Hydraulic elevator cylinder replacement – What we found underground

We began working with a building for maintenance about a year ago and last week they called to say the fire department was out at the building due to smoke.  This was a sleepy hydraulic elevator installed by Otis in 1992.  The service person arrived at the building to find the hydraulic tank was empty.  The next day I went out to the building with the service tech and we isolated the leakage to be underground.

This is a picture of the cylinder when we began working at the building - Nice and dry.

This is a picture of the cylinder when we went through cylinder leakage discovery - Part of the 40 gallons of hydraulic fluid that didn't make it into the sump

This is a picture of what we found underground when pulling the cylinder out

[Field alteration to PVC upon installation - Not recommended]

[No bottom to PVC - was it cut off or is it still in the hole?]

[A bit bigger than a pin hole leak, notice the material around the hole. This was inline with the cut made in the PVC]

Observation – In the 21 years of working in the elevator industry I have heard of companies filling up PVC with water to get it down a cylinder hole or that did not put bottoms on PVC.  The company who installed this cylinder put a cut in the side of the PVC to get it to go down.  The company who installed this cylinder also may have cut the bottom off or the bottom is at the bottom of the hole, we do not know.  The deterioration of the cylinder from the exposure to the water is significant.  This could have been far worse if a larger piece of the cylinder had broken free instead of the pinhole.  I also have never seen a cylinder installed 3 times in less than 30 years, 1992 to 2018.

Newer technology – This hole has a significant amount of water in it that will fill the hole back up after the debris removal company comes to remove the debris from the hole.  A solution to work around the water is to install a cylinder bag.  This is a newer solution from Laird Plastics.  The cylinder bag is not buoyant like rigid PVC, it will displace the water when going down without the buoyancy.

Take a look - http://www.lairdplastics.com/product/materials/finished-products/56-jack-itatrade-hydraulic-jack-liner

Take away – In a niche industry such as elevators it is difficult to know who will be competent and do work in accordance to good work practices and the elevator safety code.  Make sure the elevator contractor you hire will do their job safely and correctly. This situation could have manifested itself much worse than a large bill to replace the elevator’s cylinder.

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