Magnum Issues

First time poster, about 8 45 pm magnum stopped while going up lift hill. Been there for over an hour now.

Welcome!

At the moment, it doesn't appear to be running on the webcams.

I was just at soak city and it was running for about a half hour (empty trains) then it just sat there.

Magnum doesn't seem to be having a great season so far, seems to have had issues quite a few times while we've been at CP this year.

It started sinking again.

^Darn it, I thought they had that solved already.

Agreed that Magnum has not been the same workhorse that it was since they replaced the control system last year. Kind of sad that something modern and up to the latest standards can't work as reliably as something that was 25 years old. I am not sure if they are still working on it at all to improve the situation or if it's just going to always have issues.

This is the only time I've seen it closed so far this year.

Why did they change the control system? Was it not up to code? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

It was completely redone before the 2014 season. The original one was 25 years old so they couldn't get replacement components for it any longer I guess. The rumor was that Magnum's new system was done by B&M. Not sure if that's true or not, but I know back in the day, B&M actually outsourced their control systems to a company called Consign AG.

Ride it twice today and it was as awesome as ever!!

The times I've ridden it this season, the train slams into the brakes following the final tunnel. Not fun. 60 to zero in .1 seconds seems like.

According to Consign, they did Magnum in 2014.

http://www.consignllc.com/projects.html

We've had both the slamming stop and the gentle stop this season. I was a Wildcat fan so the stop doesn't bother me now that I know it's a possibility and to be ready for it.

I believe that the only reason it stops on the brakes outside the last tunnel is if there is still a train on the brakes outside the station, which is caused by a train having not cleared the station yet. The sudden stop is due to the fair amount of momentum Magnum is still packing at that point. When things are going according to Hoyle, a train is supposed to be well on it's way up the lift hill by the time the train that is out, and running is approaching the tunnel. But as we all know, sometimes things just don't go as planned in the loading/unloading process. Luckily, they got rid of the bins to prevent stacking as much as possible.

Bins have been gone since sometime halfway through last season. They've also done away with the ridiculous procedure to wait until the platform is clear before locking the lapbars (they were doing this to start the season). Stopping outside the third tunnel is still happening too often if you ask me, but it should be a lot better than it was with the bins and earlier in the season with their asinine IROC training in effect..

So much happens while I am at work...

As I understand it, Magnum still had its original Westinghouse PLC on it until last season. As Westinghouse has not been in the PLC business for some years, replacement parts have presumably been somewhat difficult to obtain. I hope that when the old system was decommissioned, the park was smart enough to put everything that still worked into a crate and stick it into the Iron Dragon workshop; I presume that ride has a similar system on it, as it is a similar age, built by the same manufacturer.

The ones I'm less certain about are Corkscrew and Gemini. I think those are both also largely original equipment, but I know Gemini is run by hand and Corkscrew might be, so there is a good chance that neither ride even has a PLC, relying instead on a relay-driven automatic safety system. Although I never really considered how one would implement a pedal counter in relay logic...hmmm...But the point is, while those systems are less up to date than Magnum was, the non-PLC design would be easier to maintain than an obsolete PLC, and therefore less critical to replace.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I think there were some changes in Corkscrew. The ride used to have a mechanical switch at the station exit that would be tripped if a pedal was out of position. At some point that was replaced with the prox sensor pedal counter, so the ride must have some kind of PLC. I have no idea though if other changes were made.

On Gemini, didn't the old photocell system get replaced by prox sensors awhile ago? I'd bet there were some significant changes to that control system also.

A prox switch is still just a switch. Get a metal target close enough to it, and it closes or opens. It doesn't matter whether your switch is a cat's whisker switch, a photo eye, or a prox switch...the output of the switch is still a contact closure.

Geauga Lake's SLC was all prox switches, and did not have a PLC.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.