Hydraulic Elevator control modernization - Montgomery Elevator

I cringe when I see some control systems on existing elevators and the person who surveyed the job says “I got a XYZ here that is having issues”.   In this case it was a “I got a Montgomery here that is having issues”.  In some cases we can work on the elevators in some cases we recommend replacement.  In most Montgomery Elevator cases we recommend replacement.  This controller wasn't that old but domain knowledge is few and far between.

Situation – The building was frustrated with the elevator not being reliable.  Repairs where short lived and parts where expensive and took time to get.  Service call after service call. 

Initial recommendation – We recommended the building replace all of the equipment; controller, fixtures, door operators & power unit.  

What occurred - The building could not afford to do everything so we settled on a control & fixture upgrade to get rid of the existing control platform.  The power unit and door operators where retained. 

Elevator machine room - The old controller was mounted on the power unit.  In order to work on the controller you have to squat.  In order to work on the valve you have to lean over the controller.  We like to mount it on a wall so it is at eye level and you can work on the valve easier.

[Before]

[After]

Elevator controller - The old controller was a Montgomery/Kone product, it had reliability issues that was frustrating the building owner.  Kone probably can work on this just fine but the building did not have Kone nor did they want to call Kone.  The independent company that was working on it was having issues.  A new Smartrise controller was installed.  Now if they do not like Colley Elevator, they can call one of the 25-30 contractors in the Chicago area and anyone can work on it, no problem. 

[Before]

[After]

Car station - The car station has to be replaced for new elevator safety code accommodations.  Innovation Industries made/makes car stations for Montgomery/Kone so we had them duplicate car station with the up to date code requirements. New fire cabinet, new P/I, etc.

[Before]

[After]

1st floor hall fixture - New hall fixtures needed to be furnished, the most important one is the main lobby that includes the FEO and phone monitoring code required feature.  The building also got a nice P/I in the hall station.

[Before]

[After]

Take away – The building had issues with a not so old elevator controller.  The building was frustrated.  The building spent a decent amount of money on the upgrade and now will have a non-proprietary elevator control system that they can have serviced for 20-30 years in the future.

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.

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.