Keep High Voltage Wires Away From Low Voltage Wires

Back in 2002 as a young sales person I got a chance to go out and learn firsthand what a consultant and seasoned elevator people think about someone who runs high voltage right by low voltage wiring.  We were having intermittent issues at a building on Ohio in the City and they bought in a consultant who brought an Otis legend to the building and the first thing they pointed at was the high voltage wires going right by low voltage wires.  Most of us newer to the business will probably not get as straight of a talk that we got onsite because we are a kinder gentler industry 20+ years later.  This is a reminder to those who know and maybe some who do not know pick up a thing or two.  

Since we have more non elevator devices in our controller this is very topical for our A17.1 2019 VAM devices.

Here are a few rules the NEC recommends installers to follow:

-       Unshielded low voltage wire running parallel to standard high voltage wiring (120V and 240V) must be separated by at least 8 inches. 

-       Shielded low voltage wire may run parallel with the same high voltage wiring within 8 inches, but no closer than 2 inches.

-       You may run low voltage wire over AC wiring at 90 degrees as long as they don't physically touch. 

-       Do NOT run low voltage wiring through the same holes as high voltage lines.

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.

State of Illinois 5 Year Elevator Fireman’s Recall A17.1 2019 Code Modification Requirement - Update

 

If you have smoke detectors tied into the elevator system you will need to have them tested once every 5 years and witnessed by an elevator inspector.  This is a big splash item that has been providing challenges for our industry, building owners and fire alarm companies.  City of Chicago is excluded from this mandate.

***There is legislation in Springfield that gives buildings an additional year to complete the FAID test. To date this legislation has not passed, therefore we should all try and get our FAID testing done as soon as possible.*** 

Section 1000.60 Adoption of Nationally Recognized Safety Codes

i)             Modification: Witnessing of Initiating Devices for Fireman’s Emergency Operation.

All initiating devices for all elevators shall be tested every 5 years. The test shall be witnessed by an elevator inspector. Documentation of the results of the testing of initiating devices must be kept on site in the maintenance records. All hydraulic elevators shall have this documentation completed no later than December 31, 2023. All traction elevators shall have this documentation completed at the time of their first Category 5 test after January 1, 2023. After the initial test, subsequent tests of the elevator’s initiating devices shall be conducted no later than 5 years after the date of the last test

Hydraulic elevators – Will require all of the elevator smoke detectors that are tied into the elevator tested prior to 12/31/23 and witnessed by an elevator inspector.

Traction elevators – Will require to have the fire testing be part of the CAT 5 testing after January 1st, 2023.

Challenges – We have a few challenges to contend with in the next few years. 

Coordination - The biggest challenge is coordinating the elevator mechanic, elevator inspector and fire company to be onsite at the same time.  Frequently we do have challenges with having the fire company show up on the same time and date.  Fire companies are busy too and have emergencies that prevent them from making it to our appointments.

Elevator inspector supply – We love our elevator inspectors but we have a limited number of them and adding another testing requirement will limit the amount of testing we can accomplish in a day. The coordination challenges we have with different fire companies at different buildings adds to the work load of the inspectors.

Additional costs to buildings – The building will have to pay additional fees to elevator companies, elevator inspectors and fire companies.  Typically the additional fees will be one hour for the elevator contractor and one additional hour for the elevator inspector as well as the cost for the fire company's visit.

We have our fire devices already tested once a year – This is going to be a common comment by building owners and property managers.  This may be true, you are correct, but the rule is written to include an elevator inspector. That means we will need an inspector to witness this test, not just the elevator company and fire company.

What to do – We have been working with our inspection companies to get a jump on this testing and trying to make it as painless as possible.  There are pain points, logistic challenges and good questions many people may have. For now, these are the rules let’s take action and make some good progress.

Our experience from 2021-2023 – We have seen a lot of tests go well and pass. We have seen a lot of tests fail because of fire alarm programming issues, fire alarm hardware issues and in a very few cases, our elevator controller not responding correctly.  Even though buildings are having their fire alarms checked every year, it appears that some of the items connected to the elevator system are not working properly and ignored. 

Is this a good thing? Absolutely a good thing to test your fire recall devices on a regular basis.

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.

