NAEC 75th Elevator Convention - Atlantic City, NJ

 

I had the opportunity to attend the National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC’s) 75th annual convention September 23rd to 26th. It was great to get back and see some old friends, meet new friends, sit through education, be involved with talking points and walk around and visit about 300 different vendors. With Illinois adopting the 2022 code, it was of particular interest to know what is on the horizon and how our vendors can support us. 

75th Anniversary & United show - This was a big show for many reasons; because it was held on the East Coast, it was the NAEC’s 75th Anniversary & a United show. When we have the show on the East Coast we see a ton of field personnel come in for a day to visit. The NAEC celebrated its 75th Anniversary so it was a special year for us. Also, every few years we have a “United” show which includes NAEC, CECA (Canadian Elevator Contractors Association), Elevator U (a group focused on colleges and universities)  & IAEC (International Association of Elevator Consultants).

 
What did I get out of it? On a regular basis I’m asked what do I get out of going to the convention or other NAEC events. I had a list of items from our office to look into since you can talk face to face with industry suppliers. Meeting people face to face is different than trading emails or even phone calls. Challenges that occur over the year can be discussed and resolved in a matter of minutes. The networking is wonderful, seeing friendly faces and talking to people that you email on a regular basis cannot be beat. What I get the most out of is seeing my peers from independent contractors and seeing what is going on in their area and what they are doing and what challenges they are facing. 

*I did not attend the real day one which was a great education day and some great parties! 

Day 1 – Wednesday – The convention doors opened and it was huge this year! Some of my highlights are as follows: Seeing World Electronics Dover DMC repair parts and talking about the obsolescence on many other platforms[some they address some they do not]. I took a look at a pretty solid pressure sensitive pit ladder from S2 Source since it will be required with the 2022 code. Saw a pretty rad car from Webb Electronics who have a pretty detailed communications solution. Talked with the Victaulic people about their products. 

I also said hi to our friends at Adams Elevator Inc and got a run down about their door lock monitoring solutions, also required by the 2022 code, which they have refined after the challenges of New York City's adoption of this code. Very impressed with the engineer who designed this. I went to the Hyperion booth and had some good discussions with one of our long time material providers, then did a racing simulation where I got last place. I spent some time with Alpha Elevator and bumped into some old friends from Capital Elevator out of Sacramento. I saw our friends at Formula Systems and the door operator we helped install and actually made it work! 

We won an Ellie for Best Contractor - North. Thanks Elevator World for letting us participate. Kings III took the cake at the award ceremony with their matching jump suits. I went over to Smartrise Inc to see what was new with their controllers. Saw some of our oldest friends from Motion Control Engineering (MCE) and saw their destination dispatch and solution to Kone's MRL. At night we went out to some great parties from Alpha Elevator and CED Electronics [thanks for letting us crash your parties].

[Thank you sponsors]

[The gates open!]

[A few of World Boards]

[A17.1 2022 pit ladder option]

[Cool Car - Cool tech]]

[Everyone needs one of these]

[Cool solution by a lady engineer!  Very Impressed!]

[Steve Smartrise[Hyperion] smokes us]

[Our friends at Alpha]

[Our friends at Formula Systems]

[Kings III took the cake and an Ellie with their outfits]

[Diane from Midwest Elevator lost her marbles and tried to take our Ellie]

[Our friends at Smartrise Engineering]

[MCE's destination dispatch]

[Kone mono/eco MRL solution]

[MCE's traction controllers]

[CED's party overlooked the beach and wheel]

Day 2 – Thursday – I went to the awards breakfast, it was packed! Afterwards it was a day packed with elevator door operators. I saw a new Wurtec residential door operator, took a look at the Otis Glide A linear operator, revisited the new freight door operator interface from EMS, which was slick, looked at Columbia's take on a replacement of the GAL door operator with one by Fermator, took some pictures with our Dennis Finn and the Ellie, which was really the Imperial Electric Ellie (we had a prankster over at their booth the previous day), looked at Elevator Product Corp's (EPCO’s) answer to the TKE buttons that constantly break.

[Packed breakfast]

[Wurtec's residential door operator]

[What a power unit looks like inside]

[Otis Blackbelt and AT 400 solution Otis Glide A]

[EmS FRT doors new interface - Well done!]

[Columbia/Fermator answer to GAL]

[Columbia/Fermator answer to GAL]

[Picture with the wrong Ellie]

[EPCOs answer to proprietary buttons]

[Canton's submersible power unit]

Why you should go – If you're in the elevator industry, this is THE show to attend where you can meet the best in the business, exchange ideas, get challenged, and come back to your company with new ideas, see new products and be a better elevator person. Maybe you'll meet Elevator Pal Ed?

2025 Convention – Houston, TX

2026 Convention – Chicago, IL - Yes its coming to our home.

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.

Giant Passenger Elevator Construction – Traction - Canton Elevator

 

This summer, we had the opportunity to work with one of our great school customers to install a giant freight passenger traction elevator at their new building.  This was a specialty application that required a unique sized elevator.  Going through the process, it is always cool to see start to finish as the building starts going up and then progresses to completion.

