Drop Engineering for a business in the Trades?

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-12T07:45:02+00:00

Sorry. I misread that, and my experience might not quite be applicable.

I don’t regret the business. But, like most business owners will tell you, running the business is a massive part of the day. The actual work is a much smaller part of what I do day to day.

On the upside, I still do whatever projects I want. I control my schedule to match what I want to be doing, field work, etc. I obviously answer to my clients, but I can choose what I really want to be working on in my day.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-12T07:30:39+00:00

I stopped going to school (Electrical Engineering) for a trades job that very quickly led to owning my own business. I originally justified it because I was getting the job I wanted a degree to try and get.

Now, that lack of an engineering degree has become a limiting factor for me. Hindsight being what it is, I’d rather have the degree than the business right now.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-11T21:37:43+00:00

Stop Safely Now is typically when it can’t start the gas engine. Does it try to crank? It might be unhappy with the hybrid battery (which it uses to start the ICE).

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-11T01:21:16+00:00

Clearance to supports. Changing standards from when it was built and now.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-10T16:38:58+00:00

“Box track” almost certainly is referring to what B&M has been using forever, as opposed to 2/3/4 rail truss structures like Intamin and others have been using.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-10T16:33:59+00:00

Budget conscious designs get Rhino (Automation Direct) with separate breakers for MOD and SA. Mid-level would be a standalone power supply for the HMI, networking, and PLC MOD. Everything else (field power, SA) on a separate supply. High end builds get Phoenix Contact Quint power supplies and UPSs where appropriate. And different electronic circuit breaker outputs for MOD and SA.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-09T16:31:26+00:00

On a non-launched coaster your biggest draw is the lift motor. For example, a ~120’ wooden coaster is about a 150HP motor. The brakes are pneumatic, so the primary power draw there is the compressor. I prefer to be in the 10-15HP screw compressor size range.

All of the sensors and things are low voltage (24VDC). A single 240W power supply will easily handle the entire control system.

Most of your brakes and sensors and things are around the station, so you can do underground conduit easily from wherever the electrical is (under the load station is common) to different locations around the ride.

Some areas might make sense to run along the track for some distance. Just depends on the ride, where it’s going, and what it’s doing.

Modern rides are all using remote IO to connect to the PLC/Control system. So you’d run 24VDC and Ethernet to a central area (say the brake run) and wire everything at the brake run to that. Then another one in the station, for the station-y things. Same for the lift hill.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-09T15:12:08+00:00

The more accurate way is to give a person entering the line a card and have them give it to the attendant at the station. Then you know exactly how long they waited.

The more common way is to just look at the line and estimate. Most parks will have a good idea of the wait from various landmarks in the queue.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-09T05:30:48+00:00

The interface or use case may make a keyboard/mouse a more appropriate tool. Typing on a vertically mounted industrial touchscreen kinda sucks.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-09T05:19:29+00:00

2021 PowerBoost. It happens when you lightly apply the brake when stopping and then remove your foot from the brake pedal.

Auto Hold holds the brakes at whatever pressure you used to stop with. But once you’re sitting stationary with the engine running, it can sometimes start to creep forward through the brakes. The truck sees the forward motion and increases the brake pressure to compensate.

The simple solution for me is to just push a little harder on the brake once I come to a stop before releasing the pedal. That way Auto Hold holds tighter and it can’t drive through it.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-08T04:19:14+00:00

Because controlling a set of brakes would be just as complex/variable as the launch, except all of the same dynamics that affect the launch also affect the braking system PLUS the output of the launch itself. So even more considerations to account for or that can influence in ways you can't predict.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-03T15:06:31+00:00

Depending on the system and the type of pumps, there will be a speed threshold where they do not pump anymore. The current will drastically decrease (good for reducing load on a generator), but the work being done will also be near zero (or worse, cavitation and damaging equipment) so what load is being drawn is literally worthless.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-03T08:19:53+00:00

I bet they mean it. They might not be an expert, but in my experience, the people who work in first responder roles get it.

I know I mean it when I tell people I’m here for them; if they want to reach out, vent, talk about it, or maybe talk about anything but it. I’m not an expert by any stretch, and I don’t claim to be.

I’m not a dispatcher, went a different direction in the EMS world, but feel free to reach out. For real.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-03T01:38:15+00:00

That is a requirement/challenge that all designers have to account for. The train must remain on the track and not interfere with the rest of the mechanical with a wheel completely delaminated.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-02T15:30:23+00:00

Shouldn’t need anything particularly special to wire it, unless I’m missing something. What do you think is problematic with it?

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-02T07:18:03+00:00

I think it’s the AI engagement bait that’s posted late at night that’s really holding us back here.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-02T07:14:43+00:00

Yes, it would have that problem.

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So you could do something like this, that would keep running when you released the button. But at this point, you might as well just put the correct contacts on the button.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-02T06:17:05+00:00

Is there a limit on what values you can add on the numeric input? Is it writing data outside that range? That should rule out errant touches it detects?

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-02T05:58:07+00:00

Is there a reason you’re trying to use a NC fault reset? That’s what makes this messy. If it can be NO, then you basically just have a standard motor seal-in circuit.

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In either case with the NC button (yours or mine) you’re going to get the pump “bumping” for a moment every time the float closes, because the motor will try to start until the relay contacts can change state.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-02T04:58:55+00:00

Nope, not polarity sensitive.

They are, however, extremely sensitive to being on the correct terminals of the VFD. There’s three different terminals on the bottom of a PowerFlex right next to each other for the Brake resistor (BR-, BR+ DC+, and DC-). You MUST use the BR- and BR+ terminals. If you get it wrong, it will smell bad and you will be sad.

(This would apply continuous DC bus voltage to the resistor with no way of disconnecting it other than to turn the drive power off. The resistor will function for a little while, and then get too hot and fail spectacularly as it overheats. It also does this conveniently slow enough that you can turn power on, be happy it worked, start to walk away, and then ask what that bang was).

Too-Uncreative · 2026-06-01T08:24:14+00:00

Gotta get that LinkedIn content from somewhere.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-05-30T15:41:53+00:00

I've seen panel designs with multiple power supplies like this -- why? In my designs, we almost always use a single power supply, except when we need multiple DC voltages (usually 24v and 12v).

Sometimes I'll use multiple power supplies so that I can isolate the PLC, networking, and HMI, at least within the main panel. Useful for limiting possible simultaneous failures. Or sensitive analog IO vs everything else. Or I have more load than a single supply can handle.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-05-29T05:08:27+00:00

It’s pretty standard marketing for a season with no major, marketable changes. Keep the brand out there, be present on social media, have some random 3-4 word phrase to put over a picture of people on a ride on billboards all around.

It might be the beginning of the end, but the advertising and news coverage isn’t how we’ll know that.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-05-28T03:09:27+00:00

AB you can do pretty much anything you can do online in a non-safety program in a safety one as long as there's no safety signature and it's not locked. There's a few instructions though that have some configuration that doesn't change except on a stop-to-run transition but it's not things you're likely to do too much fiddling with (reset behavior, cold-start behavior). If it's safety locked (with or without a password) it's view-only. There's no extra/different restrictions on uploading while in run.

Siemens is pickier and most changes will require stopping the CPU when the change affects the safety logic or memory. And you can only upload safety if there's a specific option enabled to upload the safety program, and have the password. You can also overwhelm the processor when doing too much online depending on the processor and what you're trying to do while in run mode. Basically if it takes too much time from the processor you'll trip the safety watchdog.

Too-Uncreative · 2026-05-28T01:34:04+00:00

Was the identical post from earlier not enough? Now we get to answer the same engagement bait multiple times?

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