timing! Do they tie into the same systems/sensors/etc or are they two autonomous control systems for ride safety and theming?
The new Nemesis control panel at Alton Towers has an additional key for block resets. It's not enough just be to in manual mode.
I believe this key is only held by the maintenance directors, not regular maintenance personnel, and all trains need to be empty before it can be used.
They learned the hard way at this park.
I just had some dippin' dots for my lunch break at my park and thought of you.😂
@@Jenlovescoasters they are good!
They added a panel in front of when the smiler crash happened, it looks like 3 people are required to do a block reset on that block now (one at the base of lift 2, one in front of where it crashed and one at the main control point)
@@spinba11 where I was took 3 people to clear the station block.
Really enjoyed the video! I have been out at the park a lot this year, and you answered quite a few questions I had. Now, Im going to go see if I can get Gatekeeper to leave me in lift park for a bit of a nap. Hahaha.
All the errors I ever got at any coaster were the 'tier 2' e-stop variety... but I always operated in beast mode😈
@@sharkheadism nice
Video idea: Mechanic/operator relations
One question that always comes to mind when you discuss these topics is why there are no sensors at the lowest points of the roller coaster where a valley train is more likely to occur. Only check that there really is nothing there before resetting the blocks. Human check should be enough but then you have the smiler on a foggy day.
Btw, idk if it's because of the microphone or the room but you should try a Deesser on the audio track, sometimes is too harsh.
Again, super cool video ❤
@@Hugo.Spain. more sensors means more to go wrong means more downtime for the ride means less people means less money made. Some parks are putting optical sensors in these areas as an advisory but the majority rely on people following procedures and being diligent in their efforts. The action is such a rare thing to happen.
Human factors is a complicated subject. You don't want people becoming complacent. People might think these sensors at the low points are flawless and not do the necessary checks as thoroughly
@@alsty21 great point
@@alsty21 That's a good point but I wouldn't know where to put that line, at the end, the only ones in danger are the riders. Manufacturers trust that the maintenance crew of the park will keep the ride in optimum conditions but even with that they add extra safety features just in case. You have the Fury 325 example, if you think maintenance is going to make their job perfectly you don't add enough tolerance so your track can operate with a missing support for days (just an exaggerated example but i think you've got the point). So why a 1h stop is ok, as Ryan said for the RMC, but few more sensors are a waist of money and compromising revenue with false triggering (which shouldn't be a problem because the ride system must just check those sensors during a block reset or whenever makes sense).
Btw, i completely understand your points, I'm just trying to add some sauce to the comments 😂
@@Hugo.Spain. like everything, it's always about striking the right balance and you have to be careful your well intentioned changes don't actually increase risk. For example, adding more sensors = more faults and therefore more ghost trains. More ghost trains = more block resets are needed = risk of complacency because they happen more regularly
And I've even noticed certain parks go for a redundant safety at the operator stations by having floor sensors(pads) that verify they are standing in their station as they push their dispatch/enable button. Some parks even have those floor sensors at the exit gates. The one at blue streak operates the mag switch on the gate. I was first to the exit gate and I guess the floor switch didn't deactivate the magnet on the gate and it wouldn't open. I just stepped off and stepped back on and the magnet released.
@@robertstephens5185 neat
Could you possibly do a video on how spinning roller coasters work? Spinning wild mouse, Mack extreme spinners etc..
I'm curious how they're able to spin, and what cause them from spinning too much etc..
@@jpgiles1725 let me look into that
Happy National Roller coaster Day!
Re. Overshoots and undershoots - pressing Lock All Restraints (or the equivalent labeled button) on a B&M panel will jog the train backwards to home if it's overshot to a point where it's out of home.
I’ve seen on behind the scene episodes at Cedar Point that on Millennium Force, in order for the ride to start, the maintance person has to take the venicular up the lift, check out the track and at the top of the lift has to come down the other side on the cat walk and half way down the hill there is a reset button that must be pushed to tell the computer the ride is safe.
