Bumper Car Safety
PCWorshipper
wondering if its possible to get electricuted from electrically
powered bumper cars?
I mean, if I put my hand on the floor of the ride while it was
running, would I die? [this may sound silly, but its an honest
question].
Also, have any cars ever tipped over from a violent collission(sp?),
or has anyone ever been electrocuted on a bumper cars ride?
Again, just wondering :)
Paul L.
kor...@idirect.ca
Roy E Grimm
the bumper car ride at Paramount's Kings Dominion (PKD)...
and I spent a LOT of time on that ride (so much that co-workers
thought they should rename it "Roy's Dodgem"...hehe), opening
it in the morning, closing it at night, pushing broken cars
to the back, and running the ride. (I miss it, too! *sniff*)
Anyhow, with regards to your question...and to the best of my
knowledge...you can touch the bumper car floor while the ride
is turned on. I would NOT recommend doing this...since your
arm/hand could get run over by a bumper car...or if you're
stupid enough to leave your bumper car while the ride is on,
you could get hit by another bumper car. (And if the ride op
sees this, he/she will immediately stop the ride!)
As far as I know, the electricity flows through the overhead
wiring and is picked up by the wire rods on top of the bumper
car. (These wire rods do break at the point of contact with
the overhead wiring, though...which does nothing more than
create an annoying "tick-tick-tick" on the PKD version.)
It is probably grounded through the bottom of the car and the
floor, though. (I'm not an electrician, but it's probably
similar to the theories behind power lines)
Also, if the floor WAS grounded, then you would be VERY securely
buckled into your bumper car so that you couldn't step out (then
the risk of electrocution would be immense) or touch the floor.
Hopefully this clears things up. Also, I proposed (but never
heard back) making the PKD bumper car ride larger, with more
cars, and with an oval track (so nobody gets stuck in the corners).
That'd offer more space, more people per cycle, more bumper cars,
and (probably) a more fun experience (although, I love the bumper
car ride as is).
Dreaming of bumper cars,
Roy E. Grimm
Roy E Grimm
: Also, if the floor WAS grounded, then you would be VERY securely
: buckled into your bumper car so that you couldn't step out (then
: the risk of electrocution would be immense) or touch the floor.
Doh! That should be "if the floor HAD electricity flowing through
it" or something like that. Not "if the floor WAS grounded". Grrr.
I was trying to theorize what safety precautions would need to be
in place if the electricty came through the floor, not the ceiling.
Roy E. Grimm
(who needs to put his glasses on and start using his brain more!)
Jim Everman
>
> I was trying to theorize what safety precautions would need to be
> in place if the electricty came through the floor, not the ceiling.
I think there are two points here Roy. First, you'd have to touch both
the floor and the overhead at the same time (you're right about how the
current flows). That would be pretty tricky for most people to do, and
of course the power would have to be on when you did it.
Second, I don't know (perhaps you recall?) but I suspect that the
voltage is of the order of 12 to 30 volts DC. That's not quite high
enough to even feel (under normal conditions) let alone hurt you.
[For reference, on a steel ship, the US Navy doesn't consider voltage
to be hazardous until it exceeds 56 volts.]
--
Jim Everman mailto:eve...@Anet-STL.com
http://www.Anet-STL.com/~everman/
Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by
stupidity.
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B&W. I can't say for sure though. Heck, I don't even remember who told me.
In article <35cf46b7...@n3.idirect.com>,
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Dave Althoff
the order of 24-36 volts, but just like anyone else, I don't know for sure.
Second, yes, the floor is grounded and the current comes from the ceiling.
If you are standing on the floor with the ride energized, first beware of
moving cars, and second, do not touch any of the stingers (or you will
find out why they are called "stingers").
Third, there ARE bumper car systems which use segmented floors which
eliminate the stinger poles...I saw one set like that at Old Town and
another at a mall near Cincinnati, OH. In that case, I am certain they
use low voltage. Also, I believe most bumper car systems use DC which is
also a safety benefit.
Most dark rides which have energized track also use low voltage (I have
that written down somewhere at home...) which is why I was a little
shocked to find out that CP's Pirate Ride had 120v AC on the bus bars (it
was in the ad when they were trying to sell the vehicles).
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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Shawn Mamros
>Also, have any cars ever tipped over from a violent collission(sp?),
>or has anyone ever been electrocuted on a bumper cars ride?
Others have answered the electrical questions. As for tipping over,
think about how they're built - pretty low to the ground, and they
also typically bump low as well. To tip it over, you'd have to hit it
much higher up, and with enough force to counteract the car's center
of gravity. Not likely unless you can make bumper cars literally fly...
-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mam...@mit.edu
Dave Althoff
Good point, Shawn...
