c/elevator-mechanics

6

patb86•4h ago

Vent: Thought I could eyeball a rail alignment and wasted a whole afternoon

Last Tuesday I got a little too confident on a modernisation job downtown and decided I didn't need the laser tool to line up the guide rails on the 4th floor. Figured I've been doing this long enough, I can just sight it down the shaft right? Wrong lol. Got everything bolted in, ran the car up, and it sounded like a garbage disposal full of rocks. Had to unbolt half the brackets and redo it with the laser anyway. Took me damn near 4 hours to fix what should've been a 30 minute setup. Learned my lesson hard - lasers are cheap, my time is not. Anybody else ever skip a tool thinking you got it and immediately regret it?

9

the_spencer•1d ago

Door lock contacts keep causing intermittent faults on older hydro elevators...

I keep seeing guys replace the entire door lock assembly when the real issue is just the contacts being misaligned or dirty after a few years of use. Just yesterday I spent 20 minutes cleaning and bending a set of contacts on a 1985 Dover unit, and the car ran perfectly after that. Has anybody else found a quick trick for adjusting those without pulling the whole lock?

32

hart.parker•1d ago

Tried the cheap Chinese rail guides vs OEM for a Schindler 3300 last week - never again

Honestly thought I was saving the building $400 by going with the knockoffs. First one bound up on the third floor. Had to pull the car out of service for 2 hours while I swapped it back. The OEM ones slid smooth as butter. Building manager was pissed. Has anyone else had luck with aftermarket parts or am I just asking for trouble?

6

robert64•2d ago

Debate: Hydraulic vs traction elevator upgrades for mid-rises in older buildings

I see a huge before-and-after difference in ride quality when swapping old hydraulic systems for modern traction drives, especially in 10-story buildings from the 60s. The hydraulic ones are simpler to maintain but the traction units save so much energy over 5 years - which side do you lean on for a 1990s building?

3

gavinh26•4d ago

Old timer Dave told me to always check the brake drum temp with my hand before leaving a job

I thought he was being dramatic until I caught one running 40 degrees over spec last Tuesday - has anyone else nearly missed a hot brake on a freight elevator?

18

williamt44•19d ago

Hit 500 elevator recalls this month without missing a single one

I was going through my logbook last night and realized I hit 500 callback repairs this month without a single repeat visit. That's 500 times I went out, fixed the issue, and never heard back about the same problem. It caught me off guard because I usually just grind through the week without keeping score. Anyone else ever tally up their numbers and surprise yourself?

7

white.grant•19d ago

Saw an old Otis controller at a basement job in Portland yesterday

The thing still had tape markings from 1987 and a hand-drawn schematic glued to the inside door. Anyone else ever run into ancient gear that somehow still works fine?

7

victor_butler•20d ago

Spent $180 on a laser alignment tool for a job in Cleveland and it saved my back big time

I was leveling a new rail system in an older building downtown and kept second-guessing my bubble levels. Finally bit the bullet on a rotary laser kit from a local supply house (roughly $180 with the receiver). Got the whole job done in one pass without crawling around on my knees for hours. Has anyone else switched to laser for rail work or am I late to the party?

9

kellyr18•21d ago

Old Otis vs new lifts - night and day difference

Worked on a 1970s Otis machine room last week, then went to a newer MRL job the next day. The old Otis just ran smooth with zero controller headaches. Honestly think the older gearless setups are way more reliable than these newer AC drives.

29

shane_nguyen•23d ago

Three hours to fix a 10 minute job on a dumbwaiter today

Got called to a restaurant downtown for a dumbwaiter that kept stopping between floors. Turned out the limit switch was just a quarter inch out of alignment from someone bumping it during a delivery. Took me three hours to find it because I started checking the controller first, then the motor brake, even pulled the cables before I finally looked at the damn switch. Has anyone else spent way too long on something that simple just because you thought it had to be a bigger problem?

25

cora_ramirez•25d ago

Old timer at the shop told me I was greasing guide rails wrong for 10 years

I was just slapping the grease on thick figuring more is better. He pulled me aside and said I was just creating a mess that would gum up the rollers over time. Showed me to use a thin film and wipe away the excess. Since I switched to that method about 6 months back, my callbacks on rail noise dropped to almost zero. Anyone else get a basic tip that totally flipped their routine?

25

hill.sarah•25d ago

Took a chance on a cheap Chinese door operator kit for a retrofit in Cleveland last fall

I figured it would crap out in 6 months tops. But it's been running smooth for 8 months now in a busy hospital elevator. Only paid $420 for the whole kit compared to the $1,200 name brand one. Has anyone else had decent luck with these imported parts or did I just get lucky?

