I was just wondering why you see very few (or no) new lifts built with vault drives. Is it the excavation cost? Pain to maintain? I couldn't find any old topics like this.
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Vault Drive
Started by garthd, Jan 14 2007 09:52 AM
10 replies to this topic
#2
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Posted 14 January 2007 - 10:23 AM
The Peruvian Express was built this summer at Snowbird with a vault drive. Also Snowbasin's newer gondolas have vault drives. Snowbird said they wanted to reduce noise because the huge lift required a huge drive.
This post has been edited by Skier: 14 January 2007 - 10:23 AM
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#4
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Posted 16 January 2007 - 10:34 AM
Where the drive motor is underground in a building, with a shaft connecting to the bullwheel. The original lift at Sun Valley had a vault drive, as well as all of the early Riblets.
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This post has been edited by Skier: 16 January 2007 - 10:35 AM
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#6
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Posted 16 January 2007 - 07:11 PM
Lift Kid, on Jan 16 2007, 07:04 PM, said:
I'd think that heat would be an issue. The drive motor gets hot and the vault drive room would get really hot. Although there is ventilation, it still seems like a hassle.
It's all about eshetics, the lift has to fit it's surroundings, noise could also be a consideration. I've only got one top drive and it is nice and quiet at the load and in the corrals.
...Mike
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Posted 17 January 2007 - 05:29 AM
Lift Kid, on Jan 16 2007, 08:04 PM, said:
I'd think that heat would be an issue. The drive motor gets hot and the vault drive room would get really hot. Although there is ventilation, it still seems like a hassle.
Not really. The Flyer's vault maintains a pretty consistent temperature all day, except the really hot ones where all lifts get warm. There are two inlet vents- one above each motor- and one big vent fan on the other side of the vault to maintain air flow through the room. Works pretty well.
Other considerations for a vault drive include size of equipment. Try fitting two large electric motors and a huge V-12 diesel in an overhead drive, while still leaving room to walk around and maintain the equipment. Super Bee has the same motors as the Flyer, but the diesel wouldn't fit up there. There are two smaller V-8s that work in tandem instead. The motor room roof still had to be raised in order to fit all this in, and there's barely enough room for the walkways.
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#8
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Posted 21 January 2007 - 02:12 PM
liftmech, on Jan 17 2007, 06:29 AM, said:
Not really. The Flyer's vault maintains a pretty consistent temperature all day, except the really hot ones where all lifts get warm. There are two inlet vents- one above each motor- and one big vent fan on the other side of the vault to maintain air flow through the room. Works pretty well.
Other considerations for a vault drive include size of equipment. Try fitting two large electric motors and a huge V-12 diesel in an overhead drive, while still leaving room to walk around and maintain the equipment. Super Bee has the same motors as the Flyer, but the diesel wouldn't fit up there. There are two smaller V-8s that work in tandem instead. The motor room roof still had to be raised in order to fit all this in, and there's barely enough room for the walkways.
Other considerations for a vault drive include size of equipment. Try fitting two large electric motors and a huge V-12 diesel in an overhead drive, while still leaving room to walk around and maintain the equipment. Super Bee has the same motors as the Flyer, but the diesel wouldn't fit up there. There are two smaller V-8s that work in tandem instead. The motor room roof still had to be raised in order to fit all this in, and there's barely enough room for the walkways.
Tell me about it... I once got a tour of the drive terminal of Super Bee, a while ago when I was 5 inches shorter, and it sure seemed cramped.
Why did the old Poma HSQs come only in vault drive or Alpha drive? Was there no way to fit a drive unit overhead at all?
As for Peruvian Express, I think it was a vault drive because they couldn't fit such a big engine in such a small terminal, rather than the noise factor.
-Matt
"Today's problems cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them." -Albert Einstein
"Today's problems cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them." -Albert Einstein
#9
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Posted 23 January 2007 - 07:48 AM
Perhaps they hadn't engineered an integrated overhead unit yet. I think Big Burn at Snowmass (1987) may have been the first drive unit with all equipment located in the terminal.
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Posted 23 January 2007 - 02:36 PM
Yeah, that one is kind of wierd. I guess they morphed that into what REXX at Crystal is like.
-Matt
"Today's problems cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them." -Albert Einstein
"Today's problems cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them." -Albert Einstein
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