I believe a typical bumper car has either three or five wheels. Two
casters in the rear, very near the corners, and a drive wheel up front
attached to the drive motor, which may or may not be supplemented by a
pair of front casters.
The easiest way to tip a bumper car is to grab the stinger pole and pull
backwards. Trouble is, the motor is quite heavy, and even with the
leverage afforded by the stinger pole, it is difficult to lift the front
of the car. They are heavy, they are stable, and you're not gonna roll
one over. You might roll out of one, but it's gonna stay level.
Barry K. Swank, Jr.
> First of all, I also believe that most bumper car systems use voltages on
> the order of 24-36 volts, but just like anyone else, I don't know for
> sure.
I can't discount for Knoebel's Skooters, but since it's an old ride, I
can assume that it runs at 120 volts, but very high amperage.
The kiddie bumper cars has a volt meter at the control panel, and I've
seen it read somewhere around 50 volts. I've operated both Knoebel's
kiddie bumper cars and Darien Lake's as well (Knoebels had more kids
riding than when I operated Darien Lakes' which only had about 6 cars
running and a HUGE floor. Plenty of room to drive around in.
>
> Second, yes, the floor is grounded and the current comes from the ceiling.
> If you are standing on the floor with the ride energized, first beware of
> moving cars, and second, do not touch any of the stingers (or you will
> find out why they are called "stingers").
Ditto.. Kids like to bump into you. You have to be quick on your feet.
Especially when there's about 20 ( I think, it's been about 8 years...)
cars running on a floor about 3/4 the size of those portable bumper car
rides. Stingers? To me they weren't even stingers.. I've touched the
ceiling while the ride was running (well, even grabbed a hold onto it)
and nothing happened. I've even grabbed the pick-up ("stinger", as Dave
calls it...) on a moving car and pulled it away from the ceiling, then
let it snap back. Nothing. But of course, I was wearing sneakers! If it
wasn't for my sneakers, BZZT!
-Barry "You drive, I'll push the pedal" Swank.
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Locoboy
> PCWorshipper <korkas@*REMOVETHIS*idirect.ca> wrote:
> >Also, have any cars ever tipped over from a violent collission(sp?),
> >or has anyone ever been electrocuted on a bumper cars ride?
>
> Others have answered the electrical questions. As for tipping over,
> think about how they're built - pretty low to the ground, and they
> also typically bump low as well. To tip it over, you'd have to hit it
>
> much higher up, and with enough force to counteract the car's center
> of gravity. Not likely unless you can make bumper cars literally
> fly...
>
> -Shawn Mamros
> E-mail to: mam...@mit.edu
Also, don't forget that bumper cars have metal wheels rolling on
metal floors so the electrical current can flow through the car's
motor. This metal to metal contact also has a low coefficient of
friction and when the cars bump into one another, the cars simply slide
along horizontally, parallel to the floor. If the floor or the wheels
were made from a substance like, say rubber (electrically impossible
because rubber is an insulator, but just consider it for a second) like
on a full scale car, then the coefficient of friction between the wheels
and floor would be much higher and the tires would grip the floor
better. If that were the case, then the cars would tip over easier.
Another thing is most of the bumper cars I've ridden have this black
dusty material all over the floor. (If you wear nice clean white tennis
shoes while riding, you'll know what I'm talking about! :-D ) I heard
that this stuff is a graphite based dry lubricant that is sprinkled on
the floor, but I'm not too sure exactly what it is. Anyway, this stuff
makes the floor VERY slippery and that helps the cars to slide
horizontally when they're hit and thus not tip over. I hope this wasn't
too complicated and it answers some questions. :-)
Dave Rounds
after the ride was ready to run, they sprinkled a WHITE powder on the
entire floor. After the began running the ride I noticed that it very
quickly became black. On asking the operator, he said it was simply
cornstarch to keep the floor clean and dry. He said it absorbs moisture
very well and since it is slightly abrasive, will polish the floor and
wheels, resulting in less power loss.
Dave
Locoboy <locob...@hotmail.com> wrote in article
<35D5E05E...@hotmail.com>...
>>...Snip Snip..
Dave Althoff
: Several years ago I watched a bumper car ride being setup at a carnival and
: after the ride was ready to run, they sprinkled a WHITE powder on the
: entire floor. After the began running the ride I noticed that it very
: quickly became black. On asking the operator, he said it was simply
: cornstarch to keep the floor clean and dry. He said it absorbs moisture
: very well and since it is slightly abrasive, will polish the floor and
: wheels, resulting in less power loss.
: Dave
Interesting. I knew they often use graphite (particularly places like
Camden Park where they have grease guns and are unafraid to use them).
The first time I encountered anything like Dave described was at Waldameer
Park, where they were painting a mixture of talcum powder and water onto
the bumpers.