Proactive Elevator Cylinder Replacement – What You Don’t See - Chicago, IL

 

Colley Elevator does a lot of cylinder replacements.  We are talking to more buildings about proactive cylinder replacement to prevent untimely outages waiting for material and labor availability.  We are encouraging buildings to discuss their elevator cylinder if it does not have PVC protection. That means if your elevator was installed prior to 2000, you should talk to your elevator company. 

What happened around the year 2000 – Around this time the elevator code required elevator cylinder protection which typically is rigid PVC for all new inground cylinders.  Previous to 2000, the elevator industry just installed cylinders in the ground with no protection, maybe some tape coat.  You had a piece of metal exposed to the elements that are in the ground which could cause the cylinder to rust and deteriorate.

Annual CAT 1 safety testing – Once a year we should be testing your elevator cylinder by doing a CAT 1 test. During this test, one of the items we do is run the elevator on the stop collar and complete a 15 minute leak down test.  If the elevator doesn’t move, you pass this part of the test.  Because we tested the elevator and it passed doesn’t mean you are out of the woods, we do not know what your cylinder looks like in the ground.

What else can we do? The elevator cylinder is below ground so besides testing the cylinder there isn’t a lot we can do.  We do not know the condition of the pipe that can go up to 20’ to 60’ in the ground.  How high the elevator goes up is how far it goes in the ground.

We recently removed a cylinder for a modernization project that didn’t require a cylinder replacement but the building owner was being proactive.  When we pulled it out we saw a lot of deterioration of the metal pipe.

[Behind the elevator door lies an elevator pit that should have been addressed years ago]

[The bottom of the elevator cylinder]

[Look at all the points of potential failure]

[This building probably did their equipment replacement right in time]

Deterioration of metal – All of the spots that look like the metal is wearing away, it is.   As you can see the entire cylinder does not look good.  This elevator was running when we took it out of service to replace the cylinder. 

Lead time on cylinder replacement – The lead time on getting a cylinder manufactured is minimum 6-8 weeks and the project can take 2 weeks if things go well. Four to 8 weeks if you need a well driller.  There are a few companies that still use the old heads and retain the pistons in a emergency which can shorten this window.

Recommendation – Talk to your elevator contractor about the condition of your cylinder and potential risks and lead times if your building's cylinder failed or began leaking.  Many buildings are planning replacements or preordering cylinders and having their elevator contractor hold the material in their warehouse.  While we cannot hold your elevator cylinder for years, we can pre order it and give the building time to save money and insulate themselves from a lead time issue if the cylinder fails.

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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