I guess it’s something that Intamin automatically installs on their rides. Not sure if all manufacturers use this technique
@@jackschissler255 a lot of manufacturers put estops around the ride. Most also say it has to be pushed and reset daily. But not all of them.
I said I'd do Ithat on a tour I just need hired, haha CP never called, oh well.
Ive been binging your channel, and as a operator at a very small park a lot of this I don't know because i operate rides with two buttons, off and on
@@thaliagrix to be fair, a lot of smaller rides are like that. The ride stop, stop, and power off are all on the same wire going to the start button.
When brand new roller coasters are constrected and power is connected to the ride for the first time do they go through the same modes when they start it up for the first time, like say when a dive coaster does a test for the first time the holding brake does not engage to first few cycles or not activated would love to hear a topic on that.
Nice with the Direct Logic expandable. I'm using a DL06 for my backyard coaster. How do they compare with the AB PLCs that are industry standard?
@@kristierasmussen9000 when you aren’t using complex instructions or safety rated devices there really isn’t much of a difference. Start turning the scans up to monitor safety critical and some of the cheaper DL series struggle. In general the ratings aren’t there for DL to be used in amusement stuff. I’ve used them in play features and they work great!! Get them linked up with “do more” HMI and you have a nice controls package at little cost.
Ryan I had to rewatch the second half twice. I was so tired when I got home I fell asleep lol. The content was very interesting. When you have a fault happen where electricity is shut off to a coaster what happens to the trains that are freely moving between block zones? Do they valley ? If I’m understanding correctly.
@@christiwright3604 gravity powers the trains. Blocks stop the train.
Blocks need power to open and operate.
So power outage trains stop in the brakes and that’s it. You won’t know the power out until you hit the brakes.
@@ryantheridemechanic gotcha I think I chose the wrong words. Freely = gravity in my brain . Didn’t realize block brakes worked without electricity. The more you learn the more you know lol
@@christiwright3604 typically you need air pressure and power to open a brake. Loose either and the brake shuts.
@@ryantheridemechanic gotcha I think I was thinking about brakes unable to stop trains rather than releasing them. I was thinking the absolute opposite. I love learning about how coasters work. Still learning. I am an enthusiast. Now I’m delving into how they all work. Lol I found your channel from your other one learning how to replace a battery in my old VW car fab lol your regular channel showed up an hour later with the fury 325 crack.
@@christiwright3604 glad to have you for sure!
X2 was super efficient with 6 ops
What about launch coasters that don’t use a chain or cable lift
@@DerekHarrison-d1r same functions. Just more “jog” options.
Probably way out of my price range but where does one go to buy some of the stuff you have for your displays like the half a coaster wheel and some other stuff ?
@@DareDevil0504 some parks sell things. Some parks give thing away for ACE events here in the US anyway. But most of the components on rides are just industrial things that can be purchased from all sorts of places. But If your looking for a rollercoaster specific thing like a wheel or a chain dog. They are extremely hard to come by. Maybe someone else knows a good outlet to get things.
@ryantheridemechanic ok thanks I was just wondering I know I seen like old bumper cars and stuff on Facebook market place but I like the half a wheel you shown in a video a few videos ago and didn't know if it was a company that could be purchased at or if stuff like that was rare to come by I figured most stuff you had was just stuff you collected over the years of work
@@DareDevil0504 most of the stuff I have I just “trash from work” but I was in a spot to collect it. Had to fill out some paperwork so there was a release of liability. Very lawsuit driven by parks. They worry about broken things making their way back into rides. Not necessarily theirs.
At major parks what would be your guess as to how many techs. they have in employ? Also do these type of parks have more than one shift of techs. working? Another observation I have noticed in my area we have a large drop tower that has been hit by lightning several times. And each time the ride is down for weeks at a time. Should it not have a system of surge protectors to keep the electronics from getting damaged by the lightning?
@@fredreubens89 I can’t even guess what parks do large to small. Small ride at a small park might have 1 person taking care of 15 rides. Universal might be 10 people to 1 ride. It’s such a dramatic swing. As far as lightning, when things are hit it blows apart wiring all over the place and just does soooo much damage. Surge protectors can handle near strike events but not a strike.
