Intamin Rapids Ride

Do Intamin round rapids boat rides have a high and low setting for getting you wetter on hot days? I rode Bigfoot Rapids at Knott's on April 26th, a cool day and again on August 26th, that was warmer.

On April 26th, I was hesitant to ride because it was colder but the seats looked dry in the raft so I chanced it. I think during the entire ride that water splashed over the side twice and all three guests were relatively dry. On August 26th, the summer day, water splashed over the edge most of the ride and all three of us had wet shorts and shorts. We didn't hit any geysers or waterfalls during the ride but the rapids splashed more water into the boat in August.

I thought we had low raft pressure and we were riding low until I noticed that everyone getting off the ride was wet. When I walked up the exit ramp, I noticed only half the pumps were running as water was only coming out of one of the outlet pipes. For some reason, I had an early picture from April and both of the outlet pipes had water coming out of them. It would seam that the lower water lever from running one pump during the summer would make the rapids more turbulent from the submerged fake logs / pipes. If the water was higher, the rafts could glide better over the top without tipping as much.

Is this intentional to make the ride splashier or does Knott's just run it with one pump down sometimes?

I've had similar experiences on different raft rides at different parks. On cooler days I get of the ride rather dry. . . And on hotter days I come off the ride looking like a drown rat.

I bet there is some sort of pump change setting some where that is what causes this. . . But I have no idea. Just a guess.

Also, I know why, but I could have sworn this has been discussed before. . . I remember this conversation from some where on the boards!

Do Intamin round rapids boat rides have a high and low setting for getting you wetter on hot days? I rode Bigfoot Rapids at Knott's on April 26th, a cool day and again on August 26th, that was warmer.

 

On April 26th, I was hesitant to ride because it was colder but the seats looked dry in the raft so I chanced it. I think during the entire ride that water splashed over the side twice and all three guests were relatively dry. On August 26th, the summer day, water splashed over the edge most of the ride and all three of us had wet shorts and shorts. We didn't hit any geysers or waterfalls during the ride but the rapids splashed more water into the boat in August.

 

I thought we had low raft pressure and we were riding low until I noticed that everyone getting off the ride was wet. When I walked up the exit ramp, I noticed only half the pumps were running as water was only coming out of one of the outlet pipes. For some reason, I had an early picture from April and both of the outlet pipes had water coming out of them. It would seam that the lower water lever from running one pump during the summer would make the rapids more turbulent from the submerged fake logs / pipes. If the water was higher, the rafts could glide better over the top without tipping as much.

 

Is this intentional to make the ride splashier or does Knott's just run it with one pump down sometimes?

There are 4 pumps with 2 on each side of the track. 3 of the 4 operate at a time with a different one cycled off so they can do maintenance on it. I don't think it ever operates with more or less than 3 pumps. The bottom right one is off in this satellite photo. Full thus heavier rafts sit lower in the water and get wetter so on non busy days; the boats appear dry because no one is really riding it.

Bottom right pump is off

I've been on some Hopkins ones that are tamed down on cooler days. The one I most recently rode at Lake Compounce was definitely toned down in late May. The final rapid always sends a massive wall over the seat but in this visit the wave was only enough to soak you from the pants down. And this was with a full raft.

What makes rapids rides rough in the first place is the flow of water over obstacles secured to the bottom of the trough. Theoretically if you increase the flow then it will get rougher. Decrease the flow and it will get calmer. But there has to be a minimum flow rate or else the water level will drop to a point where the raft hits the bottom. I don't if the pumps can be regulated or if they run at set rate.

Rattlesnake Rapids at Lagoon, designed and engineered in-house, with Intamin providing the Hardware, has three 275HP Pumps capable of pumping 106,000 Gallons per minute each. The ride can operate with just 2 pumps, if need be, and still maintain the proper flow rate. The wetness really depends on the water features and weight of the riders in the raft, and the flow rate of the waterfalls. Some of the larger Weirs in the trough have been replaced with smaller ones to make the rapids a little less "rough." Heavier Rafts will produce a bigger wave over the Weirs.

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