Hydraulic elevator modernization – Morton Grove, IL

In 2001 we did a modernization at a building on Dempster in Morton Grove.  I was about a year into working in the office and I still remember watching the guys pull cable to hatch center when I dropped something off.  For the last 16+ years we have been trying to pursue the sister building on the block with no contact, no luck.   A day 2 years ago the building called and we fixed the elevator when their current service provider would not return their call and started a dialog for modernization.  The modernization contract was signed, completed and elevator put back into service.

Existing elevator & project scope – The existing elevator was a ESCO Elevator installed by Gallaher and Speck in 1976. This elevator had no major modifications since the original installation.  The previous service provider had significant issues performing regular maintenance at the visits for what appears to been years.

New equipment providers

Controllers – Smartrise Engineering

Power units – MEI

Door operators – GAL

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

Machine room – The old machine room had some layout issues to say the least.  We were able to successfully get all of our electrical clearances with a new arrangement.

[Old elevator machine room with ESCO equipment]

[New elevator machine room with required electrical clearances]

Hydraulic elevator controller – The original ESCO relay logic control system would be replaced with a non-proprietary Smartrise Engineering elevator controller.

[ESCO relay based elevator controller]

[New Smartrise elevator controller with Siemens Soft Start]

Hydraulic elevator power unit – I couldn’t get a good picture of the old power unit as the machine room was so small, it was a typical ESCO Elevator power unit.  We replace it with a new MEI power unit with Maxton UC4 valve.

[Old ESCO 5 coil hydraulic elevator valve]

[New Maxton UC4 valve with air muffler]

Door operators – The elevator had old MOD operators and GAL car and hatch equipment, we replaced the operators and all of the hatch and car equipment.  We did retain the door tracks as they were in good condition.

[Car top when we stopped by for the engineering visit]

[New car top looks great with GAL equipment and painted car top]

Elevator fixtures – The old ESCO fixtures went away and new Innovation surface mount fixtures to meet ADA and elevator code requirements were installed.

[Old ESCO elevator car station]

[New Innovation Industries elevator car station]

[Old 1st floor elevator hall station]

[New 1st floor hall station with phone monitoring by Innovation Industries]

Elevator Pit - Before and after MOD - No work done to pit equipment just a thorough cleaning and pit ladder installation

Take away – This elevator had a lot of deferred maintenance; the ride was rough, everything was dirty and full of dust, the power unit was leaking, etc.  When I went back to the building to see how everything fell into place when we were completed and the ride was wonderful and the elevator looked great.  It is the final 5%-10% that we can do or not do when we are doing a modernization that really makes a world of difference.  The project team did great from start to finish.  10 people from Colley Elevator where involved in this project from start to finish, from initial phone call, to selling project, project engineering, delivery and the field team who completed the modernization.  I am proud to put the Colley Elevator stamp on this modernization.

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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