NAESA Central Region Spring Work Shop – Des Plaines, IL - April 22-23, 2022

 

NAESA International is an organization that is comprised of diverse members who share a sincere interest in elevator safety, code enforcement, and technology. Whose purpose includes providing QEI Certification (Qualified Elevator Inspector) training and testing to qualified individuals. NAESA conducts several regional workshops each year throughout the United States and Canada to inform, educate, and provide a forum for individuals to discuss elevator topics.

NAESA is one of the two groups who certify a majority of the elevator inspectors in the United States.   

We had an opportunity to join NAESA for the continuing education program with a great line up.  It is so very important that we continue our path towards learning more in the elevator industry and all industries and this was a wonderful opportunity.

[90+ people in attendance from all over the country]

Friday

7:45- Frank Revoir, Urban Elevator-- 2020 Rack, and Pinion Elevators and Hoists 

 

9:15 – Ian MacMillan, KONE-- Inspection and Testing for MRL’s

 

10:30- Ian MacMillian, KONE-- Inspection and testing for MRL’s  

 

11:30 Russ Larson, Otis Elevator Company—Voice/Video/ Test Emergency Elevator Communication  

 

1:15- Jack Day – Elevator safety

 

2:15 Joe Donnelly, Donnelly & Associates-- A18.1 VPL Inspection Methods  

 

3:00 Joe Donnelly, Donnelly & Associates--  A17.3 Chicago Modification and A17.3 Review  

 

4:30 Kevin Heling, WURTEC Inc.--  Elevator Rope Issues   

 

Saturday

 

8:00 – Cornelius Walls, Formula Systems-- 3D Door Protection/Electronic Edges 

 

9:00 --Kevin Heling, Wurtec--  Weighing Elevator Cars and Counterweights, Hoist Rope equalization and update on CAT5 Alternative Testing

 

Take away – I took away a lot of new information on MRLs and learned a bit more about each other topic that was presented.  We do not do many VPLs/Wheelchair lifts but now know that there is a considerable amount of thought and requirements that need to go into the installation of these for accessibility requirements.  I also learned a ton about rack and pinon lifts and am glad other people are great at it.  It is so important that we continue as elevator personnel; inspectors, mechanics, office personnel in learning throughout our careers.  We will not always be able to use our backs in this business so fill the brain up with as much as you can, there will be a day that you will appreciate the work you did learning.

Networking – I don’t need the CEUs for my license but one of the biggest reasons I went besides the lineup was to see people I haven’t seen in a while.  I met new people, I met people I’ve heard about for years but never met, I saw people I talk to on the phone with on a regular basis and never get a chance to see and bumped into some old friends I used to see on a more regular basis.  These interactions are almost as valuable as the content discussed.

Thank you for all the hard work our NAESA team does to put these events on! It is much appreciated!

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.

City of Chicago AIC Elevator Inspections

 

The Annual Inspection Certification (AIC) program is an on-line building inspection program that requires building owners/property managers to hire state-licensed, third-party inspection companies to inspect their elevators and other conveying devices annually.  These findings are then reported to the Department of Buildings via the AIC portal.

I get several questions each quarter on how this works from people taking over the responsibility of AIC for their building that have no idea how it works or building owners who forget because it is a once a year item.  AIC is a once a year inspection that puts the responsibility in the owners court to have the elevator inspected and will provide a certificate through the AIC portal.  If you do not do it within the time line or quarter you are in then you will get letters from the DOB, you will send it to your elevator company and they will ask you if you have done your AIC.  Get ahead of it!

Steps

             1 – Get your log in information and go to https://ipi.cityofchicago.org/Profile

2 – Choose an elevator inspection firm to work with – we recommend calling them prior to choosing the firm to make sure they will service your building and you know the pricing.  There is a list on the City's website https://ipi.cityofchicago.org/Aic#/InspectionCompanies

3 – Set the elevator inspection appointment.  You should contact your elevator contractor to make sure their testing[CAT 1s, CAT 5s and FEO exercising] is up to date and they have changed any batteries that may need to be changed to make sure your safety devices work; emergency lights, phones, battery lowering etc.  

4 – The elevator inspector will submit their results on the portal and if it passes you can print out your certificate after you make your AIC payment.

If you need help with the process there are several resources on the website to walk you through what you need to do and I’ve found the staff at AIC is happy to assist.  Start here aic@cityofchicago.org 

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.

Westinghouse Elevator Fast Track Hydraulic Elevator

What is a Westinghouse Fast Track?  I’m glad you asked.  I’ve only seen two of these elevators.  One was in Riverside, IL which had been modernized with an Atel Controller installed on the car top. Last year we modernized the elevator again and put the controller in the machine room.  

The other location is in Des Plaines, IL.  This is a short run of Westinghouse Hydraulic elevators that had a very limited release and had the controller on the elevator car top. It never caught on.  I just found out when we went to buy the prints, and they were very expensive to get, this is called a “FAST TRACK”.

