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.

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

You Don’t Need to See the Whole Stair Case, Just the First Step – Traction Elevator MOD - Chicago, IL

 

[Standard Elevator Machine dropped in place]

We took on a project with an old beater freight elevator that was going to be a lot of work.  We are changing the old beater freight into a big passenger elevator.  A lot of work on the engineering side, a lot of work on the prep side, a lot of work on the field side, a lot of work on the building side. 

 

[Old elevator machine room]

[know how much a 16" I beam weights per foot?]

[Smartrise Engineering controller getting a lift]

My homage to the people involved in the project to this point, they are doing a great job. Men of Steel and Rails of Wood apply to the personnel involved in all aspects of the equipment replacement. These days have been hard, but it finally looks like an elevator.

In any old building you have challenges. We have had challenges with the GC digging the pit out, challenges with the design of the elevator, challenges with the material provider mixing up parts, challenges, challenges, challenges... Lots of challenges and we are almost on the other side. 

Well done to the two elevator personnel who have lived at this place for the last while. Thank you to all of the other people who have been involved as well, it is a team effort here! Much respect! Be sure to tune in to follow the progress.

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.

Vote Colley Elevator for Elevator Worlds 2022 “Best Contractor – North” Ellie

 

Vote Colley Elevator for Elevator Worlds 2022  “Best Contractor – North”

For the last 5 years Elevator World, the elevator industries premiere trade publication, puts on a contest for “best” supplier, contractor, consultant, etc.  We have been nominated in the “Best Contractor – North” and are looking for your vote.   Last year we where the runner up to Midwest Elevator.

www.elevatorworld.com/contests/the-ellies/ 

Help us bring the 2022 Ellie back to Chicago where she belongs! 

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.

Vote Colley Elevator for Elevator Worlds 2022 Best Contractor – North Ellie

 

Colley Elevator is excited to announce we have been nominated for Elevator Worlds 2022 Best Contractor – North award once again.  We brought the Ellie home in 2019 and 2020.  In 2021 our friends to the West, Midwest Elevator won the award.  We would like to bring the Ellie back to the Chicagoland area so please place your vote for Colley Elevator.

elevatorworld.com/contests/the-ellies/

For those at Colley Elevator who work tirelessly to be a different elevator company and do great things for our customers, let us know you support us fighting the good fight!

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.

Elevator Maintenance Wanted – A Dream Deferred

We have been seeing a lot of opportunities at buildings that are paying for monthly maintenance visits, or “full maintenance”, that have completely neglected elevators. It is so important that elevator companies give mechanics time to do maintenance. Elevator mechanics take the time they get to do maintenance and building owners pay a reasonable amount of money to allow the elevator company to properly maintain the equipment. It is the elevator industry's “Holy Trinity” and it requires all three parties; elevator companies, elevator mechanics and building owners to be on the same page to have a safe and responsible level of service. If you are paying $99.00 a month for elevator maintenance, you probably are not getting anything but a good price.

All of these photos are from buildings that had monthly maintenance contracts.

This took years to look like it does

This took years to look like it does

This took years to look like it does

It is a disservice to our industry and other elevator professionals out there to have elevators that look like this if we are going to the buildings on a monthly basis.

What Colley does – We do a few things differently than some of our competitors; OEMS and independents. The biggest thing we do is to watch our route numbers. It’s not always perfect but we cannot expect an elevator mechanic to complete maintenance[which includes cleaning] if they don’t have enough hours in the month to get through their routes. Our management and support team actually goes out to buildings for route audits and spot checks. When we do this, not only do we see how we are doing, we also see what upgrades the building may be interested in or would benefit from. This also allows us to be familiar with more buildings so when owners or management calls, we can say “hey, I was just at that building”. We also go to buildings of the elevator mechanic's choice that they have issues with or would like to see improvements completed. We incentivize car top and pit cleaning, provide maintenance helpers and buy a whole lot of Simple Green. 

The equation is pretty simple and always a work in progress because no one is stoked about cleaning pits, car tops, machine rooms, divider beams, door closers, back of sills, etc but it is what we signed up for when joining the elevator industry. Cleaning is the lowest hanging fruit out there for us as elevator personnel to complete. Everyone knows how to and can clean something each visit to a building. Let's keep our industry great, we can do better.

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.

Highland Park, IL Shooting Victims Fund

We hear about tragedies and talk about how unfortunate they are.  When the tragedies come closer to home, our ears ring a little louder.  The Highland Park 4^th of July parade shooting is in our back yard.  A Colley employee was in the parade with his wife and kids.  I was at someone’s house who went to school with one of the victims and was going to their funeral this weekend.  It is real. Most of us will think about this for a short bit then move on.  Some people will forever be changed from going to a 4^th of July parade. 

Colley challenged our employees to donate money to a victim(s) and the management team would match the donations.  We had great participation and collectively have donated $2,000.00. Additionally, we will be channeling our Colley Cares 3rd quarter donation to the Victims First fund.

We can’t bring anyone back or repair the damage this  reckless act caused mentally and physically, but we hope the few dollars everyone can donate will add up and make lives easier moving forward from this horrible event.  If you are able, give a few dollars to a great cause.

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.

Elevator Picture Hall of Fame – Volume 2 – 2022

We get to review a lot of pictures when we go to survey elevators for sales, shut downs or engineering.  Here are a few of the more unique ones we pulled out of our Elevator Picture Hall of Fame – Volume 2 – 2022.  It is like the disgrace of Edinburgh’s, you cannot stop looking and thinking, “what were they thinking”?

The Butcher of Dover – This was an elevator we used to take care of for a less than great owner.  The owner had a hard time paying their bills and has been featured in this blog for not heating their machine room correctly.  We parted ways many years ago.  Like a bad penny, this building popped back up on the radar with a new owner. 

There are a few more unique things that a company who they hired did to this elevator, but the controller is one that made it to the Hall of Fame.  This elevator is being modernized and on its way to working great!

The Butcher of Dover strikes again - While I was writing the description of the Dover Butcher, I remembered, the controller wasn’t the only wild thing that happened at the building featured. 

Neglected Pit – This isn’t very exciting, we see lots of neglected pits on sales calls.  As an industry, we can do better.  This owner was paying for monthly service. 

Stoned - This elevator is frequently unmotivated, gaining weight, growing its hair out, listens to jam bands and craves late night burritos after watching Bill and Ted II.

Rusty Disco – This owner was having problems with their lift for many years.  They are removing their whole lift soon and replacing it with a ramp.

Snake pipe – You ever look at an old picture of something and said “what where they thinking”? 

Hey 4^th year figure this out! – We have a great mechanic who likes to test all the apprentices to see if they can trace wires so he sets them up to troubleshoot this before he puts everything back on terminals nice and neat.  No… That wasn’t this story at all.

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.