If you're working a job where the hoistway door is propped, please check that the hatch or any tool isn't sitting on the track itself because I just saw that bend the track ever so slightly and that door is not closing right on the top floor now has anyone else seen this cause a call back later?
I had been doing door gib adjustments for years in the Portland area, always using my trusty 4-foot level. Then a senior mechanic watched me work and just shook his head. He showed me how the bubble was actually saying the rail was plumb but the door frame was twisted. The whole time I had been fighting the wrong thing, adjusting gibs against a false reading. It took me 2 hours to redo three landings I thought were perfect. Has anyone else caught a bad level messing up their alignment work?
I was swapping out a brake coil on a 330A in a 12-story office building downtown and the Otis rep walked by. He said check your magnet gaps with a feeler gauge every time, even if it looks fine. I had a .008 difference on one side that would have burned the coil out in a month. Anyone else run into tight gaps on these older units?
Old timer I worked with back in the 80s showed me his method and I just copied it forever. Last week a young guy fresh out of school pulls out a laser and shows me the difference. My rails were off by 3/16 on a 10 floor job. Felt like an idiot. Anyone else have a rookie teach them something that made you question everything?
I was going through some old elevator manuals I picked up at a garage sale in Cleveland last month, just killing time. Turns out there's a spec in there from the 1960s that says rope terminations back then were only expected to hold 80 percent of the rope's breaking strength. I always assumed it was closer to 95 percent or something. I double checked it against a newer book I have and sure enough, modern terminations with proper torquing can hit 95 to 100 percent. That 15 percent difference explains a lot about some old jobs I've seen where the ropes looked fine but the car drifted. Has anyone else run into older buildings with rope terminations that just seem undersized for no reason?
Been doing cables by feel and sound for 12 years, figured the gadget was just another thing to carry. Dude handed me the Amare model and after checking three sets of governor ropes I found one reading 5% off spec that I woulda swore was perfect. Now I keep one in my bag but I still don't tell the old guys. Anyone else get humbled by a tool they talked trash about?
I used to hate every call to that Otis elevator in the Masonic temple on 3rd Street. Now they swapped out the original 1980s controller for an MCE last year, and it runs smoother than most brand new installs I see. The difference in leveling accuracy is night and day. Has anybody else noticed a huge jump when a building finally gives up on the old relay logic?
I was reading through ASME A17.1 standards last night while waiting on a service call and saw the recommended replacement interval for hoist ropes. Turns out my old boss was running them way too long on his contracts. Has anyone else found a big difference between what the book says and what shops actually do?
Last Tuesday I got called to a three car hospital job where all units were stuck on different floors. Turned out one loose governor belt on the machine room side was throwing off the sync on all three controllers. Has anyone else had a single part take out a whole bank like that?
Never tracked my daily numbers before, but I decided to count just for fun and it actually surprised me how much ground you can cover when you're in the zone. Anyone else ever run a tally on their longest day?
Watched an old timer from Chicago adjust one of my cars last month and he pointed out my tension readings were all over the place because I was using a cheap fish scale instead of a proper tensiometer. Who else has had a guy with 30 years experience walk in and show you something basic you missed?
I was swapping out a valve for the hydraulic unit in the elevator at Mercy General in Chicago. As I pulled the old one, a seal blew and dumped about 3 gallons of oil across the machine room floor before I could shut the line. Had to grab a mop and call the building manager to explain the delay - took me an extra hour to clean up and test the new valve. Anyone else ever have a minor swap turn into a major mess like that?
Got a Gen 2 MCE running again by swapping a single relay instead of replacing the whole board. Anyone else keep spare relays in their truck for the common failures?
I switched back to a brush last month after my spray can clogged mid-job on a Mowrey install in Cleveland, anyone else find the old way just works better for heavy traffic lifts?
Got called to a building downtown last Wednesday. Six story office. Otis elevator was stopping three inches high on the second floor. Track was caked with dust and grease. Like nobody had cleaned it in years. Had to scrape it out with a putty knife and then hit it with degreaser. Took two hours just to get the door rollers moving smooth again. Real pain. Guy at the front desk said the building manager never schedules track cleaning. How often do you guys push for maintenance on stuff like this?
I was doing the annual fire recall test last Tuesday and that stupid smoke detector in the elevator lobby kept tripping false alarms. The fire marshal was standing right there. Had to pull the whole car out of service for 45 minutes. Since then I started checking all the sensor dates before I even start the inspection checklist. Has anyone else run into sensors that are way past their replacement date but nobody flagged it?
Turns out the timing parameters are way more sensitive than the manual suggests so I learned to always clone the settings before swapping anything has anyone else gotten burned by factory defaults on a board swap?
Ordered a filter from a random supply house online without double checking the specs against the manual for that old Otis in downtown Austin. Has anyone else gotten burned by assuming a standard part number would fit?
Everyone talks up MRL setups like they're bulletproof, but I've had two of these things fail on me in the last year. This one was a 5 year old unit, just lost all brake resistance and the rotor seized up around 2pm. Spent 4 hours alone trying to get the rotor freed up with a pry bar and penetrating oil before calling for a replacement. The old geared machines weren't sexy but at least you could rebuild them on site. Am I the only one who thinks the trade is pushing these too fast without the field support?
He saw me struggling with a stuck door lock on an elevator. Just walked over and said "check the roller guides first kid." Spent 20 minutes watching him adjust them with a single crescent wrench. No fancy tools, no phone calls. Has anyone else had an old timer save your butt with just a quick tip?
I used to buy those $25 governor cables from online supply shops. Lost two jobs in one week because they snapped during testing in a building downtown. Finally switched to OEM cables at $60 a pop and haven't had a single issue since. Anyone else get burned by bargain bin parts or am I just unlucky?
Was troubleshooting a car that kept stopping between floors. Checked everything, spent about 4 hours chasing ghosts. Turned out one of the door interlock rollers had worn down to half its size and wasn't making contact in cold weather. Anyone else run into weird intermittent failures that only show up below freezing?
Found out from a Otis manual last winter that below 20 degrees the lubricant in the lock mechanism can thicken and cause false open signals, has anyone else had ghost door faults on a cold morning?
I was doing a routine maintenance check on an old Otis in a building downtown. The door lock contact arced out and welded itself shut. Had to manually jump the safety circuit to get the car moving again so the super wouldn't lose his mind. Has anyone else had those old roller guides suddenly bind up right after a lube interval?
Always thought machine-room-less lifts were a pain. Hard to service. Tight spaces. But I was doing a callback on a 10-year old Kone MonoSpace. Had to check the brake. Got up there. Was actually able to stand. Had room for my tools. Belt was in decent shape. No oil leaks everywhere. Made me think. Maybe they're not all bad. Any of you guys had good experiences with old MRLs?