I was checking a governor rope for a year before I saw the twist pattern

Abby Harris · 2026-03-19T19:05:08.20574+00:00

I always just looked for fraying and felt the tension, but last Tuesday in a 12-story building I noticed the rope had a slight left-hand twist I never paid attention to. The old head mechanic pointed out that the twist can show wear from the sheave long before the strands go. How many of you actually check the rope twist on your regular checks?

val_sullivan46mo ago

Well, better late than never, I guess.

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garcia.logan6mo ago

You just taught me something I should have been looking for, thanks.

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nelson.gavin5mo ago

Our shop has run the same Otis elevators for fifteen years and we've never logged a twist pattern. We look for core shots and broken wires, the stuff that actually fails. Garcia.logan might find it useful, but I've seen ropes with a perfect twist snap from internal corrosion you'd never spot that way. Feels like looking for a specific crack in the pavement when the whole road is sinking.

0