@@ryantheridemechanic Thank You for the quick response. Enjoy all yoyu videos so informative. Was just curious about how many techs would be on hand. Say for a six Flags park or someth9ng like a Sea world park. Understand it would very depending on park size and number of rides. Thanks Again ooking forward to the next video>
Control power on, acknowledge lamp test, ride start, ride start, e-stop reset, ride start, lift start. B&M start up sequence.
@@stolenarmy_ what year was that one?
@@ryantheridemechanicits nitro at great adventure. 2001.
@@ryantheridemechanicnitro at great adventure, 2001.
@@stolenarmy_ okay. Did consign also do the program. Sounds the same at the one I worked ok. I believe consign was doing most work for B&M there.
I believe that’s how our Irvine startups were as well (2009-2017 builds), tho I’m not sure we were told to actually do a Christmas tree test verification. Im pretty sure the training was along the lines of “it’s going to flash at you, hit acknowledge”
I’m sure it was in maintenance’s startup, but I know it wasn’t an initial line on our startup sheets or part of our block testing training.
Also I have a good Irvine-Ondrey control system failure that luckily due to our vigilance and hitting estop before the fault condition was met kept us out of the news. Email to come to your inbox soon, honestly would love to hear Irvine’s off the record take on the situation! I’m sure they were contacted as the fix required reprogramming
How would they re-program blocks for rides that change over time? Is this an easy change or can that be difficult to do?
Let's use American Eagle at SFGAm for Example. The giant helix is referred to as "The Barrel" and it has brakes on top of it.
Eagle used to run three trains on each side and that acted as a block zone but now the block extends all the way to Brake 5 which is the last Helix.
Have you ever seen Reprogramming bugs? Because Eagle used to have a funny one where it would say a part of one of the old spiels like "THE AMERICAN EAGLE" in a deep male voice from the 80's.
@@DokiKimori a professional engineer has to make any changes to the block system and the company that owns the ride has to sign off on. It as well as insurance. These things are considered major modifications to the ride.
Speaking of key switches on ride control panels, what brand/company of key switches and buttons are most commonly used on rides? When I was a ride operator at Six Flags St. Louis at the end of March and the beginning of April, out of the three rides that I operated (and all of the rides in the park in general) they all have the same beefy and robust-looking buttons and keyswitches, and I've been curious as to what brand/company is most commonly used on rides. Could you also give me a link to where I can see a list of all of the buttons and key switches on the company's website if I were to buy some? Thanks!
@@MrEngineer20051 they are all out of the Allen Bradley (AB) catalog. AB won’t sell to the general public. The series of buttons and switches is the 800-T. An illuminated push button with aluminum guard will run about $190 each. Key switch is in the same price range.
I found one on eBay for like 25 bucks
@@Yadudesimon nice
@@ryantheridemechanic thanks! I’m actually making a 8 button control panel for no limits 2! I haven’t gotten to the wiring or programming yet BUT… I’m excited to finish it!
@@ryantheridemechanic What about proximity sensors? What brand/company of proximity sensors are most commonly used on roller coasters?
why don't they just push confirmation buttons near valley points so that a person needs to go out and visually confirm a train didn't valley?
@@sumguy8 some do
@@ryantheridemechanic oh cool!
Not related to the video at all, but I got 27 rides on I-305 today. 9 in the last hour of the night. Sorry, carry on.😂
@@Spike-sk7ql 27? Wow! Did you do anything else n the park?
@@ryantheridemechanic Batman Night Flight (Dominator, but it was Batman at Geauga Lake) 3 times, Twisted Timbers 5 or 6 times, Apple Zapple once, Berserker a couple times, Flight of Fear, Rebel Yell (Racer 75) Drop Tower a few, Grizzly a few times..... pretty much did the whole park at least once. It was a very light crowd day, and we have all season fast lane so everything was a walk on for us.
@@Spike-sk7ql that’s awesome!!
Aww. Xcel❤
Second!!!
Always unload!
First!!