Colley Cares – Colley Elevator Gives Back – 3rd Quarter 2023

 As we wrap up the 3rd quarter and move on to the 4th, we are donating money to 5 great groups that have been suggested by Colley Elevator employees. This has become such a cool program that allows Colley Elevator employees to help the philanthropic organizations they feel strongly about. We will be sending our donations out shortly. Thank you team Colley and thank you to these great groups that do great things every day!

History on Colley Cares - Colley Elevator has had a history of making donations to our customer’s causes, foundations, fundraisers, etc. During the last 3 years, we have done several additional philanthropic initiatives to give back to our communities amid the Covid 19 pandemic. During one of our sales meetings we came up with a new way to give back; we make an additional donation when we book each of our mod projects. That pool of money is then divided to go to five different organizations.

3rd Quarter Group

The Trees Remember – https://thetreesremember.com/ - In Memory of Ray Zomchek – Every year we lose millions of acres of our native woodlands to fires and other natural disastes.  These areas desperately need replanting.  Every Tree planted in our national forests as gifts or memorials helps maintain and restore these precious resources.  Ray Zomchek grew up in rural Northern Wisconsin in the trees and more trees and more trees.

Little Free Library - https://littlefreelibrary.org/ - Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Our mission is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Library book-exchange boxes.  Our vision is a Little Free Library in every community and a book for every reader. We believe all people are empowered when the opportunity to discover a personally relevant book to read is not limited by time, space, or privilege.

Friends of Petraits - https://friendsofpetraits.com/ - The non-profit rescue Friends of Petraits was officially founded in March of 2016. Friends of Petraits Rescue has a 501c3 designation and has been licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The rescue took on what we considered the best practices of all the shelters and rescues that we’ve worked with over the past 20 years while fostering and photographing pets for other organizations and rolled them into a foster-based rescue group helping to keep animals out of over-crowded facilities.

Haymarket Center - https://www.hcenter.org/ - The mission of Haymarket Center is to aid people with substance use disorders in their recovery by providing comprehensive behavioral health solutions.

American Camp Association - http://www.acail.org/ - At ACA, Illinois our work is driven by our passion and desire to make the world a better place. We provide members and ​non-members ​alike ​the opportunity for growth and connection, and help make camp accessible for all young people & their families.

4th Quarter line up scheduled for support

Partners for our Communities

St. Vincent Depaul – Addison, IL

Ann & Robert H Lurie Childrens Hospital

Ray Graham Association

Ecker Center for Behavioral Health

Other groups we have supported over the years through Colley Cares, all of which have been selected by Colley Elevator employees.

4Ocean

American Cancer Society

Ann & Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital

Bensenville Wood Dale Food Pantry

Boy Scouts of America

Boys & Girls Clubs – Impact Center

Christmas Without Cancer

Elmhurst Yorkville Food Pantry

Family Health Partnership Clinic

Gateway Green

Greater Chicago Food Depository

Highland Park Community Foundation

Howard Brown Health

Locks Of Love

MADD Illinois

Maryville Academy

McHenry Hospital

NEDSRA

One Tail At A Time

Parents And Friends Of The Ludeman Center

Pillars Community Health

Ray Graham Association

Red Cross – Hurricane Ian Support

Red Cross – Ukraine Support

Ronald McDonald House, Chicagoland & NW Indiana

Save-A-Pet Illinois

Take A Vet Fishing

Toy Box Connection

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.

Hydraulic Elevator Modernization – Palatine, IL

 

 

This is our 2^nd elevator modernization with the park district.  Both have been public bids with design teams, architects and elevator consultants.  We have had a great relationship with the park district and were excited to get going on this elevator modernization with them.

Existing elevator & project scope – We replaced the elevator controller, fixtures, door operator and hydraulic power unit.

 [Before - Machine room]

[After - Machine room]

New equipment providers

Controllers – Motion Control Engineering

Door operators – GAL MOVFR  

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

Power unit – MEI w/Maxton valves

Elevator controller – The existing elevator had a Virginia Controls controller which worked great for many years.  The building has a capital plan to replace all of their vertical conveyances, this will be our 2^nd elevator modernization with the park district.  We are always excited to work with our old friends at MCE as they were the specified control manufacturer for this project.

