Tanker accident Mona Vale

To answer the question it is possible for the Spring Brakes to not perform as they should if the brakes require adjusting and/or brakes were hot when emergency applied. Same applies to when service brakes are applied in normal service when in a similar situation even though tank pressure is normal, hence the reason for keeping the brakes well adjusted.

In laymans terms, its like someone throwing a rope to save you to find out it was too short to reach you.


Modern day equipment have a valve to prevent both the emergency and service brakes to be applied at the same time to relieve excessive force on the components.

Good work werk you are on the money.
Driving around the city brakes are hot need adjusting then do a diaphragm in a booster by the time the buzzer comes on spring brakes should work but... you don't stop. Had the same happen to me but I was lucky I got away with it........

Yeah I know from experience ... Coming down a slight hill ..... Stop/go at the bottom ...signs only 100metres from the roadworks ... Couldn't see them until I was just over the crest . Hit the skids ... Nothing. A plastic hose running from the tredle valve had almost rubbed through. Me hitting the skids finally blew it out. Bloody lucky that the light changed just as I went through .... Albeit a bit fast. Once past I just hit the park brake .... Then all Hell broke loose. Had blokes calling me all the nice things that they do at times like that ... Until I got a chance to workout what happened and explained it to the roadworks boss.

It's a feeling you never forget

All the makings for a new thread on braking systems..

chocs

...i think we're OK chocs and still on topic, as the thread opened up asking this very question, although the heading is a bit misplaced....cheers

I'll clarify the my post...

There is some bloody good information here on many aspects of brakes, braking systems and braking experiences..
In my opinion, it would and does have "All the makings for a new thread on braking systems.."

Do we want a new thread?
If so, we could "quote" some of this information into it.

That way, it could be recalled relatively easily for future reference..


chocs

Yeah, I would be happy if the admin split this. We seem to have two distinct topics now, The Cootes accident and a general discussion about air brake problems.

At the end of the day the coroner will have the answer of the accident.
Living and working on Mt Ousley in 37 years I have seen it all. I was working on the day the truck ran away and killed the five people on the mountain, and what came out of that was the start of the 40 kmh speed limit and the annual inspections. The owner and the driver went to jail for that.


You only need a few things to compound then you have a not good situation.
Ever wondered why brake boosters are still around $80 bucks?. I was talking to a rep a while ago about crap boosters he said simply competition from over seas keeps the made to a price these days. I was telling him that a booster was only 2 years old and failed on a rego check with a broken spring, when the spring brakes should last for years longer.. How dose the average bloke check for a broken spring in a spring brake?
Mostly when the spring brakes inside it still works but not 100%. Like I said it only takes a few things to go wrong on the day and we all know the results....

...for clarification ....you will always find that the button says ''emergency air'' not ''emergency brake''...as there is no such thing.

Pete, you'll have to start a new topic.
We can splice topics together but we can't take them apart.

Yeah, I would be happy if the admin split this. We seem to have two distinct topics now, The Cootes accident and a general discussion about air brake problems.

Lot of interesting information here, obviously re the Tanker it's all speculation, (and we may never find out the actual cause of the accident?) but I'm certianly learning something about brakes!
So maybe a seprate topic would be good for future reference.
Cheers
Richard

....for further clarification and a retraction : : : :....prime movers (tractors) with spring brakes have an emergency brake air RELEASE system, and trailers without spring brakes (usually produced prior to 1975) have an emergency brake APPLY system, whereby if air is lost, or the trailer emergency brake is applied, the single chamber brake boosters will lock the brakes....but only while there is air in the trailer reservoir....

....i guess that was the simple set-up prior to maxi (spring) brakes being introduced on trailers....