Hydraulic Elevator Modernization – Oak Park, IL

 

In 2016 we visited a building looking for maintenance.  The main complaint was the elevator was breaking down too much and the current company was difficult to deal with.  The elevator I saw was an ESCO from the late 1960s.   We said we would give it a shot, but the building should plan to replace it.  The elevator had a good run until it did not, the car had some critical catastrophic failures and needed a quick turnaround for a modernization.

Existing elevator & project scope – The elevator’s power unit was replaced a year prior.  When the building needed to have a modernization done quickly we had a controller, fixtures and door operator to replace. Pronto Pronto! 

New equipment providers

Controllers – Smartrise Engineering

Power units – Minnesota Elevator w/Maxton UC4 valve

Door operators – GAL MOVFR

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

Machine room– The machine room had an ESCO Elevator controller from the late 1960s.  The machine room also had everything else from the building jammed in it and was using it for a storage room.  We moved the controller away from the back corner and moved the electrical disconnects closer to the strike jamb.

[Old Machine room/Pre MOD]

[Old Machine room/Pre MOD]

[New Machine room/Post MOD]

[New Machine room/Post MOD]

[1960's era ESCO Elevator Controller]

[New Smartrise Engineering hydraulic elevator controller]

Door operators – The elevator had a GAL MOD on it prior to the modernization and we replaced it with a GAL MOVFR.

[Old car top preMOD]

[new car top postMOD]

[Old GAL MOD door operator]

[New GAL MOVFR door operator]

Elevator fixtures – The old ESCO fixtures were replaced with new code compliant Innovation Industries elevator fixtures.

[Old ESCO Elevator car operating panel]

[New Innovation Industries car operating panel]

Fire alarm elevator work – We had a great partner on this project, Fox Valley Fire, who did some good work and worked with us to connect the dots and get it turned over to the building quickly.

Take away – The elevator modernization should have been planned for years prior but we were able to get a quick turn around on equipment and get the building back up and running.  We had a great property manager to work with us on time lines and building communication, that always helps.   It is much easier to plan a modernization prior to the end of life of equipment that is over 40 or 50 years.  Talk with your elevator company, get a plan, stick with the plan.

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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