Traction Elevator modernization – Chicago, IL

This is a very exciting elevator modernization for Colley Elevator.   The building is located in Chicago’s famous Gold Coast and is an old mansion that was converted into condominiums in the 1970’s.  The elevator was originally installed in 1929 and had been modernized in the 1970’s by one of our retired partners when he worked at Gallaher & Speck.  The elevator worked well for its age but had to be modernized again to comply with the Chicago FEO Phase II mandate.  

Existing elevator & project scope – The existing elevator was originally manufactured by Haughton Elevator and Machine Company in 1929.  The car had manual doors during the original installation.  Sometime in the past it was modernized to have automatic doors.  In the 1970’s the elevator had a new CJ Anderson Elevator controller in.  The original machine was still there and is still there, works great, decent condition for the age.  We installed new controller, new motor, new door equipment, new fixtures, new counterweights, rope gripper, brake, governor and electrical on this elevator.  The machine would have been replaced but the location in the building would have been difficult to get a new machine in and the machine has been maintained well and still operates well.

New equipment providers

Controllers – Smartrise Engineering

Motors – Imperial

Door equipment - GAL

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

Traction safety & Misc equipment – Hollister Whitney

Flexible motor coupler - EMR

Traction elevator controller & machine room – The machine room is lined with lead and the old controller is in the middle of the room.  We removed the old controller and put the new controller on the far wall to give some room for the mechanics to work. One of the complaints was that the elevator was too noisy.  I met with the person complaining and it so happened his bedroom was on the same wall as the controller and he heard the contactors engaging.  The new Smartrise C4 should eliminate this issue.

[Old machine room]

[Old controller]

[Old controller moved out]

[New Smartrise C4 controller moved in]

  

Elevator machines– This is a very old Haughton machine that had its original brake.  We opted to keep the machine, replace the motor and brake.  Over the years the building has undergone several construction projects which would have made installation of a new machine nearly impossible without ripping out walls in residents units.  The project team did an incredible job with making the new equipment work with the existing machine space.

  

[Old Machine]

[Waiting for motor & brake - Lots of field modification]

[New motor, rope gripper, brake]

 Elevator fixtures – We installed new ADA compliant Innovation fixtures. Nothing splashy or fancy, just looks good and works good.

[1970 hall button]

[New ADA 2020 hall button]

Car top – This car top was small, it was a challenge to put all of our new equipment on it.  I believe the project team had chisel the dinosaur bones off the car top.  New look, great look!

[Old car top]

[New car top]

Counter weights – We removed the existing sash weight counterweights for new Hollister Whitney counterweights.

[Old sashweights]

[New cables & counterweights]

Door equipment – We put all new GAL equipment on the elevator doors which was a challenge due to the center opening 2 speed small doors.  Take a look at the first picture and how small the doors are.

[Tiny 2 speed center opening doors]

[Old hatch doors]

[Freshened up hatch doors]

Take away –The field team who did the installation moved mountains on this one! This was a total team effort on Colley’s part, we had 15 people from the company who worked on the project from the first phone call to the final inspection.  We had some great support from EMR on the motor coupler fitting the 1929 machine and 2020 motor correctly.

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  We should be getting a monthly email going out sometime in Q1 of next year.

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.

Covid – 19 – Hope, Support, Prevail from an Elevator Contractor

Colley Elevator has been through World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, 9/11 and everything in between today and 1908.  We will move past the Covid-19. We should be following CDC suggestions and doing everything we can to keep everyone safe.  I do not want to underscore health and safety with this post because those are paramount.   This posts intention is to encourage thinking past the virus and to do what we can do to make things better.  

Support the medical community – If any construction firms have N95 masks, donate them.  Today all of our masks went to Loyola’s emergency room doctors & nurses.  Healthcare workers need them more than we do.  If you have them sitting on your shelf, road boxes or hiding in a closet, get them to the right people.   

Support your local businesses - The impact of this virus will be devastating to many business and individuals.  At Colley Elevator we are buying lunch for all employees left working in the office from a different restaurant.  Our dining rooms in Illinois got shut down on Monday.  We want to support our food service in our community to do what we can.  What can you be doing to help?  Bosses and Managers open up your wallets.  Food service has been there for us every day since you started working, now it’s time we are there for them.

Say thank you to the grocery store workers/gas station attendants and anyone who is generally underpaid to deal with us freaking out – These people have been putting up with us walking into stores with gas masks on trying to buy 1,200 rolls of toilet paper and 40 gallons of milk.  Register attendants and stocking clerks do not get paid well and they are one of the people that are most at risk with the volume of people going in and out of the building.  Tell them “thank you” that they came to work, they are on front line of this invisible war when most of us were sent home to work.

