Cold Weather and Elevators - Deep Freeze 2025

We have had pretty warm weather in the Chicago area up until recently, now it is cooooolllldddd!

Symptoms

              Elevator runs sluggishly

              Elevator doesn’t level properly

              Doors move slowly and are bumpy

              Potential outcomes

              People get stuck or trapped in the elevator

              Trips and falls

              Elevator will not work to service the building

According to the NEII vertical transportation standard, the temperature of your elevator machine room should be 55 degrees to 80 degrees.  Computer manufacturers recommend an ambient temperature of 60 to 90 degrees.

The temperatures that hydraulic elevators fluid should be is:

            Operating temperature  - 80 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit

Source - Maxton Valve[www.maxtonvalve.com] - Maxton valve is one of the largest valve suppliers in North America.

Oil composition when it gets cold – When hydraulic elevator fluid gets cold it becomes thicker or has a higher viscosity.  Higher viscosity means sluggish leveling which means potential trip and falls or shut downs. 

Viscosity definition - The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to gradual deformation by shear stressor tensile stress. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness". For example, honey has a much higher viscosity than water.

How does this translate to your elevator – In our Chicago area environment we use a certain hydraulic fluid that offers more flexibility between hot and cold environment because of our seasons in the Chicago area.  Due to significant swings in temperature in our environment when it is very cold the oil gets thicker and the valve and elevator system will not operate correctly causing a potential issue with leveling or entrapment.  The reverse occurs when it gets very hot and the oil gets very hot.  Both scenarios cause safety issues for the elevator riders.  If we always had cold or warm temperatures we could use a different hydraulic fluid that would be more appropriate for a hot or cold environment.  But! We live in Chicago.

What not to do – As a building owner it is very important to have your elevator running.  Some building owners take it upon themselves to improvise to get their elevators running on cold days with space heaters.  While the installation of space heaters is a short term solution, it isn't a safe long term solution as you will see space heaters in non-occupied machinery spaces that can malfunction causing smoke and fire hazards.  The space heaters also can overload your electrical circuits causing your breakers to trip.  The electricity costs to run multiple heaters in one year would probably be significantly more than the installation of an elevator tank heater.

 

[This building owner was resourceful putting a heater on the valve]

[Two heaters on one elevator power unit]

 

[One heater in the elevator pit]

Recommended solution – use a tank heater.  Pay an elevator company to install a tank heater on the elevator with an on/off switch.  This is a safe alternative to space heaters. But!  Turn the tank heater off in the summer or you will smoke your oil and burn it, if you burn your oil you will have different issues.

Take away – If you are having winter issues, talk to your elevator company.  If you are not getting the right answers, call Colley Elevator.  I went to a building for a nuisance issue[not a Colley maintenance account], they described what was occurring, without even walking in the elevator room I told them it was cold oil, they told me they had a space heater in the machine room, when we looked, they did have a space heater and it hadn’t worked all season.  The valve was ice cold.  I’m sure they will go get a new one and when it is in the machine room their inconsistencies will go away.

Salt – When we start getting cold and start having snow we use a lot of salt on the side walk.  That salt gets on our feet and comes in the building.  Have someone vacuum out the door sills because salt loves to live there and we will come out for a overtime call and charge you a lot of money for a few pieces of salt.  If you can do prevention, that is the best, but we are also always available.

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.

Year in Reflection - Colley Elevator Blog - 2024 review

Welcome 2025!  This is our 11th year doing the blog; our first post was 2/28/14.  We had a great 2024 at Colley Elevator so this is a quick recap of our year as we move forward to the next.  For me it is a great way to see where we came from and where we want to go. I’m lucky to have such great people around as we enter our 117th year of being an independent elevator contractor.  Thank you to everyone that was part of our 2024 year!

Annual reflection – This year we saw our maintenance portfolio grow from 2350 to over 2522 elevators.  We had some bigger portfolios come over but a majority of our new customers are buildings with one or two elevators.  We have switched our main hydro controller to Alpha Elevator with still a good amount of Smartrise and using MCE as our main traction elevator controller.   We have had major headaches from GAL with shipping and have had to start ordering bulk from their local office.   This has been a large learning curve for us.  In total we probably bought 110 door operators, 80+ fixture packages, 60+ power units and a few packages[MEI & Canton].  We purchased 30-40 cylinders for ITI & EECO along with some from Custom and Hydraulic Elevator. 