25

jennifer_murphy53•26d ago

Wasted $300 on a cheap hydraulic jack for the shop

Bought a no-name hydraulic jack off Amazon for $300. Thought I was saving money. Leaked oil everywhere after three weeks. Lost a whole day cleaning it up and waiting for a replacement that never came. Anyone else get burned by those bargain jacks on freight elevators?

5

lilys81•26d ago

Dropped $150 on a digital level and it saved my butt on site

The old bubble level kept lying to me on a rail install in Phoenix. That digital readout caught a 0.5 degree slope before the bolts went in. Anybody else trust the digital more than their eyes on escalator work?

3

the_logan•26d ago

Noticed a huge difference after greasing door tracks weekly

I started doing weekly grease on the elevator door tracks at a 12 story building in Portland about 3 months ago. Before that, we had a service call every 6 weeks for stuck doors or noisy operation. Has anyone else seen a big drop in callbacks from just a small maintenance change like this?

20

gavinh26•27d ago

Old building mechanic in Detroit told me leveling with shims is a crutch and I been arguing with myself about it for 3 days

He said true craftsmanship means cutting every rail to fit perfect no shims needed, but half the shafts I work in have walls that are 2 degrees off plumb so are we really helping anyone or just making the job take twice as long?

3

claire958•28d ago

Can we talk about how hotel elevators are always set to the wrong floor?

I was in Chicago last weekend at the Hyatt Regency and their elevator bank was stuck defaulting to the lobby every single time. It added like 3 minutes to each trip because the car kept stopping there even if nobody got on. I checked the controller and they had the hall call priority set way too high. Has anyone else seen hotels mess up their floor priority settings like this?

24

averym82•1mo ago

PSA: A safety inspector told me my cable terminations were wrong - here's what I changed

Last month during a routine inspection in a 12-story office building downtown, the inspector pointed out that my swaged fittings on the governor cable had burrs I'd been ignoring. He told me, "Those burrs will start a stress crack after about 10,000 cycles" - I had no idea. I switched to using a proper file and then a fine stone to dress each termination, even though it adds maybe 3 minutes per cable. Has anyone else had an inspector call out something small that actually saved you a big headache later?

5

blake432•1mo ago

I chose the old Otis relay system over the new MRL controller on a 6-floor building last month

The MRL was quieter and used less power but after 3 breakdowns in the first week I swapped back to the relay and it ran smooth for 22 days straight, anyone else still sticking with the old stuff when it makes sense?

5

phoenix79•1mo ago

Old timer at the union hall made me reconsider my valve adjustment routine

Been setting hydraulic elevator valves by ear for 12 years, never saw a problem with it. Then this guy Earl, who's been in the trade since the 70s, showed me his pressure gauge readings from three identical jobs. The difference between what I thought was 'right' and actual spec was almost 50 psi on one of them. He didn't lecture me, just handed me a spare gauge and said 'try it once and see.' After running a full bank of stops with actual numbers, I can't go back to guessing. Any of you guys still doing it old school or did you switch to gauges?

11

veramartin•1mo ago

Tried cleaning governor ropes with brake cleaner instead of degreaser

Last Tuesday I had an old OTIS elevator in a 12-story building where the governor rope was slipping bad. I usually use heavy duty degreaser and a rag but I was out. Grabbed a can of brake cleaner from my truck on a whim. Worked way better than I expected. Got the rope moving smooth again in about 10 minutes. Anyone else ever use brake cleaner on governor ropes or is that a bad idea long term?

23

riley_coleman•1mo ago

Had a long chat with a retired mechanic named Jerry at a parts counter in Denver

He was picking up some old school relay switches nobody uses anymore. I asked him why he bothered and he just laughed and said because the newer stuff fails too fast. He walked me through how he used to troubleshoot a whole car elevator with just a multimeter and a screwdriver. Made me think about how much I lean on fancy diagnostic tools now instead of really knowing the system.

2

park.wyatt•1mo ago

Talked to an old timer about brake pad drag and now I'm questioning everything

A retired mechanic named Dave was hanging around the supply house last week. He watched me grab a new set of pads for an OTIS and just said "You know 90% of those get swapped too early, right?" Told me he used to run them till the wear indicators were almost gone and never had a callback. I've always changed them the second they hit the mark. Now I don't know. Anyone ever push pads past the normal replacement point on purpose?

6

davis.ivan•1mo ago

That 20-year-old governor rope on a Kone job snapped clean last Tuesday.

It was a routine inspection in a downtown office building, and the thing just gave out under a light test load. I had to shut the whole bank down for 8 hours to re-rope it. Anyone run into a sudden failure like that on gear you thought had years left?

9

hill.sarah•1mo ago

Saw something at the mall in Springfield that made me want to yell at the ceiling

I was at the Westfield Mall yesterday and they have this glass elevator that's supposed to be a feature. The guide rails were so dirty with grease and grime you could barely see through them. I mean, it's a basic cleaning job, not a full rebuild. Does anyone else run into this with public view elevators?