Stay cool – We will get through this.  We are getting good direction from our State leaders.  Listen. Stay in. Essential workers, be as safe as you can.  A suggestion to everyone; take a walk, play a board game, watch a movie, call that friend who you have been too busy to talk to for the last 2 years, check in on friends and loved ones and say hi to your neighbor from across the street.  Today life may be more complicated but it is still a beautiful thing. 

Elevator industry workers stay together – I have been on the phone with other company leaders and will make you the same offer.  If you need anything in these difficult times, reach out to me.  I will do my best to help.  Let’s keep our elevators running and let’s stay safe.

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.

End of Life/Obsolete elevator equipment – US Elevator Ascension 1000/2000

This is the 3^rd in our series of end of life/obsolete elevator control systems.  We still have a few of these in the Chicago market.  The marketing of US Ascension elevator controllers and branding was pretty slick for an elevator controller.  Unfortunately the marketing of the product, does not make it a good product.  Many of these elevators are being replaced because of their reliability. They have some typical ghosts hiding in the closet, if you know where to look you can resolve them relatively quickly.  The question always is, how long and how often do you want to deal with the inherent headaches with this specific elevator system if you depend on your elevator?

What’s the story?  Thyssen Krupp bought US Elevator and then bought Dover Elevator.  Thyssen went on to use something closer to Dover’s control platform and the US platform was scrapped.  US Elevator’s Ascension series was never very popular with the field technician.  For years there have been some very talented Thyssen field techs that have kept these elevators running.  The very talented Thyssen techs that are familiar with this platform are retiring making them few and far between.  Domain knowledge is dwindling.

Who this impacts – If you have an Ascension branded US Elevator or any US Elevator for that matter you need to begin thinking about equipment replacement. Yes, Ascension brand elevator controllers are not that old and should last longer.  It is our recommendation you need to get this scheduled to be replaced.  This elevator controller is currently considered obsolete.

Are parts still available? – There are a few outlets that sell parts or repair the boards on the US Ascension line of elevators.  If you are having boards repaired you need to understand this is not a perfect science, it is more like going to the casino.  We have some great repair shops we can send parts to, but at times, results can vary.  We used to be able to lean on some of these repair shops for hints on field repairs, but that domain knowledge is also retiring.

Trip counter Ascension 2000 – On the Ascension 2000 controllers there may be a trip counter that requires a manual reset.  This is a built in feature to require a maintenance program and monthly visits.  There was a chip set you can buy for this to remove the counter, I don’t know if they are available anymore. 

Take away – If you have any the Ascension 1000/2000 or US Elevator you should have a plan with your elevator company to replace this.  If you cannot afford to replace the elevator controller you should have an understanding of what parts are available, what the building’s expectations should be and what level of talent on this specific control system your elevator maintenance contractor has. Everyone is not good at everything. 

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  Next newsletter will be out shortly and you will get one about once a month.

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.

Elevator Contractors of America – ECA – Annual meeting – Orlando, FL

The ECA is a group of independent elevator contractors that have gotten together to work with the IUEC in having a better work arrangement and relationship.  Once a year we get together for our annual meeting to go over internal business, education and hear about the IUEC’s state of affairs and different programs.  This year we had the meeting in Orlando Florida. 

The ECA is a great organization that we are proud to be part of, we have over 52 different companies from coast to coast. ECA companies have a separate CBA then other IUEC member companies.  All IUEC mechanics and apprentices get the same pay rate in all agreements, the ECA agreement is tailored to the independent contractor and different needs we may have from Otis, Schindler, Thyssen, Kone, etc.

Monday started with a program on digital marketing.  We went in closed session and went through ECA’s internal business and state.  We then had a great presentation by our long time attorney/advisor for updates legal issues with the CBA and general best practices.

Tuesday was the IUEC day and got to hear from many of the Internationals leadership.  We got updates from top to bottom on pension and health plan, safety, organizing, NEIEP and EIWPF.  We spent a lot of time discussing safety and hearing about the initiatives the IUEC is implementing.  The IUEC shared its leadership’s vision on relationships with companies and safety.  I was thoroughly impressed with the passion that is being put into some of the new programs the IUEC is working on.

I always take a lot away from these meetings.  We learn a lot during the sessions but it is the conversations we have during the reception, lunch, breaks, breakfast and in the hallways that I take away the most.  While we are in different geographic locations we have the same challenges and it is great to get a chance to talk about what is working for your company other companies across the country.  If you work for a company that is signatory and is not a member of the ECA, I would strongly encourage learning more about it and signing up, the cost is minimal and the benefit is huge.  Thank you to the ECA leadership for putting on another great event and thank you to our sponsors!

  

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  Next newsletter will be out in about 3 weeks and you will get one about once a month.

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.