[Before - Virginia Controls elevator controller]

[After - Motion Control Elevator Controller]

Elevator door operators – We replaced the original GAL MOD operator with a GAL MOVFR that should service the building for many years to come.

[Before - Car top]

[After - Car top]

Elevator fixtures – We installed Innovation Industries hall and car fixtures to replace the original Adams Elevator fixtures. We were excited to use some of the newer-ish Innovation buttons for this project.

[Before - Car station]

[After - Car station]

[Before - main landing hall fixture]

[After - main landing hall station]

Hydraulic power unit – We removed the Quality/Automatic submersible power unit with an older Maxton UC 4 valve which was turned the wrong way. The new equipment is an MEI submersible power unit with a Maxton UC4 valve turned so it can be adjusted easily.

[Before - Power unit]

[After - Power unit]

[After - Cool new Maxton shut off valve]

Turn Key – The building wanted a turnkey project and we had great partners to complete our fire alarm and electrical components.  The elevator was inspected without a punch list by Village of Palatine building department on its first inspection and was turned over to the building.

Take away – We encourage building owners take a proactive approach to equipment replacement.  When equipment gets 20-30 years old and a building’s expectations are that the elevators are to run reliably, it is a good idea to start getting an idea when your equipment should be replaced and develop a plan.

Team work– The sales person and the project team who finishes typically get the glory on a project.  In between the initial contract sale and the final acceptance are many other people who work on the project to make it successful.  From the truck driver to the engineer to the billing department to the assist when needed 12 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!  Let’s not forget our great material supplier participation!

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.

Colley Elevator’s 11th annual QEI education training – Keep on learning!

 

Each year for the last 11 years, Colley Elevator has been hosting inspectors from across the Chicago area as well as mechanics from Colley and other companies to attend QEI/Elevator code continuing education.  This year we had people from Colley Elevator, Elevator Inspection Services, Kone, Suburban Elevator, VDA and a few other organizations.  I got to sit in a room where a few of the guys had more years in the business than I am alive, these guys know something and have seen some things, we are lucky to have them.

This year we again had Joe Donnelly – PE conduct the training. Joe D has had a pretty incredible career starting out by working for Westinghouse Elevator as an apprentice, then field engineer, moving to Lerch Bates to start his consulting career and now at Donnelly & Associates doing elevator consulting and training.  He has had experience working on the State of Illinois Board as the technical advisor and currently is the Chair of the City of Chicago code committee and helped bring the City from a 2001 code to 2016.

The last year we have had some different activity and interpretations from the State of Illinois and we talked a lot about those items.  While we might not be happy with FAID or no Temp inspections, this is the environment we are living in currently.  Maybe it changes or time lines are extended, but for now, that is where we are at.

This year we reviewed – City – State code update, 2016 & 2019 A17.1 major code update, 2019 A17.1 Part 2 code update, 2019 A17.1 Part 3 code update, A17.1 Part 6 code update, A17.1 part 8.6 code update, FEO service review, A17.3 code review, NEC code update, A117.1 class, A17.2 routine inspection review, A17.2 periodic test review, City of Chicago 2018 code A17.1, City of Chicago 2018 code A17.3. Next year ready for 2022 code?

Take away – When I was 17 I knew everything, when I was 24 and had a few years in the business I thought I was on a path to quickly know everything, when I was 30 I was pretty sure I was an oracle.  At 44 I learn new things every day and have learned to listen because everything is not always black and white and the clarity of challenges evolve and become clearer with more time and information, it takes a team.   These two days a year are very long, we work all day and come to sit for 5 hours to (re)learn elevator code.  I learn so much from these two days, even if it is similar material, I get different things out of it each time I hear it. This year we had a lot of discussion on the code topics which was really great. We always have to keep learning and keep growing.

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.

NAEC 74th Annual Convention – Reno, NV

 

We had the opportunity to attend the NAEC’s 74^th annual convention September 10^th to September 13th.  It was great to get back and see some of our old friends, meet new friends, sit through education, be involved with talking points and walk around and see about 200 different vendors. 

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 the office to look into while I was at the convention where you can talk face to face with suppliers. Meeting people face to face is much 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.   

