c/elevator-mechanics

That hospital job in Chicago that made me ditch the impact driver for rails

I was on a 8 year old Otis in Mercy Hospital last spring, swapping out door operator rails. Pulled out my trusty impact to zip the bolts off, and the vibration shook a loose piece of ceiling tile right onto the controller board. Dust and debris everywhere. Had to spend a whole extra 45 minutes cleaning it out before I could even test the doors. The building manager was standing there, gave me this look and said "you know there's a patient two floors up trying to nap." Ever since then I use a hand ratchet or a slow speed drill for anything near the controller. Has anyone else had a job where a power tool caused a bigger headache than it solved?

Just realized I wasted $150 on a fancy zip tie tool I never use

I bought this expensive ratcheting zip tie gun from a supply house in Chicago about 6 months ago. Thought it would save me time on wire management in the control panels. After using it maybe twice, I found out my regular flush cutters work just as fast and don't jam up on thicker ties. Now the tool just sits in the bottom of my bag collecting dust. Has anyone else bought a specialty tool that turned out to be a total waste?

Debate: Should you reset a controller or swap it when a door jams?

I got called to a job in Denver last week where a door was stuck halfway open on a 10-stop hydraulic. My coworker says always reset the controller first, takes 5 minutes and saves a service call if it's just a glitch. But I think if you reset it and the jam clears, you never find out if there's a real problem like a bent rail or loose bracket. I ended up riding the car to check the actual hardware, found a roller pin walking out, so I replaced it and reset it. What do you guys do when a door jams, quick reset or dig in and check everything first?

Saw a Schindler 3300 with a cracked controller board cover today

Was doing a routine inspection at a old office building downtown, noticed the plastic cover on the main controller board had a hairline crack right over the relay connectors. Looked like someone had leaned on it or dropped a tool, but the building manager said it's been like that for 6 months. Has anyone else run into these covers getting brittle and failing, or is this just a one-off thing?

Swapped out old rail lube for that new synthetic stuff at a job on 5th Ave

Used to swear by the cheap 30 weight oil for guide rails, figured it all did the same thing. Last month I got assigned a high-rise in downtown Portland where the owner demanded we use Kluberplex BEM 34-132. That stuff is stupid expensive, about $80 a tub, but I haven't had to touch the rails in 8 weeks. Anyone else see a real difference with high-end lubricants, or is this just salesman talk?

Still think hydraulic elevators are more reliable than traction? I'll take MRL any day

Worked on a 20-year-old Otis hydro unit at a 4-story building in Cleveland last month and had to replace the packing and the jack seal. Meanwhile I've got a TKE MRL machine room-less elevator that's been running 8 years with nothing but standard maintenance. The energy savings alone made me switch sides on this debate. Any of you guys actually crunch the numbers on long term maintenance costs yet?

The conversation with my dad that changed how I check cables

My dad is a retired electrician, not an elevator guy. Last Saturday he watched me testing door lock circuits and asked why I always start from the controller instead of the door. He said start at the problem and work backward, saves time. I laughed it off but tried it on a stuck car at the 3rd floor of the old Masonic building downtown. Cut my troubleshooting time in half. Anyone else get tips from folks outside the trade that actually work better?

That door lock adjustment on a 1986 Otis took me 4 hours

I spent an entire afternoon chasing a phantom intermittent door lock fault on an old relay logic Otis at the Hudson Street building, swapping three different limit switches before realizing the roller guide was worn down by just 2mm, has anyone else been burned by these tiny mechanical tolerances?

After 12 years I finally tried a laser level for rail alignment

I always used a string line and torpedo level to square up elevator rails on new installs, but last week my helper talked me into borrowing his Bosch GLL. It cut my setup time from 45 minutes to under 15, and the rail joints lined up perfect on the first try. Has anyone else switched to lasers for rail work, or am I just late to the party?

Just had a brake fail on an Otis elevator in a 12 story building downtown

Last Tuesday I was doing a routine inspection on an Otis Gen2 in a office building near 5th and Main. Everything looked fine until I tested the emergency brake and it just didn't grab. The shoes were completely glazed over from some kind of oil contamination. Had to pull the whole machine brake assembly and replace the pads on site. Has anyone else seen this kind of oil seepage on the Gen2 models?

That moment I realized I'd been cleaning governor cables wrong for 5 years

I was at a service call in an old building downtown last Thursday, a 12 stop hydraulic that makes that grinding noise when it levels. The building super is standing there watching me, which always makes me a little nervous. I start wiping down the governor cable with the rag and solvent like I always do, and the super just goes "you know you're supposed to dry it after that, right?" I laughed it off at first, told him I've been doing it this way for years. But then he pulled out his phone and showed me a maintenance bulletin from the manufacturer that says leaving solvent on there can actually make the cable slip in a high speed test. I checked two of my regular buildings the next day and found residue buildup on both of them. Has anyone else been making this same dumb mistake or am I the only one who never read that part of the manual?