Colley Cares, our philanthropic outreach, gave out over $12,000 to philanthropic organizations ranging from substance abuse to food depositories.  The Colley team came together to help out Toys for Tots this fall/winter with a truck load of gifts and food to help out those in need. We work with incredible people who made this all happen and our average employment is about 10 years. I’m proud to work side by side with everyone here and that we have a culture of openness at Colley that helps get everyone done at a high level! Thank you to our coworkers, customers & suppliers for being great!  In 2024 Elevator World let us participate in their Annual Ellie “best in area” contest and we brought home the 2024 Best Contractor of the North[making it our 4th win].

Post reflection – Take a look at the great catalog of blog posts in 2024, go back and read some.

1/7/24 – Elevator 101 continuing education – CEUs – Morton Grove, IL

1/14/24 – Chicago Elevator Association – Alpha Elevator Control – 2/1/24 6:30pm

1/21/24 - Cold Weather Elevator – Deep Freeze 2024 - Chicago

1/28/24 – Elevator 101 – CAMICB CEU approved Course – Morton Grove, IL

2/11/24 – Elevator picture hall of fame 2024 – Superbowl of Elevators

2/18/24 – State of Illinois Fire Marshall Elevator Division extends FAID[Fire alarm initiating device]requirement

2/25/24 – Hydraulic elevator modernization – Norridge, IL 

3/3/24 – CAI – Community Association Institute – Common Interest – Winter Edition 24’ – Elevator testing in Illinois 

3/10/24 – CAI – Community Association Institute – 42nd Annual Winter Expo

3/17/24 – Elevator Contractors of America – ECA – Annual Meeting – 2024 – Port Charlotte, FL

3/31/24 – NAEC Spring Conference – 4/14-23-4/17/23 – Miramar Beach, FL

4/7/24 – Chicago Elevator Association – April 24’ Meeting – Rath Janus Avire

4/21/24 – A17.1 Elevator 2 Way Communication – High Rise Requirements

4/28/24 – IUEC Safety Standdown 2024 – 4/28/24 

5/27/24 – Elevator Maintenance – Hydraulic Elevator – Car Tops 

6/2/24 – Hydraulic Elevator Modernization – Downers Grove, IL

6/9/24 – Identification of Elevator Equipment – Labeling Elevator Hoistway Door Frames- A17.1 2019

6/18/24 – Hot Weather & Elevator Machine Rooms Will Affect Your Elevator’s Ability to Service the Building

7/3/24 - Oak Park, IL New Elevator Certification Process

7/13/24 – Traction Elevator Modernization – Indian Head Park, IL

7/22/24 - Elevator picture Hall of Fame 2024 – Volume 2

8/3/24 – Vote Colley Elevator for Elevator Worlds 2024 Best Contractor - North

8/19/24 – State of Illinois Fire Marshall Elevator Division 8/13/24 Meeting

9/2/24 – Schindler 330 Inverted Piston Roped Hydraulic Elevators MCP Update Notice 

9/15/24 – Giant Passenger Elevator Construction – Traction – Canton Elevator 

9/29/24 – NAEC 75th Elevator Convention – Atlantic City, NJ

10/13/24 – Hey Illinois! Here Comes Your New Elevator Code A17.1 2022

10/29/24 – Traction Elevator Modernization – Palatine, IL

11/12/24 – State of Illinois Fire Marshall Elevator Safety Review Board Meeting 11/7/24

12/2/24-12/24-24 – 12 Codes of Christmas Days 1-12[12 posts]

Blog reflection – 41 posts in 2024[that is a lot of words, pictures and time], over 74,400 views, over 365,016 views in the blog’s history.  

Most popular blog posts of 2024

1. Elevator Electrical, Fire Alarm & Other Work By Others[WBO] – Elevator Modernization – 3,260 views

2. Year in Reflection – Colley Elevator Blog – 2021 Elevator Blog – 2,750 views

3. Elevator Disconnect Auxiliary Contacts – Elevator Controller Emergency Battery Lowering – Rescuevator – 1,480 views

4. Elevator Independent Service – Movers Using the Elevator - 686 views

5. End of Life/Obsolete Elevator Equipment – Dover DMC Elevator – 569 views 

6. Guide for Elevator New Construction for General Contractors and Building Owners – 529 views

7. Smoke Detectors, Sprinklers, Heat Detectors and Shunt Trips in Elevator Environment – 456 views

8. Elevator Cable Rouge – 409 views

9. State of Illinois 5 Year Elevator Fireman’s Recall A17.1 2019 Modification Requirement – 349 views 

10. Comprehensive Elevator Door Restrictor Wrap Up – 315 views

Elevator resolution – This year I would like to take the opportunity to encourage everyone to go past their ceiling, giving the tools and time to do great things in their particular position.  Industrywide there is too much cannibalism for short term gains which diminishes our jobs and how we are looked at.

