Always thought those digital tension testers were a gimmick til my foreman made me use one on the Otis Gen2 install at the Parkview building downtown.

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?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryanh7722d ago

The Amare model got me too man. I had fifteen years in when my apprentice handed me one and I laughed at him, said I could hear a bad cable from three floors away. First rope I checked was reading 8% low and I almost threw the thing out the hoistway window. Now it lives in my bag right next to the spare fuses and nobody sees it unless something feels off. You ever catch yourself double checking your own ears with that thing when nobody's watching?

angela19122d ago

Tell you the truth, I did the same thing with mine. Thought it was just another gadget that would end up in the bottom of a drawer somewhere. That thing caught a failing brake resistor three weeks in that I swore was just a loose wire. Felt like a fool standing there with the multimeter confirming it. Now I run it on anything that feels even a little off, just to be sure. My old ears still have their moments, but that little box humbles me more than I care to admit.