Who Says only Intamin snaps chains!!! (and SFKK hi

I was randomly doing some checking on some history of SFKK for a discussion on a different website and I cam across a tasty tidbit of info: Chang's lift chain snapped the second day of operation. That's right, a "BEEMER" had the very same problems that Intamin has recently been berated for. Also, according to the article, B&M didnt even want to sell a coaster to KK at first (imagine the nerve!) Anyway, the entire article is very interesting and it gives a better perspective on why SFKK looks like it does and thus is worth a read.

The general link to the beginning of the article is: http://www.louisville.com/loumag/jun97/hart.htm

The link to where they talk about Chang's problem is: http://www.louisville.com/loumag/jun97/hart4.htm *** This post was edited by 2Hostyl on 12/5/2000. ***
It only broke because Jerry Flemming was there!

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-daniel j. haverlock-
'99 Magnum Count: 801
www.spiritofthepoint.com
I can not find where they talk about Chang's chain, and the fact B&M didn't want to build it.
sorry goose, I had posted the wrong link. Pulling up too much info for too many different sites. The correct link is now up. Also, upon a closer reading, I realize that the chain snapped the 2nd day. I have changed this a well. Sorry for the inconvience.

Dan: What does he have to do with anything?
Jeff's avatar
Jerry breaks rides. I don't know what it is. Get him near a ride and chains break, lift motors burn out, setups happen. It's a really odd phenomenon.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
Oh God, comparing B&M reliability to Intamin reliability is worse than comparing apples and oranges. Chang broke a chain. That's one for B&M. How many for Intamin this year alone? And how many coasters has B&M built compared to Intamin (ie STE, Volcano, SRoS, etc). Intamin gets berated because their dependablility is piss-poor. Most coaster manufacturers have some problems with their coasters. Corkscrew at CP broke a chain last year, there's one for Arrow. But for the most part, in my experience, Intamin takes the cake for Least Dependable Manufacturer Ever.

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"Legend 1 looks too intense for me."
Jeff's avatar
Yeah, but you can't blame Intamin for broken chains. They don't make the chains.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
A guy wrote how he was at the park when the chain broke. Said that he was a quarter mile away when he heard the biggest bang - chain snapping. Word was that a train on the lift had rolled back and crashed in to the station - complete rubbish of course. Only damage was chain piling up at bottom - it weighs about 8-10 tons!

The same person said he saw Claude Mabillard at McDonalds? outside the park and spoke to him. Claude said he was there for Chang's opening week to make sure everything was running smoothly and got pissed off at the chain breaking. And that the place was swarming with reps from the chain manufacturers.

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Coasters - Man's finest creation or is it God's?
Australia's No. 1 Coaster Fan
Jeff sez: Yeah, but you can't blame Intamin for broken chains. They don't make the chains.

I say: Why not? You blame a car manufacurer if a small part they bought from someone else doesn't work right on your car. It's Intamins ride, that includes the lift chain. Something is obviously wrong with their chains. Bottom line is they should find someone who CAN make chains without braking. B&M seems to be doing a great job in that area. So do many other manufacturers.

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SFGAm '01: Better than Wildfire
Legendery alwas loves a good debate ;)

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Randy Hutchinson
You build it, I'll ride it
Don't I though...don't I? ;)

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SFGAm '01: Better than Wildfire
Jeff's avatar
Superman at SFA broke two chains this year, and that's pure coincidence. Plunge broke one too.

Magnum broke one this year, Corkscrew last year. Is Arrow to blame? No, those chains came from a local manufacturer.

What I'm getting at here is that nothing an Intamin engineer did has anything to do with the chains on their rides. These aren't cars, assembled on a line with tight quality control. Just ask the construction management of Son of Beast!

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
Coincidence? WTF, why is it that SO many B&M's can run years without braking chains, but SRoS can't run two months? Same for Plunge. It's shoddy worksmanship, all there is to it. Coasters cost quite a bit more than cars, also, shouldn't there be *better* quality control over something like that?

Maybe they should all use elevator lifts...

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SFGAm '01: Better than Wildfire
I find it hard to believe that, if chains are produced by independent companies -- not by the ride designers or manufacturers, there can't be something wrong with the basic design of the Intamin chains. How much different are B&M's chains from Intamin's? Could there be a possible flaw with the design of the trains, thusly creating a different and possibly less-reliable chain?

Hope you can follow that logic. If not, please excuse me. At least I know what I mean. ;)

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How dare you vanquish the Steel Phantom without his consent? Fear the Phantom's Revenge.
Jeff's avatar
That's just it... I don't think there is anything different about the chains. I wish RideMan would jump in and comment. I bet he knows.

Still, to make a blanket claim that Intamin chains (if indeed they actually make them) are unreliable, is statistically incorrect. What of the SFNE and SFDL rides? The bobsleds? the smaller flumes? If it was really a design flaw, why didn't these break this year?

Like I said... coincidence.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
Jeff, exactly my point. By bringing this little known Chang fact to light, I was just showing that chain snapping can occur with any manufactuer. I'm not trying to get into a statistical debate, but I'm willing to bet that there are more chain driven Intamin rides that have NOT snapped chains than you Legendary seems to imply.

Legendary you say "why is it that SO many B&M's can run years without braking chains, but SRoS can't run two months". In 1995 I could have asked you why is it that so many Intamins can run years w/o breaking chains, but Chang can't run TWO DAYS. So the value of that question is minimal, at best, in strenghtening your arguement. Now I agree that Intamin does need to re-evaluate their chain (or chain material) suppliers, but to claim that comparing Intamin to B&M is like apples to oranges is ludicrous. They are both ride designers/builders, heck, they even used to work with each other. Additionally, they both have their problems (Intamin->S:ROS, PP; B&M->Chang, Hulk). So I dont see what is so different about them. I see a comparision as completely valid. We may differ in opinion about their relative rankings, but the comparision itself is absolutely permissible.
jeremy,
---who can debate witht he best of them.
...And we won't get into the whole issue of the lift motors and gearboxes on Raptor and Mantis that have failed since those rides were built...

