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B&M Downtime...


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After postponing a trip to SFNE due to another extended downtime for S:ROS, it got me thinking about B&M coasters that may have suffered a similar bout of extended downtime. I couldn't think of any besides those coasters that were SBNO due to a closed/damaged park. Have there been any instances of B&M coasters being down for for more than a few days? Anyone know?

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B&M and downtime.

 

As for long periods unless you had something major like a chain, structural, or motor without a back up then yes B&M coaster could go down just as easy. Wheels, and parts are typical and most parks have spears, not to mention the option of multi trains.

 

Raptor had a good downtime the first half of 02, where the crews where actually working other rides while trying to fix the problems. I was at Mantis the first half the year until transferring to Raptor so I missed all that excitement. It was more then 1 or 2 days of issues for sure. (Actually kind of stuck around all year, #30)

 

But most of the B&M errors usually are just the sensors while you’re at the parks. Honestly probably 97-98% off all downtime is triggered from sensors and or computer related issues, well not considering weather and guest illnesses anyways.

 

Other fun areas can be:

Transfer table. Typical area for sensors to go funky. Not too uncommon to go down after an operating day while transferring the trains off. *Cough Mantis.

 

Air lines. Not uncommon especially in very climate prone areas. Every now and then during test runs you would hear an air blast @ mid course etc. Duck tape and fixed.

 

Lightning hitting the lift can cause havoc but usually they can have it back up the next morning.

 

Any coaster or ride for that matter can go down for a good period of time for one reason or another. Some have much bigger issues which trigger longer downtimes but thats usally related to design.

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Great Bear was having trouble when I went in 2005. It was down for one day, but it was open again the next day.

 

Out of the coutless times I've been to Great America, I've never once wittnessed Top Gun or Vortex broken down

 

I've seen Top Gun get stuck on the lift (thats about it) and Vortex break down right after we got off, but both were quickly fixed.

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Tatsu has a LOT of downtime (way too much for a B&M!). Ranging from a couple of hours, to a near day. Last summer was especially bad...this year it still is having issues.

I agree the engineering/design on the flying coasters is so complicated they have a ton of downtime. I could write a huge thesis on how redic those rides mechanics are, being a ride op on one really has gotten me to dislike certain aspects of B&M flyers ....

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AIR had some issues where the bar broke...

 

But that wasn't really B&Ms fault was it?

 

Depends on why it broke, maybe it wasn't substantial enough to take the repeated loading, I just don't know.

 

The thing with Air is that it was a prototype, so there are a lot of unknowns. B&M's in general are a lot simpler than Intamins coasters say, using less complex parts and designs = less to go wrong. Especially comparing the parts required to launch a rocket coaster to the parts in a B&M lift hill.

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^Depends on the park. Lots of B&M's valley all the time due to weather conditions. I've seen parks take the train off and have the ride running again in a few hours, and I've seen it sit pathetic for over a week!

 

Also, the Air thing! Yeah I forgot about that! I remember in 2002 a lot of us going over were really getting nervous as it was down for at least a couple of weeks. Then the subsequent flyers all got a different 'bar thing' in the station!

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I have never witnessed or heard about a major break down on a B&M, but they so break down sometimes. I've seen Talon and Hydra break down multiple times and they have been down for a few hours, but they almost always reopen that day. I also saw Medusa at Great Adventure break down once and it was down for a few hours. A train got stuck on the mcbr and another train was going up the lift hill and it didn't stop until it was on the very top!

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I would have to say Superman: UF at SFOG. The ride broke down I think twice while I was waiting in line, making the wait significantly longer. And I think Batman:TR broke down when I was in that line as well....but besides that, those are the only breakdowns I encountered with a B&M coaster

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A train got stuck on the mcbr and another train was going up the lift hill and it didn't stop until it was on the very top!

 

Um, that's what it's suppose to do.

 

 

I think Raptor was down a few days after one of the trains felt it was too good for the station and just shot straight through ending up with two trains on the lift. That was funny to see.

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Great Bear was having trouble when I went in 2005. It was down for one day, but it was open again the next day.

 

Out of the coutless times I've been to Great America, I've never once wittnessed Top Gun or Vortex broken down

 

I've seen Top Gun get stuck on the lift (thats about it) and Vortex break down right after we got off, but both were quickly fixed.

 

I was stuck on Vortex's lift during my first visit to the park in 02. Then the next time I was there it got stuck again.

 

All the other Beemers I've seen at parks I've been to seem to be operating very smoothly, except for Tatsu as Elissa pointed out.

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I saw Raptor at Cedar Point seems to be going down for about 20 minutes at a time lately. It has been happening alot to me it seems.

 

That might not be a mechanical breakdown though.

 

Could quite possibly go down to clean up after someone pukes. That's pretty common.

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