Mäch Tower News

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RE: Mäch Tower

I think this tread is getting way out of control. They wouldn't be testing unless they were 100% sure that it was reading for testing.
 
RE: Mäch Tower

Well obviously something wasn't ready because it happened. Also, wouldn't there have to be some sort of a malfunction for this to occur? Didn't we hear that they were doing successful full-tower tests before this? The question is, what changed?
 
RE: Mäch Tower

The vehicle is still off the tower. I was told today it was well under a 10mph touch on the ground and not an overly bad hit. The big delay is to figure out what went wrong exactly and make sure the ride vehicle sustained no stress fractures.

The trolley is inspecting the brakes throughout the tower. I feel my source is extremely accurate.
 
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RE: Mäch Tower

ScoutN said:
I was told today it was well under a 10mph touch on the ground and not an overly bad hit.
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This is exactly what I was expecting that happened.
 
RE: Mäch Tower

From Screamscape today:

Mach Tower - (6/9/11) The latest update regarding the Mach Tower problems posted to BGWFans.com claims that the brakes actually did their job as intended. The true problem was that the “shock absorbers” intended to smoothly catch the slowly descending car passing through the magnetic brakes were either not installed, or not installed correctly, causing the car to hit the bottom with enough force to cause some damage to the undercarriage.


How is that even legal to test without the shock absorbers? If that was truly the problem and the brakes were doing their job, how did they fully stop the car beforehand and fail to stop it this time? Are we to assume that the ride will be hitting the shock absorbers at +/-10mph?

This is totally sketch to me. I think it was more than just not installing some shock absorbers which, as I understand it, is a last resort to the braking systems.
 
RE: Mäch Tower

well screamscape got their info from this thread. As to why they let it crash into the concrete at 10mph, no one has offered up that info yet.
 
RE: Mäch Tower

pandorazboxx said:
well screamscape got their info from this thread. As to why they let it crash into the concrete at 10mph, no one has offered up that info yet.
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He didn't get it from the thread, he got it from "Update #2" on the homepage, most likely at the same time Swift/Chris updated it.

All I'm saying is that no. The brakes did NOT work properly because the shock absorbers are a last resort. They don't rely on them to catch the falling car.
 
RE: Mäch Tower

BGW has finally said something about it:

From BGW Blog

The anticipation for Mach Tower has been overwhelming. We are working diligently to open the ride as soon as possible, but will not do so until the manufacturer’s testing is complete and all technical issues are resolved.
During the initial manufacturer’s testing, technical challenges were discovered which will take additional time to resolve and will delay the opening. Until testing is complete, we will not announce an opening date.
Mach Tower will incorporate several exciting features like vibrating seats, a spiraling carriage and onboard audio. These features, coupled with the ride’s 240-foot lift, will make Mach Tower a first-of-a-kind drop tower. You are encouraged to check our website, Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest information.
Click to expand...
 
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RE: Mäch Tower

CarterGee said:
All I'm saying is that no. The brakes did NOT work properly because the shock absorbers are a last resort. They don't rely on them to catch the falling car.
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I'm pretty sure that it does work like that. The magnetic brakes slow it down enough that it can land gracefully on the absorbers.

Oh and I never even look at the home page. ha. Good stuff up there.
 
RE: Mäch Tower

pandorazboxx said:
I'm pretty sure that it does work like that. The magnetic brakes slow it down enough that it can land gracefully on the absorbers.

Oh and I never even look at the home page. ha. Good stuff up there.
Click to expand...

It can't work like that. If coming to a full stop relied on the shock absorbers that were not installed, it would have never come to a full stop without hitting the ground. Do you see what I'm saying? They would also not test it from a height where they KNEW the carriage would be going too fast to render the brakes without the shock absorbers installed (math is truth). Someone knows what happened and it has nothing to do with the shocks. Also, Drop Tower at KD does not rely on shock aborbers to stop.

Also thanks haha I'm guessing they told Lance about it right as/before they posted


EDIT: I'm really fed up with their statement. It's really irking me. I may be causing some ruckus somewhere....
 
RE: Mäch Tower

I was looking through the tech specs for the Moser Gravity Towers today and saw something about "deceleration ramps". After doing a bit of searching, I came across a press release about the Moser Gravity Tower being installed at Pleasurewood Hills next year. The press release said something very interesting.

The drop is broken by permanent magnetic brakes and deceleration ramps at the bottom end of the column
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It sounds like Moser uses the magnetic brakes that we're all used to seeing on Intamin towers and then uses these "deceleration ramps" to bring the ride to a complete stop. It sounds like these "deceleration ramps" are what malfunctioned. I say malfunctioned because from what we've heard, it would seem that the ride was testing just fine before this incident occurred and something went wrong on this particular test. That makes me wonder what kind of technology these "deceleration ramps" employ to do their job...
 
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RE: Mäch Tower

The park does not control the ride right now. The manufacturer does. Once the manufacturer is done testing, they will turn the ride over to BG, who will then do their own testing.

I'm sure BG is not going to release details about testing that they're not doing themselves (probably couldn't legally), and I'm sure the manufacturer has zero interest in making the details public.

None of that strikes me as unusual. Many construction projects have delays. I don't think it is typical protocol to put out press releases detailing the reasons for the delays.
 
RE: Mäch Tower

Brilliant Swift! I knew it wasn't some stupid shock absorbers and that something really went wrong. Yay! Progress!

I'm going to look into this....

@Shafor: Oh I know all of that. I'm a marketing major with a dual degree in communications/PR haha Being said, understanding why doesn't mean I like it.

EDIT: lol @ "(fail safe)" - From MoserRides.com
 

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RE: Mäch Tower

CarterGee said:
haha Being said, understanding why doesn't mean I like it.
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Old age has taught me the life lesson of "accepting the things I cannot change" :) You know they're never going to tell us specifics, so I wouldn't get too frustrated about it.

Besides, all the detective work on here is way more fun. ;)
 
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