Hydraulic Elevator Control Modernization – Skokie, IL

 

There are some buildings that call and I have to look back to see how long ago I went there. In this case, we originally visited them in 2008 and they decided to stay with their original equipment manufacturer.  When the building called in 2021, we jumped at the chance to see what we could do for them.  We went there and found that the elevator wasn’t in the best condition with a lot of deferred maintenance and a controller platform that was not something we were exactly excited about giving full maintenance to.  We introduced modernization and the building was interested in it in exchange for getting a full maintenance agreement.

Existing elevator & project scope – We replaced all of the original electrical and mechanical equipment; controller, fixtures, power unit, door operator.  The building really needed the upgrade to be able to service their aging population which depends on their 1970s vintage Dover Elevator elevator to run 24/7.

New equipment providers

Controllers – Smartrise

Door operators – GAL MOVFR

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

Power unit – Quality Elevator Products

Elevator machine room – This room was filled with the old Dover controller and power unit, it took up the entire room.  Our new Smartrise/Quality gave us more space to stand in the room.

[old machine room - jammed!]

[New machine room - invite your friends we have a ton of room!]

Elevator controllers – The existing elevator had a Dover IBM relay set up with some solid state boards and other items that are not popular with elevator mechanics who did not work at Dover in the 1970s or 1980s.  We replaced it with a new Smartrise nonproprietary elevator controller.

 

[Old Dover Elevator controller - 1/4 of it]

[New Smartrise Engineering hydraulic elevator controller]

Elevator door operators – We replaced the Dover Elevator door operator with a GAL MOVFR and all new Dover car and hatch equipment.

Elevator hydraulic power unit – We replace the original Dover Elevator dry unit with a Quality Elevator submersible hydraulic power unit with Maxton Valve.

[Old Dover Elevator hydraulic power unit components]

[New Quality Elevator power unit with Maxton UC1 hydraulic control Valve]

Elevator fixtures – We installed Innovation Industries hall and car fixtures to replace the original Dover Elevator

[Old Dover Elevator car station]

[New Innovation Industries car station]

[Old Dover Elevator main landing hall station]

[New Innovation Industries main landing hall station]

Take away – In this case we had a proactive building who was educated and understood that their existing equipment could cause a huge headache for them in the future.  It was great to see a building learn about their current equipment and want to be ahead of the problems that would inevitably manifest with the Dover Elevator IBM relay control equipment.  Now the building has some great new nonproprietary elevator controllers and a fully nonproprietary elevator system.

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 assist when needed 9 Colley Elevator employees where involved in the project and we had tremendous team work on it.  Thank you everyone without you we would not have had such a successful delivery!

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.