tech question about ZIPPER

[ride freak]

ok i just recently noticed this the australian zippers all seem to have diffrent ways of rotating the zipper than the american versions i could be wrong but on aussie zippers the boom is rotated by 2 motors with small tyres that make the wheel at the back of the boom rotate spining the boom and the cables that the zipper cars are connected to the wheels that make the cable moove at each end of the zipper appear on the aussie versions to have no apprent motor to rotate them i have not seen it at all on the american versions they appear to have small tyres on either end that rotate the wheels on each end of the boom but no small tyres to make the boom it self rotate but a chain belt system why is there these diffrences ?

[Zamperla]

The change from hydraulically driven motors (that we see in Australia) to electric motors happened around circa 1980 by Harold Chance. At a guess I would say the electric motors are much easier to maintain, and probably cheaper to manufacture than the more complicated hydraulic set-up with extra steel and weight on the main boom, coming from the differentials at each end. It is a complicated set-up and I am still not sure how the hydraulics are able to work it in both directions when the hoses have to go through the centre of the main boom (fluid dynamics is a whole other area of speciality engineering which interests me)

Also the upgrade on the main boom rotation from a hydraulic 'rim drive' to an electric chain drive would save set-up time, as the rim does not need to be removed. (you'll notice the rim is larger in diametre than the boom itself)

Other observations are that the electric drive system produces much more noise than the hydraulic lines, and I have it on a few sources that the hydraulic drive gives a much more powerful flip to the car than its 'sedated' 1980 upgrade (but this difference would be marginal)

Essentially the upgrade to simpler electric motors provides the same result with a fraction of the raw component costs (hoses, hydraulic fluid, seals, bearings) and maintenance time - but the original hydraulic system obviously works well, as our Aussie owners have steered away from US upgrades. There are other examples of Zippers in North America which still use the original hydraulic design e.g Coney Island's

[princess]

Welcome back Zamperla, lol I glazed over after the first sentence.