Deja Vu Lift Mechanism

How does the Lift Mechanism work on Deja Vu? Does this have anything to do with all of its downtime, especially in th rain? I know it uses a cable to haul the trains up the towers, but how does the cable attach to the train? Is it Air, Hydraulic, Mechanical? How does it capture the cars when they enter the second tower? maybee if this mechanism gets wet, from rain, it doesnt work right and that is why they close the ride.

There is a "car" on both towers that latches onto the train and pulls it to the top. This car sits permenantly inside the track (I looked for a picture but could not find one) and matches the speed of the train when it's ascending the tower before latching on in order to grab and continue to lift the train smoothly. When it gets wet, this car has a difficult time grabbing the train, thus the downtime when it rains. Additionally, it has a tendancy to let go too soon (before the train is to the top of lift two) which has caused all the downtime for SFGAm's version.

It's really no secret why Deja Vu is down all the time...the secret is why they don't fix it!

-Nate

how does the car latch onto the train? does it use clamps that are air activated, almost like a moving brake run clamp? V2 uses brakes to Hold the cars up the strainght tower for a second, but i dont think their is enough force in that type of system to pull a train up a track.

You're actually wrong about the rain. The wheels on Deja Vu are not polyurethyn like the majority of coaster wheels, and the rain will ruin the wheels if the ride continues to run.

The catch car is pretty much like a conventional brake on a coaster. Obviously this brake is much stronger (and that's an undestatement!), and sort of like regular brakes, it connects onto a fin on the top of the train. As coasterdude said, the catch car starts going up the tower to try to catch the train and provide a smooth transition/catch, and ultimetely ascend to complete the second half of the ride circuit.

-sidenote: v2 does not use brakes on it's back tower, but rather the train is held up by LIMs.

*** This post was edited by CoastaFreak on 10/21/2002. ***

The wheels thing may be true (though I've never heard that before), but I'm pretty positive the catch car also has issues with rain.

-Nate

Why not replace the catch car with the conventional boomerang-chain, if the thing is causing so much trouble?

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Werner Stengel: Ich sprich, denke und traüme Achterbahn!

Why would it have different wheels? What do they have to do with water?

If the catch mechanism is like the ones on the Invertigo rides, then yes, they may not work in the rain because water on the fins makes it harder to grab. The catch mechanism is a lot like a caliper brake that moves up and down that second lift.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, when it's all in your mind. You gotta let go." - Ghetto, Supreme Beings of Leisure

Why different wheels? Ask Vekoma...I don't know. I know they do, and I know that is why the ride doesn't run in the rain.

You can try from the outside to establish why it doesn't run in the rain, but from the inside, that's the story.

*** This post was edited by CoastaFreak on 10/21/2002. ***

So why does SFGAm have all the problems. They worked most of the bugs out of the other 2, right? If so, why cant they make SFGAm's play nice like the other 2?

Which problems? Different problems have different causes.

Maybe that's the story they throw around "on the inside" but I have a difficult time imagining what substance wheels would be made out of that wear out in rain. What, do they disolve if they get wet? Are they made of salt?

-Nate

No kidding. Why would Vekoma purposefully put wheels on the coaster that don't work in the rain?

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SFGAm: 1)DV 2)V2 3)AE Blue 4)Viper 5)Bull

Until someone gives me a scientific reason why the wheels have anything to do with it (wheels made to withstand a whole lot of friction-induced heat), I write it off as puppy-cock. If it can't run in the rain it's a braking issue, and that includes the holding brake on the catch wagon.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, when it's all in your mind. You gotta let go." - Ghetto, Supreme Beings of Leisure

There is a wedge device that uses oil/fluid pressure to catch the trains. It works similar to a normal fin brake, but it is not the same. And no, not all the Deja Vus have run trouble free. The one at SFOG still gets ride errors frequently, but the time it takes to restore operatiosn has dramatically decreased.

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the member formerly known as MisterX

Jeff said:

I write it off as puppy-cock.

Interesting choice of words....
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Vekomember is from Holland, ishn't zaht veerd?