SFMW Fright Fest V2 malfunctions, misfires 10/12

Heh heh... There is some kind of curse with this coaster (Vertical Velocity) and my girlfriend, the first time she went to go on it, the line was 2 1/2 hours long, and it was the first time I noticed that the brake wasn't working, so I determined it wasn't worth it (that was on 4th of July). This time the line was only 10 mins for the front seat, so we decided to go for it even though the back brake is missing (the two free falls in the back is mildly cool... i really miss the tower magnets though!)..

Anyways, the boost starts but dies off after about one second, and we grind forward to a halt right before the tower. About 15 minutes later they manage to bring the train back to the station. One funny thing I noticed was that there was a whole lot of confusion, and there was a different alarm than the normal loud one, this one was like a beep coming from the panel. When more mechanics arrived, I realized they couldn't get through the exit gate, it's also held by a magnet. They were trying to radio again and again until I just yelled, "Hey, open the gate!" After three test runs we were allowed back on... Good ride, but it broke down(this time just refusing to launch)on the next train! Sheesh!

Medusa also broke down at some point. They were continually running trains, stopping them at the mid-course brakes and had someone up there investigating the trains before sending them back to the station. It was finally open later, and there was a 15 minute wait for the front. What a great ride in the dark!

Shockingly, Kong (Vekoma SLC) was remakarbly good in the dark. They had no lights except for the ones near the station, and in the front, it's quite a good ride. Keep in mind that while this SLC isn't trimmed, they've done something to the train that makes it go quite a bit slower than other SLC's i've been on. You get quite a bit of hang time on the first two inversions, and on the way down you will certainly hit your restraints unless you are near the rear of the train. This has made it the smoothest SLC i've been on, and at night the lost speed is not as noticable in the dark(it actually seemed pretty fast!)

 

Roar was a real treat. 5 min wait for front, no wait anywhere else. Now it hasn't been raining here for a while, but the track was soaked....it was a little dark but could that be... OIL!!!! The ride was WAY faster than I remember it, with me slamming in to the lap bar while cresting every hill, and jamming me against it for some of Roar's smaller bunny hops (especially the ones in the tunnel/roof). The only lights were on the lift, so once again, a great ride.

The haunted houses were quite a let down from last year. There were no new props, and the Brutal Planet haunted house was about half the original size. However, many of the props from it live on in the other mazes. One good room in the Nightmares haunted house that really suprised me was a room with a blacklight strobe, where the walls and rails were covered with black fabric and splattered with glowing paint. The pulsing blacklight made it fairly hard to see. Well, the people who jump out at you had skintight head-to-toe black suits also splattered with glowing paint identical to the room, and they were against the walls, some on the rails, but all were REALLY hard to see until they started moving. Good effect!

Cobra (Tivoli Double Figure-8) and Boomerang were generally the same at night. Hammerhead(Zamperla Hawk 48) was mildly better in the dark, as where Tasmanian Devil(Huss Frisbee) and Voodoo(Huss Top Spin). I would mildly prefer the brightly lit fair versions in the dark, but maybe that's a subconscious thing because they tend to look a lot cooler with flashing, colored lights.

 

good trip, short to non-existant lines except for at the haunted houses, so what more could you ask for? Except for all the little kids who were getting in to the "jump out from behind something and scare people" spirit, and it got old real quick.

-djansi

Umm v2 at SFGAm does that all the time...no biggie.  And the exit gate is an Air Gate just like every other coaster...there is no magnet involved.

It's weird that the one at SFMW has a magnet for the exit gate, but it makes sense. There are defenite times you wouldn't want to accidentally wander into the station on V2! I've seen it brake down the same way a few times, but never when I was on it, and I never saw it make it to the front tower, it usually just stopped right out of the station when it broke.

 

-djansi

I havn't got to ride V2 yet. What is the magnet or air gate used for?
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Beer,coasters and Hooters. Is this a great country or what?

I don't think you understand djansi.  The exit is not kept closed by a magnet.YES, the exit IS closed and it is kept closed by the air gates.
What are air gates, you ask?  Air gates are the just the more technical term for the gates that keep you from walking into the loading area while you are waiting in line("Please move behind the yellow safety line as the *gates* in front of you will be closing)  Those gates are really called air gates.  v2(as well as DV) because of their speed also have an air gate which operates the exit so someone doesn't mistakenly walk into the station through the exit.
djansi, the air gates for the extrance and the air gates for the exit for v2 are both controlled at the control panel with a knob.  The exit is NOT held closed by magnets, rather by a similar device called an air gate like the ones used before you enter the loading platform.

*** This post was edited by SFGRAMBoy20 on 10/23/2001. ***

Djansi is not talking about the gates at SFGAm, Djansi  was refering to the gate at SFMW. Just because they are clones dose not mean the station gates are cloned too :).

S:UE has an air gate I believe. The Safety Nazi's at CP will come up with some kind of ray shielded LIM powered gate and you will be required to wear a helmet if you go within 50 feet of the new coaster..

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Save Cheese on a stick!

I hate to say it, but the one at SFMW has a magnet exit gate. It sounds trivial, but I'm sure of it. It's not an air gate like the rest. I never noticed it before until this accident. You can tell because there is no latch at all on the gate, it swings freely(actually spring closed), and has wires running to the magnet... It's not a LIM gate, I mean, that stands for Linear Induction Motor... this is just a simple electromagnet...

Anyways, this is too stupid to argue about... next time I am there I will try to get a pic, now that I know it is different from the other V2s...

 

-djansi

Just to lend credibility to dj, I *have* seen rides that have a gate that is magnetically held closed. It also trips a sensor when it's not closed so the op cannot run the ride. I believe there was either one on SFGAdv's HUSS Jump or it was HersheyPark's Enterprise (sorry I cant really remember, but I think it was the JUMP).
lata,
jeremy
--"so many flats, so little time"; SFGAdv motto

For whatever it's worth, there is a magnetic gate mechanism on V2 at SFMW. Now, whether it actually holds the gate closed I don't know. It may just serve as an indicator for when the gate is opened. If the exit gate is forced open during the ride sequence, the computer immediately puts the ride into e-stop, simply as a safety measure. I don't know if the magnet is strong enough to hold the gate closed or if that is done by other means! Too bad the magnets on the ride aren't as reliable as the ones on the gate.

We have one of those magnets on our bumper cars at MGM Grand. Also the airgates on Lightning Bolt has that system where if  you push them open while the train is either in motion or outside the station, the ride will e-stop.

Blake : When I was last at v2, I was pulling with all my body weight, and two maintenance guys were pushing with all their might. That sucker would not open, or even budge. Once they released it though, it swung freely like a normal gate. I assume that they would want it to lock instead of shutting the ride down if it was opened (although that would also probably happen to be extra redundant) since the train may not stop in time and there could be a serious catastrophe.

 

-djansi

All the gates on flat ride entrances and exits at SFNE are magnets and yes they do hold the gate closed very well. Some of the coasters have magnets at the exit but only like 2. Flashback definately.(Boomerang)