When is it time to plan an elevator modernization?

This is always a question we get from building owners who have older equipment.  When should we plan for a modernization?  This is a great question that hopefully you as a building owner have been thinking over long before equipment reliability has forced you to begin thinking of this.

 [This is a ESCO Elevator controller that runs well for its age]

 [Born in 1969 - 48 years old]

Building’s expectations of elevator equipment – If a building has an expectation that the elevator should run flawlessly then equipment should be replaced after 15-20 years. Typically you begin to see a pattern with good run time becoming less and less between failures.  How elastic is the building with shut downs and nuisance problems.  If not very elastic, change the equipment before you start having issues.

 [Valve was replaced but original pump and motor]

Building’s environment – Some buildings are easy on their elevator equipment some buildings are hard on the equipment.  If the building is exposed to the elements, heat, cold, rain, snow, etc this would also shorten the life of the equipment.

What type of equipment is currently installed – This is a lot of great elevator equipment out there that can run for a very long time 40+ years.  There is also some equipment out there that runs for 15-20 years and begins to develop issues.   In our universe a 40 year old ESCO relay based controller is a better controller than a 20 year old Montgomery Miprom of Schindler Westinghouse MPH II.  One of the reasons 40 year old equipment may last longer is because it has less features such as firemans’ service and other safety items that require more complicated circuitry.  Also, solid state boards are not as reliable or as easy to replace as high duty cycle relays used for older elevator systems.

 [This elevator is so old that the original inhabitants of the elevator hoistway recorded the history of the elevator on the walls]

Who is your elevator maintenance company/mechanic – This is also very important.  If you have a company that specializes in your equipment you may get longer life out of the elevator.  Make sure the elevator company you hire is a good fit for the equipment.   I.E. Otis Elevator may not be a good fit to work on ERM controllers, unless they have someone who is familiar with the ERM product.  In the same respect Colley Elevator would not be good for a Gold Flight Schindler/Haughton elevator.  “Old Joe who has taken care of our elevators for the last 20 years is going to retire”.  Find out who is going to be replacing Old Joe and if this person knows your type of elevator systems.  All elevator mechanics are not the same and they all have different strengths and knowledge of different types of equipment.

Can the building afford it – This is probably the biggest part of the equation. Elevator modernization is expensive and comes with other items the building needs to address I.E. Fire systems and non-elevator electrical work.  A good practice would be to get preliminary numbers from you elevator maintenance company so you know what you are looking at as far as cost goes. We talk to reserve study companies on a regular basis who charge for this service, your elevator company would most likely do it for free. 

 [This door operator has been opening and closing for the building for 48 years]

Is the elevator code going to mandate a change – The elevator code could mandate a building to replace their equipment to comply with a new requirement i.e. Fireman’s automatic recall or in Chicago FEO phase II compliance.  Find out what is on the horizon for your jurisdiction.  A good source is your elevator maintenance company or an elevator consultant.  If you hire an elevator consultant, make sure it is a experienced reputable one.

Take away – Be aware of your current elevator equipment and have a solid plan of when you should be thinking of replacing it.  If you have the funding and the equipment is running well you can always punt a year.  On the other hand, if you are not financially prepared and you need to do it now, it is hard to collect the amount of money needed to complete a modernization.  Be as prepared as you can.

The pictures are from a modernization take off we did recently for a building that will be changing their elevator equipment shortly after years and years of nuisance issues and shut downs.

As always feel free to contact us at www.colleyelevator.com, email Craigz@colleyelevator.com or call 630-766-7230.

Chicago elevator maintenance traction elevator – dormant buildings

I was scrolling through old emails cleaning up old emails and found these pictures of a traction elevator from a building that was dormant, owned but not occupied.  We previously had the maintenance contract, building owners moved out, the building was dormant for many months until a sale was finalized.  At some time during this period one of the elevators stopped working. 

While the outcome is the same if this was caught before it was a balled-up mess, the resolution would be a lot cleaner if it was identified earlier or perhaps it could have been prevented.  In my opinion one of the worse things for an elevators is having it not be exercised on a regular basis.

Take away – Even dormant buildings require elevator maintenance.  The hard part of this is that a dormant building has no revenue associated with it and there is an expense of paying an elevator mechanic to inspect the elevators.  An elevator mechanic may have caught this earlier or could have cared for the elevator so this would not have occurred.  Now the cables need to be replaced.