 

Fixtures look like a vanilla Westinghouse

Car top looks like a vanilla Westinghouse

Machine room looks like a vanilla Westinghouse

Then you open up the panels on the car top

Yes, that is a PLC

What do you do if you have one of these elevators – Get a modernization plan immediately!  There are limited parts, support and field domain knowledge for these elevators is extremely limited.  Please put the elevator controller in the machine room.

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.

Giant Passenger Elevator Modernization – Chicago, IL

 

We got into a building that was going to be transformed into a first class film studio in the heart of Chicago’s movie/TV show area.  From concept, the building had some challenges on what to do with some of the existing elevators so they could provide the building’s vertical transportation needs for the new use of the building.  This elevator was the 2^nd elevator we have modernized at the building, it is an amazing transformation.

Existing elevator challenges – The existing elevator was a very old, very large freight elevator.  The building wanted to keep the length of the elevator so it could service both sides of the building.  Over time, the building had changed the floor and building layouts so each side of the elevator wasn’t necessarily on the same level as the opposing side. Another one of our big challenges was utilizing the existing hoistway to put up our door frames.

Existing elevator & project scope – Everything but the rails

New equipment providers

Controllers – Smartrise Engineering

Power unit – Canton Elevator

Cab interior – Canton Elevator

Car & hatch doors – Peelle Company

Door operators – GAL MOVFR

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

Valve - Maxton UC1

Elevator controllers – The original elevator controller was from an Otis Basement machine, which was replaced with a Dover DMC, and later was replaced with Chicago’s own Atel Controls. It now has a Smartrise Engineering control system.

Old elevator controller

New Smartrise Engineering hydraulic elevator controller

Machine room– When we found the elevator machine room, it had a Dover DMC machine with an Atel control system and the old basement traction machine was still in the machine room.  The machine room is cleared out and we have a ton of room now.

Old machine room had a hydraulic elevator and abandoned traction machine

New elevator machine room

New elevator machine room

Elevator fixtures – We removed old Otis Elevator fixtures and installed Innovation Industries hall and car fixtures.

Old car operating panel

New Innovation Industries car operating panel for automatic operation

Cab, sling, platform, cylinder & doors – We did a complete tear out of the hoistway and installed all new cab, sling, platform & cylinder from Canton Elevator and car and hatch doors from Peelle Company.

Old elevator cylinder

New Canton Elevator cylinder

Old bottom of the car - it is wood

Updated metal platform and sling from Canton Elevator

Old bi parting freight doors

Old swing doors at lowest landing

New Peelle Company frames and doors with GAL equipment

New Peelle Company frames and doors with GAL equipment

Old original cab interior 

New Canton Elevator interior 

Take away – This was a huge undertaking for our project team.  Whenever we are working at existing buildings with older hoistways, and especially when we are changing the classification of the elevator, we will see some big challenges.  Our project team did a wonderful job working with the existing conditions and taking an old beater and replacing it with a brand new elevator to provide the building with something more appropriate for their new building needs.

Team work– We had 15 Colley employees work on this project and while our project team did the brunt of the work, they had a whole team behind them for support from the first phone call to the final inspection.  Well done Team Colley! 

Thank you’s – First and foremost well done to our field personnel that was on the project who took every challenge in stride.  We would also like to thank our supplier partners at Canton Elevator, Peelle Company and Smartrise for working with us during the project on some of the obstacles we had along the way.  Thank you to those who took the the challenge out of our collective problems and worked with us through it. It takes a team[elevator contractor, building owner, suppliers] to take this from start to finish and we took the building’s initial dream from 4 years ago and delivered elevator #2.

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.

End Of Life/Obsolete Elevator Equipment – Dover DMC Elevator Update 3/27/22

 

We published information on this in July of 2021, but got some new more specific information that 100% indicates that Dover/TKE will not be supporting the Dover DMC platform any longer.  This is very important for my buildings in the Chicago area that have Dover DMC equipment, when the boards are gone, they will be gone.  There are some 3^rd party companies that may continue to support the system, but now is the time to start considering elevator control modernization if you have a Dover DMC.

What’s the story?  Dover Elevator installed elevators from 1955 to 1999 and was the 3^rd largest elevator company prior to selling to Thyssen Krupp[now known as TKE].  After Thyssen Krupp bought Dover, they branded the TK name on it prior to moving to a totally different platform called the TAC 20.  The Dover DMC was a wonderful, very reliable software-based elevator control system. While the Dover DMC had some drawbacks, it has been a very reliable work horse for many buildings. Recently Thyssen, or TKE, decided to discontinue support for the Dover DMC and will no longer manufacture solid state boards.

Who this impacts – If you have a Dover DMC control system you should begin putting money away for a control modernization.  There are still parts available, we have parts, but when they are gone, they are gone. 