What I thought was interesting was that the SFKK chain break was in fulfillment of prophesy! No, it's true! When the name for the coaster (Chang) was announced, there was a bit of buzz about it on rec.roller-coaster. I think it was Kip Ross whose reaction was something like...


"Chang"...Isn't that the sound of a lift chain breaking?


We all thought it an interesting comment.

A stunned silence fell over the group when indeed, Chang snapped its lift chain on press day.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
*** This post was edited by RideMan on 12/6/2000. ***
Who's Jerry Flemming? Keep him away from Millennium Force!

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Coasters - Man's finest creation or is it God's?
Brought to you by Australia's No. 1 Coaster Fan.
2Hostyl writes: In 1995 I could have asked you why is it that so many Intamins can run years w/o breaking chains, but Chang can't run TWO DAYS.

That would have been *mighty* tough considering Chang was built in 1997. ;)

but to claim that comparing Intamin to B&M is like apples to oranges is ludicrous. They are both ride designers/builders, heck, they even used to work with each other.

My point on that was dependability, not only on broken chains, but the whole scope of the ride. And I still stand firm on that ground, it *IS* ludicrous to compare those two when it comes to dependability! When was the last time a B&M opened a year late? When was the last time a B&M snapped two chains on one coaster within two weeks. That's what I was getting at, not the chain specifically when I said that. Also, I can't remember when a B&M had to remove half of their rows for an entire year from one of their coasters to even *open* it. Let's not forget how incredibly reliable the Intamin Giant/Gyro Drops are (/sarcasm). :)

Chang broke one chain. Out of like thirty-plus coasters B&M have done in the nineties (in the US)? Now Jeff brought up about the Intamin bobsleds, etc, which I wasn't really factoring in, considering Intamin just really started designing big coasters in 1996 with STE. I *believe* that was their first major project in the nineties. At any rate though, in the past four years, they've built MF, SRoS at SFDL, SRoS at SFNE, SRoS at SFA, Perilous Plunge, Volcano, STE, and SUE at SFO (in the US). The last three coasters don't even have chain lifts. Out of five coasters built in '99 and '00, two of them broke chains, and one of them broke a chain twice. (Also, just to throw this out in the mix, what exactly happened at SFNE this year on SRoS? There was a big rumor that the chain broke, but I don't recall ever hearin 琀栀攀 氀愀猀琀 眀漀爀搀 愀戀漀甀琀 椀琀⸀  䄀渀礀漀渀攀 欀渀漀眀 昀漀爀 猀甀爀攀㼀⤀ 㰀戀爀㸀吀栀愀琀✀猀 瀀爀攀琀琀礀 挀爀愀瀀瀀礀 眀栀攀渀 挀漀洀瀀愀爀攀搀 琀漀 䈀☀䴀⸀ 㰀戀爀㸀 㰀戀爀㸀㰀椀㸀䄀搀搀椀琀椀漀渀愀氀氀礀Ⰰ 琀栀攀礀 戀漀琀栀 栀愀瘀攀 琀栀攀椀爀 瀀爀漀戀氀攀洀猀 ⠀䤀渀琀愀洀椀渀ⴀ㸀匀㨀刀伀匀Ⰰ 倀倀㬀 䈀☀䴀ⴀ㸀䌀栀愀渀最Ⰰ 䠀甀氀欀⤀⸀㰀⼀椀㸀 㰀戀爀㸀 㰀戀爀㸀唀洀Ⰰ 洀愀礀戀攀 䤀 洀椀猀猀攀搀 猀漀洀攀琀栀椀渀最Ⰰ 戀甀琀 眀栀愀琀 栀愀瀀瀀攀渀攀搀 漀渀 䠀甀氀欀 琀栀愀琀 眀愀猀 猀漀 戀愀搀㼀 㰀戀爀㸀 㰀戀爀㸀㰀椀㸀䈀礀 戀爀椀渀最椀渀最 琀栀椀猀 氀椀琀琀氀攀 欀渀漀眀渀 䌀栀愀渀最 昀愀挀琀 琀漀 氀椀最栀琀Ⰰ 䤀 眀愀猀 樀甀猀琀 猀栀漀眀椀渀最 琀栀愀琀 挀栀愀椀渀 猀渀愀瀀瀀椀渀最 挀愀渀 漀挀挀甀爀 眀椀琀栀 愀渀礀 洀愀渀甀昀愀挀琀甀攀爀⸀㰀⼀椀㸀 㰀戀爀㸀 㰀戀爀㸀䄀最爀攀攀搀Ⰰ 椀琀✀猀 樀甀猀琀 眀栀礀 搀漀攀猀 椀琀 猀攀攀洀猀 䤀渀琀愀洀椀渀猀 栀愀瀀瀀攀渀 眀椀琀栀 猀甀挀栀 昀爀攀焀甀攀渀挀礀㼀 㰀戀爀㸀 㰀戀爀㸀ⴀⴀⴀⴀⴀⴀⴀⴀⴀⴀⴀⴀⴀ 㰀戀爀㸀匀䘀䜀䄀洀 ✀ ㄀㨀  䈀攀琀琀攀爀 琀栀愀渀 圀椀氀搀昀椀爀攀
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