This is a reminder to all building owners that have older
buildings to make sure they have replaced the single bottom elevator cylinders
at their buildings. The cylinder replacement mandate was due 1/1/13. We are completing quite a few elevator
cylinder replacements for some lagging buildings right now but I do know many
buildings have not approached the cylinder replacement issue.
[General information on elevator cylinder replacement]
As a building owner you have the responsibility to prove
that the elevator’s cylinder has a safety bulk head. What is a safety bulk head or double bottom
cylinder? It is a second button on the
elevator cylinder all the way at the bottom of the cylinder. This could be 50”+ underground.
[This is a 56' cylinder that is being removed]
Why do I have to
replace my cylinder? If you have a single
bottom cylinder there is a possibility of catastrophic failure which could lead
to an elevator free fall. This is very
rare but it has and does happen.
How do I know if I
have a single bottom cylinder? You should talk to
your elevator maintenance provider and they should help you obtain the
information. If you elevator maintenance
provider is not helpful you can use a rule of thumb that if the elevator as
installed prior to 1972, it most likely has a single bottom cylinders. There were some elevator manufacturers that
did install safety bulk heads in the 1960’s.
Is there any way you
can tell if I have a safety bulk head without pulling the cylinder out? If you do not have any information from the
manufacturer of the cylinder you will need to replace the cylinder. We do not have technology to X ray
underground to identify if there is a safety bulk head. Perhaps the technology is out there but it is
cost prohibitive.
How much does it
cost and how long does the replacement take?
Each elevator is different but it may cost $20,000 to
$60,000 depending on how far the elevator goes up and down and the
environment. The process will typically
take 1-3 weeks. There can be underground
conditions that cause a longer period of shut down and increased expenses. Please pay attention to the “cylinder hole
clause” and have your elevator contractor explain this to you. If you have a hole that is not cased, has
water, collapses, boulders, crooked, etc you may pay additional to remedy the
situation.
How to pick a
contractor to replace your cylinder?
If you are not comfortable with the person when they walk through the
door or they do not have references, do not work with them. Ask the contract what would they do if the hole
goes bad and have them tell you about some cylinder holes that didn’t go as
planned. If they do not have knowledge
of what they need to do, perhaps they are not a good fit for you. Once you begin working with a company and the
elevator is out of service you are pretty much stuck with them. When the elevator cylinder is out of the ground if you don’t like what they have to say when
the hole goes bad you are pot committed.
Get plan b information before you sign a contract so when you have an issue you know the
protocol and it isn’t a surprise when they tell you it may cost you $20,000 to
$50,000 to have a well driller come in.
Are there any
options besides replacing my cylinder? Yes you can install
a safety device to prevent free fall.
There are two that I am aware of the Adams Life Jacket and installing
safeties on the elevator car[similar to traction elevator safeties]. Both options have their limitations and
cannot be installed on all elevators depending on the hoist way environment.
[Adams Life Jacket]
If all else fails, hire an elevator consultant to help you
with the cylinder replacement process.
You can always get in touch with Colley and we can help you out, while
we are local company in the Chicago area we can point you in the direction of
some reliable contractors across the county if you are not in the Chicago land
area. We do the most cylinder
replacements in the Chicago land area and have run into pretty much everything. If it has happened we most likely have experience with it.
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.
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