Package provider – Canton Elevator

Controller – Motion Control Engineering

Machine – Hollister Whitney

Door operator – GAL

Doors – Columbia

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

2 years in the making – From the start of discussion to the end of the project was about 2 years.  We went through design, bidding, procurement and installation. Since this account is a long-time Colley maintenance customer, Alex in our office went through several iterations of concept before the design team even took the elevator out to bid.  

Though we were the incumbent, we took nothing for granted and still feel fortunate to be awarded the project. We started working with the GC Gilbane on the contract particulars and, once we ironed out the contract details, we were on to ordering the elevator through Canton Elevator. Canton also helped layout the elevator for the school's design team.  Once delivered, we started our elevator installation work onsite! 

 

[First time at the building to start measuring]

[Time progresses and more is being done]

[Exterior almost done]

[Finished exterior]

[1st floor during our first visit]

[First project meeting to discuss mobilization]

[Finished first floor]

[Hoistway after rough in]

[Finished product with large center parting 2 speed doors]

[When our project team walked in, it looked like this]

[When our project team walked out, it looked like this]

[Nice clean car top]

Challenges – Since this was a unique installation we had some challenges on the supplier side. Canton was always responsive and got us squared away quickly so we could keep moving. Big shout out to California Duane! Since this was a unique installation, we also had challenges with our design team. Thankfully everyone on the team was great to work with to get through each challenge as it came up.

Team work– From the truck driver to the engineers to the billing department to the assist when needed, 18 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[on time]!  Team work with our supplier, team work with our design team, team work with our GC/CM and team work with the school system.  Special commendation for the project team who did the time and heavy lifting, thanks guys!!!  You did great!

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.

Schindler 330 Inverted Piston Roped Hydraulic Elevators MCP Update Notice

In the second of our series in how to maintain an elevator, we'll discuss roped hydraulic pistons. We recently got a few emails and calls from our customers who have Schindler 330 inverted roped hydraulic pistons. They said they had received notices from the manufacturer on proper care.

We have been incorporating these checks for years, however, it is a good reminder that it needs to happen and these documents should go into the MCP(maintenance control plan). If you do not follow these procedures, you will have chronic issues with leaky packings and possibly other issues.

What is a maintenance control plan? The maintenance control plan is the plan that the contractor has with the building to maintain the elevator system. It should give the owner, mechanic, inspector and anyone else involved a run down on how the elevator is maintained. It should be similar to a manual for your car/automobile. It will tell you the following:

 

1. Equipment age, condition and accumulated wear

2. Design and inherent quality of the equipment

3. Usage

4. Environmental conditions

5. Improved technology

6. Manufacturers' recommendations for any SIL rated devices or circuits

7. Cleaning, lubrication and adjusting schedule

8. Tests on the equipment & schedules per A17.1.8.6

9. Code required written procedures for maintenance, testing and inspections

10. Maintenance records

11. Procedures for testing

12. Unique product specific procedures required to test equipment

13. Procedures on how to maintain the specific elevator

For a list of all the requirements look at A17.1 8.6.1.2.1

Information particular to the Schindler 330a elevators are as follow.

General inspection

1.1 – Visually inspect the jack synchronization ropes for any damage or excessive wear

 
1.2 - Visually inspect the synchronization rope sheaves for any damage

1.3 - Confirm the synchronization rope sheaves rotate without noise

Check synchronization rope lubrication

2.1 – Verify jack synchronization rope(s) has light lubrication present when checked with a clean cloth. If lubrication is required, the synchronization rope shall be lubricated with a 34-38 SSU light vicosity spindle oil

Check synchronization rope tension; adjust tension if required

3.1 – Run car up until the car is at its stop ring, check the jack synchronization deflection by hand. All rope adjustment must be made while the jack is fully extended.

3.2 – Verify synchronization rope(s)

• Has 1 Inch (25mm) deflection or less
• Does not have a slack wire rope condition present
•  All have equal tensions, if more than jack synchronization rope is present.

If tensioning of one or more synchronization ropes is required, then adjust tension according to steps 3.3 through 3.5. If no tension adjustment is required, then skip to step 4.

3.3 - Set up top nut on the eye bolt toward its end and the bottom nut towards the eye to start with maximum adjustment upward. Loosen the rope clamps and pull the end of the rope to add as much tension as possible. Tighten the rope clamps and now tighten up on the top nut o the eye until the rope has less than 1 inch of deflection. Run the bottom nut up tight to the underside of the synch eam to lock in this adjustment. If the ropes are too close to the car, realign the eyebolts toward the back of the car. DO NOT bend eyebolts, as this could recreate an unsafe condition.

3.4 – Repeat this for the other rope (if present) setting them or roughly equal deflection.

3.5 – Run the car down off the stop ring and you will notice that the car adds additional tension to the ropes.

4.1 – Check the wire rope diameter. The nominal size of each rope is .25 inch. Ropes must be replaced when the rope diameter measured at any point is less than .242 inch, reference table ASME A17.6 A7.6 1.10.3-1.

If replacement of synchronization ropes is required, use Schindler parts identified in the Schindler Renewal Parts Manual section 10C7 (or equivalent)

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.