How do trim breaks work?

I know they open and close on the fins under the coaster, but what I don't understand is how they are adjusted and things like that. I know on Mantis, there is a trim on the drop. How do they adjust it so that it doesn't slow the train down too much or too little. Also, what do the breaks do, do they open and close quickly as the train passes or do they remain close until the train passes?

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"The opposite of war isn't peace, its creation," Rent.

If they're "breaks," they probably don't work at all! ;)

Sorry to be a smart-aleck. Even worse - I have no idea what the answer to your question is....

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He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking; can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

The brakes (note spelling) on drops generally squeeze according to how fast the train ahead reached the next block. This is why people keep reporting that they had no trim on Mean Streak. If the train ahead of you was empty or had few people, the ride "thinks" that it's running slow and therefore doesn't need to slow you down. Since generally the load is consistant, this is the best way to decide how hard to squeeze seeing as how it can't predict the future.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

Now that is interesting. I thought the trims (like on the first hill of Mantis or Mean Streak) were "set" at a certain position. I assumed this had something to do with the speeds coming off the hills being somewhat faster than the ride was engineered for. Even us old farts can learn something new.

I would assume that trims do not do a complete close, they very light touch the fin.

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Why do they report power outages on TV?

Seasonal employees love breaks.

Air-powered trim brakes actually slow the train by compressing each side of the brake fins which are mounted underneath each coaster train. If you ever sit in the front seat of Mean Streak, you will see exactly how they work, and that they compress to cause friction on the fins right before the train is about to cross the brake.

Well, some trims work via proximity limits determining the train speed before entering the brake and then the computer "tells" the brake how much to pinch. in longer brake segments, such as block brakes (which sometimes act as trims), several proximity limits in the brakes themselves act as a speed sensor so that if there is rain, the computer can tell the brakes to pinch more (since the train will run faster).

I've consistently (note spelling) wondered about trim brakes but I was afraid to ask for fear that I would be seen as an utter idiot. Thanks for the education!

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If you're skating on thin ice, you may as well tap dance.