Hit 500 elevator rescues this week and it made me think about all the dumb things people do in stuck cabs

Got my log book out and counted 500 calls for entrapments since I started, and I swear half of them could've been avoided if folks just stopped prying the doors or hitting every button when the power flickers, anyone else noticing more false alarms from those newer MCP touchscreens?

Found a way to stop those old Otis door lock faults without swapping the whole unit

We've got a 1992 Otis in a building downtown that kept throwing door lock faults every few weeks. Usually I'd just swap the whole lock assembly, $280 each time plus labor. But I tried something different last month. I cleaned the contacts with a fine grit sandpaper and put a tiny dab of dielectric grease on the plunger. It's been running smooth for 6 weeks now without a single fault. Has anyone else messed with just servicing these old locks instead of replacing them?

Rant: That time I nearly dropped a car in a school hallway

Last Tuesday we were doing a mod job at Lincoln Middle School in Detroit. Running new cables through a shitty old conduit and my apprentice hands me the wrong gauge wire. Three times. I got annoyed and yanked the bundle too hard. Snapped a support bracket right off the wall. Car lurched maybe an inch but my heart stopped. That was a 4000 pound cab with kids in the building. Now I double check every single bracket before I pull anything. Even if it's just a routine swap. Anyone else ever have a close call that made you slow way down?

The way people wire door limit switches keeps bugging me

I keep seeing guys on new installs in Denver running the door limit switch wires straight to the controller without any strain relief near the switch housing. I caught three cars in a row last month where the wires were rubbing against the track bracket, and one was already starting to fray. Doesn't matter if it's a Schindler or a Thyssen, if you don't pull that cable back and zip tie it to the door operator frame within 6 inches of the switch, you're asking for a short. Anyone else seeing this on newer jobs or is it just a regional thing?

Pro tip: stop balancing governor tension with feel, use a spring scale instead

I used to guess on governor cable tension by hand for years until I messed up a 40-floor high-rise in Chicago last fall and the safety binds seized mid-test, now I keep a scale in my bag so I can set it to exact pounds every time has anyone else had a close call from just winging it?

Shoutout to the guy who showed me how to clean elevator rollers

I was wrestling with a sticky door for the third time this month on a 2006 Otis in a downtown office building. An old timer walked by, saw me cussing, and told me to pull the roller assembly and hit it with denatured alcohol instead of my usual spray lube. The difference was night and day, the doors glide smooth now without that jerky hesitation. Has anyone else found a weird trick that totally changed how you deal with door issues?

My first stuck cab in a high rise back in 1998

I was at the Hancock Building in Chicago on the 42nd floor when a car just STOPPED between floors with a family of four inside. The old relay logic on that Otis system was acting up and I spent 2 hours tracing a bad solder joint on a timing relay. Has anyone else run into those old relay panels that just give you weird intermittent faults?

That 40 year old Otis manual I found in a job box said to grease the guide rails every 6 months

Just hit 500 successful door adjustments without a callback and I had to stop and think about that for a second

I've been keeping a log in my truck for the last 14 months and when I counted up last night I realized I've done 514 total and only 14 of those came back for retrim or binding issues, which is way better than I expected honestly because those leveling switches can be finicky, has anyone else tracked their success rate like that or am I just weird about it?

Just spent 4 hours on a door lock adjustment that should have taken 20 minutes

I was working on a MRL elevator in a 12-story building downtown and the doors kept bouncing open at the 3rd floor. After checking the cam and track for over an hour, I finally realized the door gibs were worn down by maybe 3/16 of an inch. Swapped them out and it worked perfect, but I wasted all that time on the wrong part first. Has anyone else had a simple door issue turn into a half day project because you overlooked something basic?

Pro tip: Never trust a 'brand new' controller board without testing it first

Honestly, last month I got called out to a high-rise in Austin where three cars kept dropping into inspection mode randomly. Spent a whole day tracing wiring on the MRL unit before I swapped the main controller board. The new one from the supplier was DOA, had a cold solder joint on the main relay. Lost a full shift and had to wait for a replacement overnight. Has anyone else had bad luck with factory-fresh parts lately?

TIL that most elevator door interlocks fail because of dirt buildup, not electrical issues

I found a stat from a 2023 Elevator World study that said 67% of door lock faults are just grime on the contacts, not bad wiring, and now I'm wondering how many calls I've wasted chasing ghosts instead of hitting them with contact cleaner first.

Showerthought: everyone says start the inspection from the top down but my best fix started from the bottom up

I was working on an old Otis in a 14 story building downtown last Tuesday. The top floor had a weird vibration but I started checking the bottom motor room first because the logs showed a recent cable adjustment. Found the compensator sheave was out of alignment by almost half an inch down there. Fixed that and the top floor vibration disappeared completely. Has anyone else found a bottom up approach actually solves upper level problems better?

PSA: Hydraulic oil vs synthetic in an MRL machine is not even close

I spent 6 months running thinner synthetic oil in a new Otis Gen2, chasing constant valve noise and overheating. Switched back to standard hydraulic oil last Tuesday and the thing runs smooth as glass in the Coney Island building we service. Has anyone else had the factory specs just flat out not work for your actual load conditions?