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How does an S&S Screamin' Swing work?

The Undead Creature said:
This is correct, the 2 swings are essentialy 2 completely seperate machines and can be operated individually.
The only synchronisation they have is that they both operate the same program from a single button press. If they get too far out of sync, an alarm is triggered.
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The Undead Creature said:
The only one who could answer that is whoever wrote the program for it back in the US, but it isn't an air supply limitation.

The compressor runs all day long without stopping, the only thing that changes is the load state. If the supply pressure is below the setpoint, the bypass valve closes and sends air into the system. Once the pressure reaches the setpoint, the valve opens allowing air to pass through the compressor stage and back to atmosphere without being compressed. This means you can keep the motor spinning even though you don't need more air as stopping and starting a 200Kw motor every few minutes or so would earn you a strongly worded letter from your power supplier.

To give you an idea of just how quicly the air compressor works, the 2 large air tanks either side of the tower holds enough air for about 2 swings before a low pressure alarm is triggered.
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As I stood watching Kennywood’s “Swing Shot” this summer I noted with interest the fairly prominent “HUFF” at the exhaust stroke. I guessed that the ride was pneumatic as confirmed here but along with the “HUFF” I noted that the air being discharged had a darkish coloration, greyish iirc. It reminded me somewhat of a car engine running rich.

I had considered it might be brake dust or exhaust from a modern version of a hit or miss gasoline engine (which is oxymoronic but I was in overdrive trying to understand what I was seeing. )

Any thoughts on what causes this tint to the air?
 
Ligoniera1 said:
As I stood watching Kennywood’s “Swing Shot” this summer I noted with interest the fairly prominent “HUFF” at the exhaust stroke. I guessed that the ride was pneumatic as confirmed here but along with the “HUFF” I noted that the air being discharged had a darkish coloration, greyish iirc. It reminded me somewhat of a car engine running rich.

I had considered it might be brake dust or exhaust from a modern version of a hit or miss gasoline engine (which is oxymoronic but I was in overdrive trying to understand what I was seeing. )

Any thoughts on what causes this tint to the air?
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My gut reaction is simply vapor forming, especially if it was a more humid day. But I’m confident @undead creature has a better answer!
 
Hyde said:
My gut reaction is simply vapor forming, especially if it was a more humid day. But I’m confident @undead creature has a better answer!
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Well...... you are not wrong 😎

Exhaust air is usually really cold, so moisture condenses into a visible cloud for a few seconds.

Either that or the oil seperator in the compressor isn't working properly and screw oil is making its way down the air lines...
 
The Undead Creature said:
Well...... you are not wrong 😎

Exhaust air is usually really cold, so moisture condenses into a visible cloud for a few seconds.

Either that or the oil seperator in the compressor isn't working properly and screw oil is making its way down the air lines...
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It’s oil mist. Each cylinder is injected with a shot of automatic transmission fluid to lubricate it every 20 swings. The excess is drained from a tap at the bottom of the cylinder every morning and disposed of, but it will puff out oil vapour as it exhausts out of the top of the cylinder as it runs. The inside of each tower is coated in a film of oil as a result of this.
 
dj-fireball999 said:
It’s oil mist. Each cylinder is injected with a shot of automatic transmission fluid to lubricate it every 20 swings. The excess is drained from a tap at the bottom of the cylinder every morning and disposed of, but it will puff out oil vapour as it exhausts out of the top of the cylinder as it runs. The inside of each tower is coated in a film of oil as a result of this.
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..... That 😁

I forgot about the lubricator, ever get the pink slime from Ghostbusters?
 
dj-fireball999 said:
Yes there is.
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Nope. The swings are operated on separate pistons with no mechanical linkages between the two - there IS a pneumatic connection, which Thorpe regularly exploit for double-compressor, single-swing operations (ever noticed how Rush seems to run more dispatches when running on a single swing than it does on two?)

If there was a mechanical linkage, there wouldn't be two separate position readouts on the console, nor would it be able to mispark just one of the two swings, nor would it be able to fall out of sync, nor would one of its swings reach higher than the other unless it was specifically geared to do so!

The two swings are separate machines, connected to one control circuit, with mirror-image cycles. The swings move almost completely independently to one another whether in sync or not.

Just out of curiosity - have you ever worked on a Screamin Swing?
 
Dan? said:
Nope. The swings are operated on separate pistons with no mechanical linkages between the two - there IS a pneumatic connection, which Thorpe regularly exploit for double-compressor, single-swing operations (ever noticed how Rush seems to run more dispatches when running on a single swing than it does on two?)

If there was a mechanical linkage, there wouldn't be two separate position readouts on the console, nor would it be able to mispark just one of the two swings, nor would it be able to fall out of sync, nor would one of its swings reach higher than the other unless it was specifically geared to do so!

The two swings are separate machines, connected to one control circuit, with mirror-image cycles. The swings move almost completely independently to one another whether in sync or not.

Just out of curiosity - have you ever worked on a Screamin Swing?
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Oh, you're talking specifically about a mechanical linkage. I misread that part. You're correct. However, there is a specific piece of software that caters for that. It's used to adjust the valve timings of each swing dependant on how they're loaded, amongst other variables, in order to keep them within twelve degrees of each other.
Dan? said:
Just out of curiosity - have you ever worked on a Screamin Swing?
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What do you think? 😆
 
dj-fireball999 said:
Oh, you're talking specifically about a mechanical linkage. I misread that part. You're correct. However, there is a specific piece of software that caters for that. It's used to adjust the valve timings of each swing dependant on how they're loaded, amongst other variables, in order to keep them within twelve degrees of each other.


What do you think? 😆
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12 degrees!? You should have seen Rush the other week - couldn't even complete half a double-swing cycle. Auto cycle-stopped by swing 3 because the swings were practically swinging in the same direction! 🤣

Pushing the topic back onto more "How does it work" rather than "How does it not work" - what are the peak angles of each powered swing? Never was able to observe the display while the ride was in motion to find out!
 
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dj-fireball999 said:
Don't think they ever did.
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It was a while ago though, I'm talking mid to late 2000s.
I remember it because for the purpose of daily checks, the compressor was considered its own machine with a seperate check sheet to the rides it supplied. The one who actually checked and turned it on was whoever got to it first.
 
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