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Hex [2024 Refurb]: General Discussion

I’ll be intrigued to know if they have actually fixed the underlying mechanical/electro mechanical issues or they are getting it back open to save face.

It sounded as though they changed the slip ring but that didn’t fix everything and there was a more fundamental design flaw (possibly related to sensor alignment on parking?) there were rumours of extra motors being added to allow a more consistent rotation.

I suppose if it does open time will tell if they’ve cracked it. As an engineer it’s fascinating problem.
 
Ash said:
I’ll be intrigued to know if they have actually fixed the underlying mechanical/electro mechanical issues or they are getting it back open to save face.

It sounded as though they changed the slip ring but that didn’t fix everything and there was a more fundamental design flaw (possibly related to sensor alignment on parking?) there were rumours of extra motors being added to allow a more consistent rotation.

I suppose if it does open time will tell if they’ve cracked it. As an engineer it’s fascinating problem.
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I don’t believe Hex has any slip rings - all the original Vekoma madhouses have umbilicals.

Sensor misalignment would be very easy to resolve, but on the flip side adding additional motors would be such a hugely fundamental change to the ride system that it doesn’t seem likely.
 
Islander said:
I don’t believe Hex has any slip rings - all the original Vekoma madhouses have umbilicals.

Sensor misalignment would be very easy to resolve, but on the flip side adding additional motors would be such a hugely fundamental change to the ride system that it doesn’t seem likely.
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Correct, the slip ring / umbilical cord being what supply's power and audio to the drum and gondola.

I think it is just the wording that is getting mixed up here, as in was the slew ring that was causing issues and was replaced a few times, there have been known issues with these in the past on Vekoma Madhouse. With the slew ring being what allows the drum to rotate, while also allowing the gondola to rotate from the same pivot point in the center of drum at each ends.
 
I wonder if they could add slave wheels to support the drum weight more evenly. Unpowered, unbraked but allow it to not sit as heavily on the powered wheels.
 
Poisson said:
I wonder if they could add slave wheels to support the drum weight more evenly. Unpowered, unbraked but allow it to not sit as heavily on the powered wheels.
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There is no weight sat on the drive wheels at all - all weight is on the slew rings at either end, supported by large steel masts.

The drive wheels do just that - drive it around. You could remove them and structurally there’d be no difference, and in fact with a couple of people (well, maybe 4-5) heft it around by hand as it’s so well balanced.
 
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