Obsolete Elevator Equipment

From time to time we get questions about obsolete elevator equipment.  Some companies use this as a reason to bill building owners or tell them to replace their equipment.  At the company I work for we do not typically use this as a reason why a building owner should replace their equipment.  But, the reality is that there are times that the equipment is “obsolete” and parts cannot be found.  So for a repair you would have to “make something work”.   These are difficult conversations to have with building owners.  I will give two examples of where a company may have been misinformed about the availability because they did not want to replace the equipment and one which is a legitimately obsolete.

Definition – Obsolete – Dictionary.com

1. no longer in general use; fallen into disuse: 

2. of a discarded or outmoded type; out of date: 

Example #1 – Motor control was causing issues on a high use elevator.  The incumbent vendor indicated that it may be the motor or the brake or something in the controller.  We had been at the building and bumped into the maintenance person from the incumbent company and they told us what the issue was.   After looking at the controller I suggested replacing the “Smooth Move” AC elevator control component.  The incumbent company wanted to install a new motor drive on the elevator because the “Smooth Move” control component was obsolete.  The only reason I remember this part so distinctly is because I had to find a replacement for a building on the north side of Chicago and any elevator part called “Smooth Move” I would not forget.  I looked up the part and it is still available in East Dundee, IL by Power Electronics.  I do not know if the incumbent was looking to maximize their benefit on this elevator or if they really didn’t know this part existed.  The take away here is that we need to exhaust our resources to find these parts. From a definition aspect, this part would be still in general use because someone is still making the part, while it may also be out of date technology. 

[What a great name - Smooth Move]

Example #2 – We are working on a controller which was damaged after some storms rolled through and now the elevator is having some intermittent issues with the PLC.  The company who made the control system is no longer in business.  The person who designed the system is still in the business but has sent out notes indicating that he will no longer support this product and all controllers should be considered for replacement.  When we as an elevator company run into this it becomes very difficult as there is no support and parts are few and far between, most of these replacement parts are used and not manufactured any longer.  This would quality as obsolete equipment as the company who manufactured the controller is out of business, there are not new parts available and there is no support available.  From a definition aspect this part is no longer in general use on elevators and it is out of date.

We as elevator contractors have a lot of equipment that is considered “obsolete” that we maintain, repair and take care of.  It is our responsibility to let building owners and managers know that the equipment should be replaced or they will incur potentially large repair charges and on the rare occasion, the elevator equipment may not be able to be repaired.  While I do not think a 30 year old elevator is old, our reality is that control component companies are not supporting their equipment after 15-20 years and calling it obsolete.

As a building owner or manager you should be reviewing your elevator equipment and talking with your vendor on what they should be planning for.  I recently saw some US Elevator Ascension 1000 controllers on a maintenance walk through and made a recommendation that they should consider replacing them.  They told me that is what their current vendor told them.  The elevators are from 1997, these are not old elevator systems.  The elevator company who installed the elevator is out of business, the company who acquired the company has fewer and fewer people that are familiar with this control equipment.  This all means that there are fewer and fewer options on repairing the elevator system if there is a significant issue.  On Friday at 4pm building owners do not want to hear “I cannot fix the elevator”, while it is only 18 years old, it should be replaced which will take weeks or months to get in process. The elevator company can typically send the solid state boards in for repair, but this does take days to do, which is a frustration for the building owner.  Talk about these situations and be proactive with the equipment replacement.  My suggestion is to get a new controller that has parts available and you can get tech support on.

If you have any questions or would like information from Colley Elevator you can go to www.colleyelevator.com, email Craigz@colleyelevator.com or call 630-766-7230.