Shoutout to the crew that helped me with a stuck car in a downtown Chicago high rise

Got a call for a car stuck between floors on a Friday afternoon. The main sheave was jammed solid with a broken spring piece. Took six of us three hours to get it free and rig a temporary bypass. Honestly thought we'd be there all night. Anyone ever had a spring fail that catastrophically on a modern unit?

3 comments

3 Comments

elliot_allen653mo ago

Reminds me of a stuck elevator that had a whole shoe wedged in the door track.

andrew_smith3mo ago

Totally believe that, @elliot_allen65. Saw a grocery cart wheel jam one shut for an hour once.

lewis.mila1mo ago

The grocery cart wheel thing is wild honestly. Those metal doors have that rubber strip at the bottom that's super sensitive. Once they get even a little bit blocked the sensor just shuts everything down. Probably some safety thing from the 80s that never got updated. Saw a video where a folded up piece of cardboard stopped a whole automatic door for like three days. Maintenance had to come out and cut the rubber seal to get it moving again. Really makes you wonder how many of those doors are just waiting for the smallest thing to break them.