Traction Elevator 4 Car Modernization – Chicago, IL

 

In 2017 we began working at a building that had four Thyssen TAC 50 traction elevators.  We inherited the elevators from an independent elevator contractor who had taken over from TKE, whom had installed the elevators.  The elevators had a glass hoistway and were in a parking garage.  We began to have issues with some of the elevators and found out since the installation there had been headaches with the elevators. 

Existing elevator challenges - 3 years into our relationship with the building we ran into a cross roads with the reliability.  We had controller equipment reliability issues and environment issues [hot, cold and humidity] in the hoistway.    We introduced two options; modernize their controller with non-proprietary equipment or call the OEM[TKE] back to work on the elevators.  The building choose options #1 and we worked with them on the challenges to address the sun light into the hoistway and some of the environmental challenges you have in glass elevators in parking garages in Chicago. 

Existing elevator & project scope – We replaced all of the electrical and mechanical items in the hoistway and control room, retaining the machines. There was only one button stack in the lobby for 3 elevators, we wanted to give the building 2 buttons stacks.  The previous car station was never quite finished and we wanted to give the users a better experience so we put some inlayed plates in the car station. 

New equipment providers

Controllers – Motion Control Engineering

Motors – Imperial

Door operators – GAL MOVFR

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

Elevator controllers – The existing TAC 50 elevator controllers look completely unmanageable, perhaps this is by design.  The new Motion Control Engineering 4000 controller is a much cleaner and more universally manageable platform to troubleshoot and maintain.  The MCE 4000 is the mid-level traction controller which was perfect for this building, our track record with the 4000 controller is that it is a bullet proof control system once you get the cars adjusted and complete the burn in process.

[Old TAC 50 Elevator controller - lots of boards, wires, terminals]

[New MCE 4000 traction elevator controller - clean and simple]

 

Machine room– The elevator machine room was transformed with the new controller placement and a coat of paint.

[Old machine room]

[New machine room]

Elevator fixtures – The 3 car group had one button riser to service all of the elevators.  We felt the users of the elevators would benefit from 2 button risers so we installed 2 new fixtures at each landing, which were required to go through a lot of rebar and concrete.  Our project teams took the task like champs and zipped through the process to give the users better accessibility.  The car stations never seemed to be finished, Veterans use these elevators, and we gave them metal inlay plates to add a more permanent touch.  I want to eventually go back and get the logos for each branch of the service and have them etched into new inlays to finish the look.

[Old Lobby with one button stack/risers]

[New lobby with 2 button stacks/risers]

[New car 2 lobby level]

[Old TKE car station]

[New Innovation car station]

[New innovation car station with inlays]

Take away – We had such a difficult time delivering a reliable elevator with the conditions and history of the elevators, the management team had a decision to make. They choose to work with our proposed solution.  It took a leap of faith to replace elevator control systems that where not that old.  The management team were patient and open to the idea of getting rid of proprietary controls and making some fundamental changes to address the challenging Chicago parking garage environment. 

Team work– The sales person and the project team who finishes typically get the glory on a project.  In between the initial contract sale and the final acceptance are many other people who work on the project to make it successful.  From the truck driver to the engineer to the billing department to the extra hand when needed. 18 Colley Elevator employees where involved on the project and we had a tremendous team that made this dream work.  Thank you everyone; without you we would not have had such a successful delivery! 

Thank yous – We had some great help on the project side.  Jeff Yeager from MCE, Dennis Rhodes from Imperial Motor, Jake Tyler from Innovation, without your help we would not been able to do such a great job on this project.  You where there when we needed your expertise.  Thank you!

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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