Day 1 – Monday – We had a great key note speaker about working in a business environment; Create value, leave a positive wake and do you solve problems.  We went to the general business session and got an update on the NAEC.  Then to the contractor forum which was very quiet.   Education sessions in the afternoon where plenty we saw “what you need to know about Hydraulic MRLs, 2^nd Generation 2 way visual communications, Vertical transportation industry safety and education update.  There was a bit of a break and we went out with our new friends from Unitec for dinner then off to the Smartrise Engineering Party at the Reno Art Center.  

[Opening breakfast and speakers]

[Thank you to our sponsors]

[Always energetic Travis Hall from Alliance Elevator - MRL Hydros]

[2 way visual communciations - Rath]

[Safety committee - Best forum of the day]

Day 2 – Tuesday – The show opened and the convention floor was flooded with contractors going to suppliers booths from around the world.   You can spend the whole day visiting the people you email or talk to on the phone as well as seeing new vendors you haven’t met before.  The NAEC had a great slate of continuing education going on at all times during the convention. The NAEC hosted a reception after the floor closed which got a little wild.  A ton of people a ton of fun.

 

[The convention floor opens]

[Controller - Alpha Elevator Traction]

[Controller - Elevator Systems Traction]

[Controller - MCE Traction]

[Imperials answer to the Kone MRL motor]

[Canton's new power unit]

[4 drink minimum(at a time) - let it rip at the reception]

Day 3 – Wednesday – The awards breakfast was first.  The best of show awards were given out for best single, multiple, island and spirit of the show.  Congratulations to those who won!  Our personal friend Gary Schutte of Midwest Elevator – St. Louis, MO won the highest award in the NAEC, The Sturgeon Award.  And we saw the passing of the baton from John Tolar of United Elevator Services, LLC to Sean Madden of Southwest Elevator.  We did a bit more floor time then it was time to go back on the air plane to head home.  We did miss the Dregs Party which is always a good time!

[Awards Breakfast]

[Sturgeon winner Gary Schutte - Midwest Elevator]

[Controller - Smartrise Engineering Traction]

[New GAL clutch with gate interlock - No more facia?]

[MEI - new muffler with no maintenance]

[Love this group!  Colley has been working with them since 1963]

Emphasis on safety – The NAEC is doing a great job with their thorough safety program and working with OSHA.  Dave Smarte who is now on NAEC staff is an incredible resource for our industry.  From my time with Dave on the Board of Directors I’ve always held a very high regard for his work in the safety realm.  We had a lot of take aways during our sessions having to do with safety that we are using at home at our company.

Why you should go – Meet the best in the business, exchange ideas, get challenged, come back to your company with new ideas, see new products and be a better elevator person. 

2024 Convention – Atlantic City, NJ

2025 Convention – Houston, TX

2026 Convention – Chicago, IL - Yes its coming to our home.  Gary Schutte - You may have won the Sturgeon award, Midwest Elevator may have won the Ellie and you have a great company with great coworkers but he isn't having a convention in his home town!

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.

Chicago Elevator Association – September Meeting – VDA Elevator Consulting

 

The Chicago Elevator Association is the longest running elevator association in the United States. They had a great group at this month's meeting.

Jose Perez, Jeff Hart and Peter Long came and presented about the company they work at, VDA. VDA has been specializing in Consulting Services encompassing all phases of vertical transportation systems in both new and existing buildings. Since the inception in late 1980, their mission has been to bring together industry professionals with in-depth experience providing New Construction, Modernization, and Maintenance Evaluations for all types of elevators, escalators, and other systems under one roof.

While we still do see a lot of the traditional consulting roles of making a spec, choosing contractors to bid, reviewing bids, monitoring jobs and punching them out, we are seeing more behind the scenes work where they might only write the spec, or review bids on other contractors’ paper and do phone interviews while making their recommendations. We are seeing more maintenance audits and write ups at buildings that sometimes wouldn’t previously engage a consultant.

Jose & Co. did a great job laying out their product offering.

If you haven’t ever been or it’s been a while, come on by, take a seat, if you don’t know people, 5 minutes after you show up you will know a good amount of people at the meeting, that is the kind of people that go, ones that will make you feel welcome and will introduce you to people.

Next CEA events – November 2^nd – