Battery Packs

[david]

I remember being stuck on De`Ja Vu, our restraints wouldn't open. The ops began to pull out the battery packs and opening up the restraints. Great America gave me a free ride on any other coaster with a line "jump" of sorts. When I went on The Rajin' Cajun, I noticed that the ops constantly plugged a battery pack into the cars to get them to move. Is this the same as De`Ja Vu, or am I mistaken?

[BP317]

If you mean opening a restraint by using a portable electricity unit, yes it is the same concept . The actual battery packs are different though.

[david]

If you mean opening a restraint by using a portable electricity unit, yes it is the same concept . The actual battery packs are different though.

Didn't SixFlags learn? REALLY? who in their right mind complains about something, and buys the same thing. This is just stupid.

[zjohn1988]

Same concept, different device. Most rides have manual releases but they vary from a piece of equipment to electronic battery packs.

Viper and American Eagle for example have manual T shaped pieces of steel to unlock the lap barks, Raging Bull has basically a life size wrench and Iron Wolf/Batman have another type of wrench device. Rides with bus bars usually have electronic battery packs to unlock restraints, such as Ragin Cajun and DeJa Vu. Demon just has a foot pedal on the back of each car.

[david]

Same concept, different device. Most rides have manual releases but they vary from a piece of equipment to electronic battery packs.

Viper and American Eagle for example have manual T shaped pieces of steel to unlock the lap barks, Raging Bull has basically a life size wrench and Iron Wolf/Batman have another type of wrench device. Rides with bus bars usually have electronic battery packs to unlock restraints, such as Ragin Cajun and DeJa Vu. Demon just has a foot pedal on the back of each car.

Now, in this case, I don't even think it's a manual release. This is just normal. I hope I'm wrong, as this means Shapiro is dumb ass. i believe De`Ja Vu was supposedly the only ride in the world that required a battery pack for manual release?

[traincrossing9]

If you mean opening a restraint by using a portable electricity unit, yes it is the same concept . The actual battery packs are different though.

Didn't SixFlags learn? REALLY? who in their right mind complains about something, and buys the same thing. This is just stupid.

Are you saying that the real reason why Deja Vu was shut down and moved to another park was because of how they opened the restraints? Seriously?

[BP317]

On Ragin Cajun there is a rubber bar outside of the station that is supposed to straighten the car to face forward before it comes in the station. When the car comes in facing forward, the electrical contacts on the side of the car come into contact with an electrical strip on the side of the track that unlocks the lapbar.

Now sometimes because of odd weight distrobution in the car, or if theres just a lot of weight, the rubber bar does not straighten the car and the ride op has to manually spin it so it faces forward for the contacts to line up properly with the electrical bar. This is why you often see ride ops manually adjusting the cars when they come into the station.

Now even when the car is facing forward, sometimes the lapbars still will not open because the electrical bar needs to be cleaned or the car is just being stubborn. Thats when the ride op moves the car forward off the eletrical bar and uses a battery pack to unlock the lapbar (and I emphasize moves the car forward first, because manually unlocking the lapbar when its on the electrical bus bar can make it lose electricity and that pisses the maintenence guys off ).

Also on Cajun before a car leaves the station the computer will register the restraints as unlocked unless the contacts line up with another eletrical bar at the front of the station. So if the weight is uneven, the ride op needs to shake the car until the contacts line up with the bar, hence why you see ride ops shaking cars before the ride starts.


On DejaVu there is no way to release the restraints without electricty which is what that green bar above car 3 is in the station for (the one that goes up when the cycle starts). If that bar is not down, those restraints will not open without some other source of electricity.

[david]

On Ragin Cajun there is a rubber bar outside of the station that is supposed to straighten the car to face forward before it comes in the station. When the car comes in facing forward, the electrical contacts on the side of the car come into contact with an electrical strip on the side of the track that unlocks the lapbar.

Now sometimes because of odd weight distrobution in the car, or if theres just a lot of weight, the rubber bar does not straighten the car and the ride op has to manually spin it so it faces forward for the contacts to line up properly with the electrical bar. This is why you often see ride ops manually adjusting the cars when they come into the station.

Now even when the car is facing forward, sometimes the lapbars still will not open because the electrical bar needs to be cleaned or the car is just being stubborn. Thats when the ride op moves the car forward off the eletrical bar and uses a battery pack to unlock the lapbar (and I emphasize moves the car forward first, because manually unlocking the lapbar when its on the electrical bus bar can make it lose electricity and that pisses the maintenence guys off ).

Also on Cajun before a car leaves the station the computer will register the restraints as unlocked unless the contacts line up with another eletrical bar at the front of the station. So if the weight is uneven, the ride op needs to shake the car until the contacts line up with the bar, hence why you see ride ops shaking cars before the ride starts.


On DejaVu there is no way to release the restraints without electricty which is what that green bar above car 3 is in the station for (the one that goes up when the cycle starts). If that bar is not down, those restraints will not open without some other source of electricity.

Thanks for all the clarification.
Really appreciate it!

[FParker185]

Also all Intamins use a battery pack to manually unlock the restraints if the train is not in the station. Assuming Giant Drop is the same in the event of a power loss. Basically all hydraulic restraints use an electric valve to open up.

[FamilyGuy]

Also all Intamins use a battery pack to manually unlock the restraints if the train is not in the station. Assuming Giant Drop is the same in the event of a power loss. Basically all hydraulic restraints use an electric valve to open up.

That's a scary thought; Giant Drop & power loss. Though I am sure there are safeguards in place for scenarios's like that, the thought is just not a good one...

[FParker185]

Giant Drop would be relatively unaffected by a power outage. Only thing Giant Drop uses power for is to lift the cars to the top and drop them. Also unlock the restrains. All the braking relies on physics and uses no outside source of electricity.