Cleaning elevator hydraulic fluid - Chicago, IL

We maintain many buildings that have very old hydraulic elevator systems.  When you have old equipment you also have old oil.  Every 5 years we recommend the elevator fluid be filtered or replaced.  Most of our customers take our recommendations and move forward with filtering or replacement.

The two largest hydraulic elevator valve manufacturers [Maxton & EECO] recommend complete replacement of hydraulic fluid every five years so their valves operate correctly.  If you have clean oil your hydraulic valve will operate better and longer.  If you have the correct additives in the elevator system your hydraulic cylinder gland packings will also last longer.

After years of use a hydraulic elevator’s hydraulic fluid will absorb the environment in which it is in, which includes, dust, dirt, lint or whatever is in the air.  What also happens if the hydraulic fluid gets too hot, the oil burns which adds burned oil to the impurities.  When this fluid is analyzed you will also find some metal in it from your pump, motor and valve as they deteriorate.  One of the perception issues is that you will never see the bottom of the elevator tank unless you remove the hydraulic fluid.  You can see the build up on the sites of the tank but as you will see below what we found.

We are working on a cylinder replacement and part of our process is to remove all of the hydraulic fluid and clean the hydraulic reservoir.  This elevator is form the late 1960’s and most likely has never been cleaned.  

Before tank cleaning 

After tank cleaning 

We recently got a call from a customer of ours who works with another elevator company at a few different locations.  She wanted me to look over a proposal from the currently company at a building.  The company was going to replace a valve on a elevator that is 20 +/- years old and add new oil.  You can add new oil but you really need to clean the tank out or the new oil will pick up all the debris from the bottom of the tank.  If funding is available you would like to have new oil and clean the tank so your new valve doesn't get the impurities into it right away.  

What is the difference between filtering and adding new oil?  After years and years of use the hydraulic fluid starts to loose the additives that help the elevator run as it was designed.  During a tank cleaning we will remove the impurities but filtering the hydraulic fluid does not restore it to its new composition.   You can add additive to the tank which helps but we recommend replacement of oil whenever possible, oil has historically been expensive.   With today's oil pricing it is a very reasonable to install 110 ga. of hydraulic fluid during a tank cleaning.  Filtering the oil and cleaning the tank is good, replacing the hydraulic fluid is great.

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.