Required elevator maintenance - State of Illinois

Elevator maintenance is now required in the State of Illinois by the State of Illinois Fire Marshall.  The State of Illinois requires that all elevators are to have a MCP or maintenance control plan, maintenance records, wiring diagrams and code data plate.  Within the MCP is supposed to a maintenance plan for that specific elevator. One elevator, one maintenance control plan.  The new A17.1 2013 code which includes stronger wording on what the MCP document is supposed to be will be adopted by the State of Illinois in the next few months or sooner.  If your building does not have a maintenance agreement with a State of Illinois licensed elevator contractor, get in touch.  While it is required by law to have a maintenance control program, it is also a good idea to have elevator maintenance to keep the elevator in a reliable and safe working manner.  The elevator system may be the most complicate piece of machinery in the building and if not well maintained can be very expensive to repair or lead to unsafe conditions.  Preventative maintenance will prolong the life of the elevator system as well as catch small problems before they become larger and more expensive problems to resolve and more importantly could prevent someone from being injured.

 

If you have any questions or require more information you may reach Colley Elevator at 630-766-7230 or www.colleyelevator.com

Elevator door restrictors

This is a reminder to all buildings in the State of Illinois with elevators that door restrictors should have been installed by 1/1/14.  If you do not have a door restrictor installed get one installed.  This is a permitted process which does take time and the final installation may require a municipal inspection.  If you currently have a door restrictor and it is partially installed or has been disabled, call the elevator maintenance company you use to have them repair the door restrictor.

 

The function of the door restrictor is to restrict the car door from opening and closing when it is outside of the door zone, which typically is 18” above or below the floor.  There are both mechanical and electronic door restrictors that can be installed. 

If you have more questions or require any information on door restrictors you can go to www.colleyelevator.com or call our office at 630-766-7230.

Change in weather change in elevator sounds in the hoistway

It appears the weather is breaking in Chicago and we will be getting warmer weather on a consistent basis. For most low rise elevator systems we use guide shoes which ride the elevators on the four corners of the elevator sling[which is holds the elevator cab].  Most of the guides have plastic inserts that make contact with the rails. With the changing temperatures and levels of humidity we see the lubricants we use on the guide rails change composition, therefore it may be necessary to lubricate the rails with a different lubricant or reapply a lubricant to the guide rails.  If you begin hearing some noises in the hoist way going up and down, most of the time there is no need to worry, call your elevator maintenance company it may just needs a reapplication of lubrication or a different lubrication dependent if the weather is going from cold to warm or the humidity is going low to mid-range.

For more information on elevator maintenance you can find more information at www.colleyelevator.com or call 630-766-7230

Snow, salt and elevator door operation

A frequent call for elevators is when the door does not close or the door keeps opening and closing.  This can also be described as the elevator door closes but the elevator does not run.  With the large amount of snow we have had and the large amount of salt that building owners and building users put on the ground we find that many service calls can be avoided by making sure the car and hall sill is clear of salt. The elevator car and hall sill is the lower track the bottom of the car and hall doors run on. This track needs to be clear of all obstructions. Our shoes pick up the salt from outside and will deposit the salt all over buildings.  If there is salt in the sill it may create resistance or blockage so the car or hatch door does not close fully.  If the elevator door does close fully the elevator will not run.  We recommend vacuuming out the car and hall sill on any entrance that people may be using from coming in from the outside on a regular basis.  If vacuuming out the sills is completed you may save a service call.

For more questions or additional information you can go to www.colleyelevator.com.