FAID inspections– The FAID inspection have been a big challenge for everyone. We are doing a great job.  We have gotten a pretty good system going but have a lot to work on in 2025.  If you don’t have your FAID done yet on your hydro, lets get it set up for 2025!

2024 projects/relationships – In 2024 we  have seen an up tick on projects and have had some project flow challenges like any elevator company, but we have bottle necks that we've been working out.  We are working with a lot of portfolios as well as a lot of single elevator buildings. 

Competitive market – We have seen a decline on our OEM’s maintenance programs. I call it NO LIFE GUARD ON DUTY – NO MAINTENANCE BEING PERFORMED.   We have doubled down on our Pits and Car Tops program by encouraging our maintenance mechanics to do great things with the time they have at the building.  We have also had the opportunity to work with more elevator consultants this year and working with more buildings on Turn Key solutions. 

Suppliers – We have some incredible suppliers that deliver every day, all day, all year.  Thank you!  On the other hand we have seen some of our historically great suppliers do incredibly terrible things trying to implement corporate modeling, hiring marketing clowns and implement new software programs.  A message for some of our suppliers who have forgotten what made the companies they work for great, do better! You aren't going to value engineer, restructure or sell your way to more profit or a to a better company. You will trip, fall and ruin good names and legacies. Don't forget your roots and where you came from. 

Thank you for everyone who took the time to read the blog.  Work safe, getting better, do great things and make our industry a better place for everyone.

12 Codes of Christmas - Day 12

On the twelfth day of Christmas ASME gave to me 
Door lock monitoring per 8.6.4.24 and 2.26.5 

Related to yesterday's item, day twelve's code change is by far the biggest. Door lock monitoring will present the most challenges once the state mandates the 2022 code. 

Door lock monitoring is a safety feature that does not allow the door locks to be jumped out or to malfunction while the car is able to run. It is already a feature of controllers built after 2008, but the code specifically mandates it on all new installations.

The challenge will be on older elevators as there will be no grandfathering. Some elevators that were installed between 2000 and 2008 may already have this feature; those before 2000 almost certainly do not.

We are following this item closely and will communicate details with our customers as they become available. Currently the Elevator Safety Review Board has approved a 3 year compliance period once the 2022 code is adopted. More details may be found here.

If you have any questions regarding your specific situation, be sure to contact us.

Click here for a complete list of all changes in the 2022 code.

12 Codes of Christmas - Day 11

On the eleventh day of Christmas ASME gave to me 
Testing of door lock monitoring per 8.6.19.21 

As we wind down the 12 codes of Christmas, days 11 and 12 go hand in hand. We've saved the biggest for last as we foresee it causing the most headaches.

Door lock monitoring will present the most challenges once the state moves to the 2022 code. Simply put, door lock monitoring is a safety feature that does not allow the door locks to be jumped out or to malfunction while the car is able to run.

Testing this feature will be required and written documentation must be kept onsite. 

If you have any questions regarding your specific situation, be sure to contact us.

Click here for a complete list of all changes in the 2022 code.

12 Codes of Christmas - Day 10

On the tenth day of Christmas ASME gave to me 
Replacement of driving machine or controller per 8.6.3.17 

Sometimes a driving machine or controller needs replacement. Usually this is part of a modernization project, but occasionally it's due to damage or loss.

The 2022 code clarifies that if it is due to damage or loss, it may be replaced with the original or equivalent model. More importantly, it is allowed to conform to the original code per the elevator's code data plate.

If the controller is not being replaced due to damage or loss, it is considered an alteration and must conform to the current code.

If you have any questions regarding your specific situation, be sure to contact us.

Click here for a complete list of all changes in the 2022 code.

12 Codes of Christmas - Day 9

On the ninth day of Christmas ASME gave to me 
A slight change to testing per 3.18.4.1

Though several 2022 code changes will directly affect our customers, this item only pertains to us. It states that it is not required to run the elevator onto the stop ring during testing.

If you have any questions regarding your specific situation, be sure to contact us.

Click here for a complete list of all changes in the 2022 code.

12 Codes of Christmas - Day 8

On the eighth day of Christmas ASME gave to me 
Revisions to occupant evacuation operation inspection per 2.27.6

Minor changes to firefighter emergency operation (FEO) or occupant evacuation operation (OEO) inspections include the addition of 'test' to the list of operations that alert personnel of Phase I activation. Now all 3 operations shall alert personnel of activation.

Additionally, the height of the keyed switch shall be between 36" and 66" above the finished floor.

If you have any questions regarding your specific situation, be sure to contact us.

Click here for a complete list of all changes in the 2022 code.