Maxair broken down???

maXair just doesn't like to run for Halloweekends. :)

maxair is tired, I miss it.

2005: Millennium Force

2006: Milleniumm Force

2007: Millennium Force / ATL Maxair

meh not a huge deal to me, never got into it, i know im strange....and gomez im sitting behind u in buisness haha

Maybe my source of info told me some mixed up info, or maybe he was told wrong. I'm pretty sure that hydraulics are involved in the ride at some point though. I haven't read Dave's breakdown of the ride system lately, so would anyone happen to have that at quick disposal?

Are you taking my statement of hydraulics being used as hydraulics are used on TTD's launch in the motor? I've always been curious about the motor/gear box at the top of the ride. During construction it reminded me of both a hydraulic motor like on TTD, but it also kind of looked similar to a gigantic circular electromagnet. *** Edited 9/18/2007 6:52:35 PM UTC by BlueStreak64***

None of Huss' designs use hydraulics or pneumatics for the ride systems, that's an S&S thing. maXair is a mechanical design, with a motor to drive the swinging motion, and another to drive the spinning motion.

I believe the floor is run by pneumatics though, its "off/safe" position is down, so that if the ride is in motion and there is a loss of air-pressure the floor doesn't come up and take someone's feet off. This of course can cause problems if there is no air-pressure when the ride stops and people cannot exit the ride.

^I'm guessing that when the floor is up, while it might not be the set position, the floor is locked in place so a loss in air-pressure won't take the floor down.

From what I heard, to start the ride, the ride host at load and unload push their dispatch button, and the operator pushes the button to lower the floor all at the same time. From there, the ride system takes over. Basically, without the floor being down, the ride will not move under any situation. The floor doesn't even start to move up until the ride has completely parked. *** Edited 9/18/2007 6:30:22 PM UTC by Gomez***

JuggaLotus said:
This of course can cause problems if there is no air-pressure when the ride stops and people cannot exit the ride.

Aww come on... Just Jump ;)

^^ - well, what I was getting at is if the air pressure is used to lower the floor, and there is a loss of pressure during operation, the floor could spring back up.

But yes, it would make sense that the pneumatics raise the floor after the ride stops, and then and independent locking mechanism holds it there so that should the air pressure fail, the floor won't fall away dropping guests under the ride platform.

^ That sounds like a ride all in itself. Sign me up. :)

I thought perhaps the drive was hydraulic, but now that I think about it, the holes in the support column aren't big enough to accommodate hoses, so I suppose it would be electric. No mention of it in the weak specs either.

And this:

Gondola Drive: 15kW
Pendulum Drive: 300kW

Sounds like the power specs for the 2 motors.

I will say this about Maxair:

First, I love the ride, and love it even more since ride cycle change. The line moves quick, it's a completely unique sensation, and it's placed perfectly in the park. It looks very impressive from the parking lot.

And there in lies the problem.

This ride has been down more during our visits to the park than Top Thrill Dragster, and the same goes for its twin Delerium at KI. It really seems that, for something that at least appears to very very simplistic, it breaks down very, very often.

Am I just catching this ride on bad days, or do the giant frisbees have a less-than-stellar rep?

As far as maXair goes, it ha always seemed to be a pretty reliable ride. There have only been two days since 2005 that I have visited the park (including my time off this summer) that it has been down. I either have pretty good luck with the ride, or everyone else has bad luck. ;)

Kevinj said:
It really seems that, for something that at least appears to very very simplistic, it breaks down very, very often.

I wouldn't call maXair a simple ride. That's a lot of weight that is being precisely controlled.

I too have had maXair down more trips than I have for TTD. But for that comparison, TTD breaks down every few hours every day, while maXair (when operating) is up all the time. It's a great ride.

Like I said the Floor and Harnesses use pneumatics, as for the Motors, there are six of them and they all feed into the "Hub" If you will. Which is all electric, assuming that being the TL has taught me a few things here and there. Im 99.9% sure that there are no hydraulics involved.

I hate to sound dumb, but what are you referring to when you say "the hub?" for Maxair?

I think they are referring to the place on top of the pendulum perhaps?

Granted, I love MaxAir as well. It FAR exceeded my expectations, and is a must ride every time we go. Problem is, more often than not, we dont, because we cant.

Also, I realize it cannot be as simple as it looks...but as I said, both MaxAir and Delerium have been no goes the majority of time we have visited both parks, and I cannot believe it's just all coinidence.

But, we visit maybe 10 times per year, so it is possible we have just caught both of them on not-so-good days.

I must have really good luck. I can't remember a time a ride has EVER been closed an entire day during any of my visits. Granted I've only been once or twice a year since I was born, but still - that's pretty good luck.

"Stringy" is right there are no hydraulics involved. All I have to say to Stringy is "GET THE JELLY."

2005: Millennium Force

2006: Millennium Force

2007 Millennium Force / ATL MaXair

Call me crazy, but I'm fairly certain the giant frisbee uses the electric-hydraulic motors, as they're generally good at producing a fair amount of torque for their size and electrical draw.

I could be wrong, but I know a lot of flat rides use them.

-Josh