Wow, wow, wow. I was lucky enough to hear today of all the details with which this ride was fraught last spring and summer. Sure, we heard there were "sensor" problems, but it is the why of the many different sensors that tells the whole story. Back in July of 2014, I wrote on this site:
To put it in a timely context, Universal built its own "Enigma", a puzzle so complex that even they couldn't comprehend how it would work once each and every little component was introduced to work as one. And many times, it was these components that kept causing it to fail. As it turns out, the sensors worked just fine thank goodness, and it was the many, very unique components that were either reporting wrongs, telling tales or not saying anything at all, to which the sensors responded STOP. Making matters worse, each of these things compounded the other producing confusing results that could not be easily discerned.
The only incorrect statement in my July post was that they had months to work on it; three months. Turns out, they probably needed 6 months of running and testing to pull it all off on time.
So, to give you a small hint of component issues: loss of contact with the busbar, weight of riders miscalc and bouncing non-locking tracks, fog condensation, fog destroying sets and screens, fog danger levels and more and more.
Then there is the HE and its disappearing steam between the cars. Apparently, someone in Rakfisk, Flanderlander decided that pvc was the best way to deliver the steam. Sadly, while PVC can handle boiling temperatures, it cannot handle the super-heated (far higher than boiling), high-pressure temperatures of vaporized steam. The pvc began to warp and sag causing all manner of concern. Thus, it was turned off permanently.
There was far more to the details that I heard today, but, as there were so few solving each of the problems, I have backed of on the minutiae.
I hope one or two of you appreciated reading this. I love this s**t.
To put it in a timely context, Universal built its own "Enigma", a puzzle so complex that even they couldn't comprehend how it would work once each and every little component was introduced to work as one. And many times, it was these components that kept causing it to fail. As it turns out, the sensors worked just fine thank goodness, and it was the many, very unique components that were either reporting wrongs, telling tales or not saying anything at all, to which the sensors responded STOP. Making matters worse, each of these things compounded the other producing confusing results that could not be easily discerned.
The only incorrect statement in my July post was that they had months to work on it; three months. Turns out, they probably needed 6 months of running and testing to pull it all off on time.
So, to give you a small hint of component issues: loss of contact with the busbar, weight of riders miscalc and bouncing non-locking tracks, fog condensation, fog destroying sets and screens, fog danger levels and more and more.
Then there is the HE and its disappearing steam between the cars. Apparently, someone in Rakfisk, Flanderlander decided that pvc was the best way to deliver the steam. Sadly, while PVC can handle boiling temperatures, it cannot handle the super-heated (far higher than boiling), high-pressure temperatures of vaporized steam. The pvc began to warp and sag causing all manner of concern. Thus, it was turned off permanently.
There was far more to the details that I heard today, but, as there were so few solving each of the problems, I have backed of on the minutiae.
I hope one or two of you appreciated reading this. I love this s**t.
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