Are parts still available? – Yes and no.  There are 3^rd party manufacturers that stock some of the boards.  There are a few elevator solid state board repair shops that will repair the boards.  The warning with any board repair is that while the intention is to be successful, sometimes board repairs are not successful or take a few tries.  If you don’t want these challenges, replace the elevator controller prior to going down this painful road. 

Take away – If you have one of these controllers in your building get a plan together with your elevator contractor.  See if they have replacement parts and how many.  If your CLC board, selector board, door board or any other board goes out, do they have a replacement?  How many?  When it rains it pours, be aware that there are a lot of these out there and if a few have issues at the same time and require spare parts, you are pulling from the same spare part pool which is finite.  

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. 

Pressure Sensitive Pit Ladders – Elevator Safety That Will Save Lives

We had one of our first in-person regional elevator safety meeting at the IUEC 2, which is a collaboration of our local, EIWPF and companies, on Thursday 3/17/22.  Since the inception of these meetings, we have had some good discussions and share ideas in a safe space to improve our overall safety.

There are some new safety ideas coming from EIWPF[Elevator Industry Work Preservation Fund], one of which is the pressure sensitive pit ladder.  We have had too many fatalities with workers on a pit ladder being crushed. Scott Russel recognized these hazards and provided a solution.

Watch EIWPF video on pressure sensitive pit ladder

The proposed new code language shall read:

2.2.4.2.7 The ladder shall have a ladder electrical device(see 2.26.2.38) that shall cause the electric power to be removed from the elevator driving machine motor and brake when a person is detected on the ladder.  The device is permitted to detect the person directly by their weight, by movement or removal of guard to enable use of the ladder, or by other detection means.  If detecting directly by weight, the device shall remove power when more than 20lbs is applied to any rung of the ladder.  If a guard or other detection means is used, the device shall remove power when the guard is moved or removed, or the other detection means is opened or activated.

I did not expect to hear about this item when I was driving to the meeting. I’m very glad I went, I learned something new.  Saw some old acquaintances, met some people I just talk to on the phone so I was able to put a face with a name and met some new people.  I am always encouraged when we have a collaborative environment and we can get together on a regular basis and develop strong relationships that further our industry goals, in this case, the safety of the elevator constructor.

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.

Consumer Product Safety Commission [CPSC] and Three Leading Residential Lift Manufacturers Announce Recall

Colley Elevator does not service very many residential lifts but we support any effort to make the residential market a safer environment.  A great next step would be to mandate annual inspections by a licensed elevator/lift contractor.  Currently residential lifts do not need to have any safety inspections other than when they are installed in most jurisdictions. 

Main issue - The main issue that is being addressed is the gap between the hatch door and lift gate since a small person can get stuck between them. If the interlocks make up, there is a good chance of the car running while that person is stuck as the image above depicts.  

Recall Details

Description:

Manufacturers Providing Free Safety Devices to Address Hazardous Gap Spaces between Home Elevator Doors

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Bella Elevator, LLC, Inclinator Company of America, and Savaria Corporation, are announcing three separate voluntary recalls of about 69,000 residential elevators.

Young children can become entrapped in the space between the exterior landing (hoistway) door and the interior elevator car door or gate if there is a hazardous gap, and suffer serious injuries or death when the elevator is called to another floor.

Consumers should keep unsupervised young children away from the recalled residential elevators and contact the manufacturers for instructions on how to measure for space guards to correct any hazardous gap. Space guards will be provided free of charge and assistance with space guard installation will be provided on request.

Bella, Inclinator and Savaria have agreed that all current manufacturing and distribution of future residential elevators will comply with applicable voluntary safety standards to eliminate the young child entrapment hazard. CPSC previously warned consumers about residential elevators in July 2021.

Statement of Alexander Hoehn-Saric, Chair of the CPSC

“I am pleased that the CPSC and these three residential elevator companies, Bella Elevator, Inclinator Company of America, and Savaria Corporation have come to an agreement to rectify a dangerous hazard for consumers who use residential elevators in their own homes, the homes of relatives, or in rental or vacation homes. This is an important step that will prevent further harm from potentially tens of thousands of residential elevators. Industry and the CPSC still have work to do. We have not yet been able to reach agreements with all of the elevator companies to fix their residential elevators that pose the same potentially fatal entrapment hazard and in one case sued a company to force a fix. As long as this hazard persists, I am committed to continuing this work and preventing future entrapment injuries and deaths."

Joint statement from Bella, Inclinator and Savaria:

“We are pleased to be working with the CPSC on this recall, in which we are providing free space guards where needed to increase the safety of our residential elevators. Today’s announcement also reflects our three companies’ firm, continued commitment to working with our installer partners so that future residential elevators will be installed consistent with voluntary safety standards to eliminate hazardous gaps between home elevator car doors or gates and hoistway doors. We are proud to be leaders in the residential elevator industry in addressing this important issue, in cooperation with the CPSC.” 

Bella Elevator information

Savaria information

Inclinator information

Recall number:

22-048

Work cited - CPSC website

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.