We recently went to a building in Oak Park, IL to revisit an elevator Colley installed
in 1966. We had maintained the account
for 40 years then they went to OEM for the last 10 years and wanted a second
opinion on their elevator maintenance after frustration built up.
In 2004 we were encouraging the building to consider elevator
modernization upon my return in 2019 I had a similar conversation with the
Board President. The building is a small
building with a small budget and concerned with raising their assessments, they
are also concerned with having a reliable elevator. The story of older elevator systems in
working class/fixed income buildings is a common one. Now, what to do with it?
Elevator system
Control system – A 50+ year old ERM
elevator controller with an electronic stepper replacement, capacitors falling
off panel, starter replaced.
Door operator – GAL MOD the old work
horse of the GAL family of door operators
Fixtures – EPCO fixtures, we
installed hundreds of these and they stand up
Power unit – This is a dry unit manufactured by Colley
Elevator which most likely had an old EECO spider valve that was replaced in
1989 with a Maxton UC4.
Cylinder – This is an Atlas
cylinder head that requires hose packing or split ring autopak. This is a head that was popular in the West
Coast, I believe one of the Colley Family members bought a bunch of them in the
1960’s and we manufactured the cylinders in house. Not a popular elevator cylinder head in the
Midwest.
Maintenance
Current maintenance - The building is
currently getting 4 visits a year, poor communication, service call response
issues and doesn’t look like much maintenance. The building has a full maintenance contract.
Future maintenance – It will be difficult
for the building to get a new full maintenance contract due to the age and
condition of the elevator equipment. The
elevator needs a good cleaning and the oil replaced at minimum.
Modernization
The
challenge with older smaller buildings is how to make a modernization happen? The building has a high reliance on the elevator,
their expectations to have it running is high but the age and condition of the elevator
doesn’t lend itself to being a reality.
Plan
on the capital expenditure of modernization – A building needs to plan for this
for the following reasons.
Elevator controller – Parts are few and
far between. What is even fewer and
further between is finding elevator mechanics who are familiar with this
equipment. As the years go on the
elevator mechanics who worked on these, who know these, are retiring.
Elevator door operator – This door operator
is 20 years passed its useful life. You
can rebuild these door operators, they still sell the parts, but you need to
find someone who will do this for you.
Elevator power unit – The oil is burned
from a tank heater being left on. I
opened the tank and smoke came out of the power unit from the tank heaters heating
filament being dirty and attracting particulate. When a filament is covered in “gunk”, it will
smoke and create more particulate. The new
valve is 30 years old and pump and motor are still serviceable and can be
replaced. A valve is scheduled to
service a building for 15-20 years.
Elevator cylinder – This cylinder has
been in the ground for 53 years. The
cylinder could last another 53 or go at any time. There would also be the requirement to
replace it due to the single bulk head that is most likely lurking beneath the
ground.
Take away – Plan plan plan. There is always a building project; drive ways, windows, roofs, boilers, etc that are hot or priorities. If a building doesn’t have a reserve study or
budget for all of their capital expenses, start today! Call your elevator company and ask them how
much? And what should I do? Can I do this in phases? We as elevator professionals should be able to help you begin your planning process.
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.
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