So we had two chairs that decided to keep setting off the grip
force alarm. Procedure says we take the chair off line if the alarm
sounds twice in one revolution or every time a chair goes through
a terminal. So we take the chairs off and put them in the vault
like so...
Poma TB-41
Grip Maintenance
 |
First you open the parking rail
from its normal operational setting... |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
...to its maintenance position, which allows
you to remove or replace a chair. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
Since we don't have an adjacent grip building
at the American Flyer, we drop the chair into the motor room
and remove the grip. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
Then we take the grip over to the top
of the Eagle, where we have a TB-41 maintenance facility. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
Inside the building is a rail identical
to the one in the terminals, which is where we will tear down
and rebuild the grip. (I hope no-one is offended by the artwork
on the rail...  ) |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
...and then I start taking the grip apart.
Here I've got the spring detensioner attached to the grip. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
Another shot of the spring detensioner. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
I started to apply tension to the springs,
and I hear a loud pop. Here's our problem! |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
The two bad springs. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
The grip, disassembled. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
Here is a picture of the Poma TB-41 detachable
grip fully disaseembled. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
While one person (that would be me) inspects
the critical parts under blacklight (sorry, no photos of that)
the other person measures the springs and inspects the support
and guide rollers. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
After the grip is reassembled, we measure
it under certain conditions to ensure it will function properly. |
Poma TB-41 Grip Maintenance
 |
While the grip is fully compressed, we
measure the jaw opening. Poma mandates at least 5mm of clearance
on both sides of the rope; thus a 42mm rope would require
a jaw opening of at least 52mm. |
Poma TB-41
Grip Maintenance
 |
The guide rod axle. This takes the force
of the springs and transmits it to the mobile jaw. |
|
Before sending the grip back out, we
make certain we've tightened every nut and bolt, greased every
moving part, and written the chair number on the traction
plate. If we're inspired, we'll also add an instructive message.
So there you have it. There are quite a few things I didn't
take photos of, but it would have taken up several pages worth...
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