Sunday, April 25, 2021

Guided Tour of Chicago – Elevator Project Tour


I was able to take a couple hours out of my day and visit some of our project teams this week all over the Chicagoland area. We are doing work 6 floors below to 22 floors above and everything in between.

Here are a few of our projects I got to visit. As I told the retired elevator professional that was inspecting our work, the crew doing the field work are the hero's here - my job is easy. Way to go Team Colley!

Cylinder Replacement – Glen Ellyn, IL

This is a 6 story elevator cylinder replacement in Glen Ellyn, IL. We had pressed metal as our bolster so we had to scaffold to put secondary beams up for hoisting. We do a lot of cylinder work, but the day the debris removal truck comes is always an unnerving one. We never quite know what lays below for us. In this instance, we got 50’ clear hole of fairly straight casing, and it was dry.

[Long way down!]
 

Cylinder Replacement – Chicago, IL

This is a future cylinder replacement project. We got the vitals and now we're on to ordering the material. The building had a THE valve and ATL starter with a noise complaint. Not only are they getting a new cylinder but they will also be getting a new Maxton valve, Siemens soft start and heavy duty Dover style muffler. Noise complaints should be a thing of the past when we get done!

[Older Automatic/United cylinder ready to be replaced]

 

[The Ranger of Chicago - MCE 1000]



[Remember when Adams made buttons and everyone used them?]

Traction Control Mod – Chicago, IL

We are in process of doing a traction control mod on an old Swift elevator controller. Back 15-20 years ago the building replaced their controller, machine and pretty much everything else on the elevator. Unfortunately they had installed a Swift controller which they wanted something a bit more dependable and serviceable. They will be getting a Motion Control Engineering controller, we replaced the motor, and were able to retain the great HWEC machine.
[We love the exterior of this building that faces the lake]

[New Imperial Motor and EMR flex coupler on a bulletproof HWEC machine]

[MCE 4000 reliable traction controller!]

Freight Control/Door/Cylinder MOD – Chicago, IL

This big beast is a 16” cylinder with 12” piston and some pretty big freight doors. The building had door work done in the 1990’s to work with their 1967 Reliance/CJA controls. The new elevator will have an EECO Jack, Smartrise controller, Innovation fixtures, MEI dry unit and Peelle doors.

[Nessie comes out of Lochness]

[Some new big Peelle doors long over due!]

Hydro Control MOD – Chicago, IL

Colley installed an elevator in this building in 1986. In 2017, Chicago had a Fireman Emergency Operation (FEO) Phase II mandate that the Vertitron controller did not comply with. We had an opportunity to go back to the building and complete the modernization. The new elevator system will have Smartrise controls, Innovation fixtures, MEI submersible unit and GAL door operator and equipment.

 

[A lot of construction in this area]

[Before MEI had slick branding - Colley made power units with our own tags - they so happen to have been the same tags we put on envelopes]


[1993 Colley power unit w/EECO valve]

[New MEI branded power unit]

We didn’t make it to all the projects we had going on Wedneday/Thursday but it was great to see our teams doing the great work they've become know for! It really is amazing to see all the great work we are doing out there and how long our end product lasts. Built to Last!

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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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