Elevator cylinder failure – Deterioration of cylinder metal

Colley Elevator has been forever known for their cylinder work.  While 20%-30% of our modernization work is traction, currently we still do more hydraulic work than any company in the Chicago area.  So we have seen, and still see a lot of cylinder failures and replace a lot of cylinders and run into a lot of unusual conditions.

We have two projects going on right now that surprised me with the amount of corrosion on the elevator cylinders.  One of these elevator’s was running.  The elevator that was running was not under a maintenance contract with Colley Elevator nor did we have anything to do with it prior to replacing their cylinder.

The first building was a building that had their elevator sleeved a long time ago[assuming from the welds & environment].  The cylinder leak came back recently and they need to replace the whole cylinder this time.

[What the cylinder looks like from lowest landing hoistway sill]

[Upon further investigation we see the sleeve closer]

[This is just one section of the outer sleeve of the cylinder after we pulled it out]

[Another section of the outer sleeve of the cylinder after we pulled it out]

[Another section of the outer sleeve of the cylinder after we pulled it out]

The second building is a building that had a running elevator, it was replacing the cylinder because it had a AHJ inspection over a year ago that failed but for some reason let the car run.  

[What the cylinder looks like from lowest landing hoistway sill]

[Deterioration of safety bulkhead]

[Deterioration of pipe on walls]

[Deterioration of pipe on walls]

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107.

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