As always feel free to contact us at www.colleyelevator.com, email Craigz@colleyelevator.com or call 630-766-7230.

Elevator pits hall of fame – Volume #2

Here is the 2^nd edition of some of our better pit pictures, no great pits in this one.

This one is from 2015. I believe it was from a postal facility where they wanted me to measure for a new cylinder.  I got some push back when I told them I wouldn’t go in the pit until it was drained and cleaned out.  I had to explain to the PM and building owner why I wouldn't get in this pit and send pictures. 

I got a call for a building that is relatively close.  This was a strange instance where we had some people on vacation, doing testing and on calls.  The call was the fire alarm in the pit was going off and they needed someone there now.  I took a ride over and nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I found this.  They had more than a fire alarm issue.  Worked out well, elevator guy met the plumber, then the elevator guy met the alarm guy. 

This one was from 2015, this is a wild one where the water is very clear compared some of the pits we see water in.  I want to say this was a bank up in the northshore where we had to change the pit equipment in after this occurred more than a few times.  I don’t believe the oil ever go contaminated.  Hard to believe right?

This was a eye opener when I was measuring for pit ladders in Skokie, IL I stumbled upon this.  We ended up responsibly disposing of the syringes.  I think I was at a bid walk though at a Village Hall somewhere and they where handing out syringe disposal containers.   If you are not comfortable handling these, do not handle them, call your supervisor and ask what you should do or have your supervisor handle it.  These could be a social user or medical user, can’t tell, you don’t want to find out.  This wasn’t our elevator on maintenance, it was a nice hotel which made it even more surprising that these popped up.  

The elevator pit you see is from when our Northshore/Northside got hammered with something like 12-18 inches of rain in 36 hours in July.  There is a controller from 1964 and it runs like an elevator in a haunted house.  I can think of a better use for the water rather than going in the pit. No oil contamination.

The next two pictures are also from July.  The building’s basement got flooded pretty bad.  No oil contamination during this rain.  The wild thing is that we got a good amount of rain recently and the building flooded again.  The amount of rain was significantly less but plunger must have taken on a few gallons of water.  We put new oil in and are using the a filtration device which removes water and it should do the trick.  It will take 30-60 days to get all the water out with the device.  If you are interested in how this works, email me.

As always feel free to contact us at www.colleyelevator.com, email Craigz@colleyelevator.com or call 630-766-7230.

Elevator pits Hall of Fame - Volume #1

Over the years you accumulate a lot of pictures of good things, bad things, cool things, etc.  I added a new picture to a shared folder we have in our office called “Hall of Fame”.  What typically ended up in the hall of fame is train wrecks, but some good things pop in there from time to time.  I have been doing the blog since May 2014 and it is hard to come up with new and good content every week so when I saw the oval PVC it reminded me of all the gems we have in our folder.

1^st picture is a picture from a small portfolio of elevators where an OEM had been completing maintenance for many years.  Over the years they just pulled back and pulled back maintenance and only went there a few times a year for a few minutes. Differed maintenance or no maintenance?  We went back a year later before we took over the account and the pit still looked like this

2^nd picture is a duplex elevator that has a water problem. This is a large amount of water if you add up the square footage and converted it to gallons.  Look where the sump is.

 3^rd picture is a cylinder we are removing right now.  We found that this PVC is oval.  There was no leak in the cylinder, the building was told there was a leak.  The issue here was the piston was scored from being installed crooked so by the time we go there it could not be salvaged.  There was also a big knock on this car and the car next to it.  I would imagine the company who used this PVC had an issue with it becoming oval so it became difficult to plumb the cylinder.  This PVC has no markings what material it is, just black PVC.  It weighs about 60% of what schedule 40 PVC weighs, much easier to move around but apparently there is a downside to it.  This is from an OEM installation.  This could also go into a "bad/interesting cylinder hole replacement" heading.

4^th picture is an elevator that was out of service that the building owner wanted to see what they could do.  We passed.

5^th picture is what I am always impressed with.  An elevator mechanic and company who takes pride in their jobs.  This is from an independent company in the Chicago area, I would like to take credit for this but it was another company. 

As always feel free to contact us at www.colleyelevator.com, email Craigz@colleyelevator.com or call 630-766-7230.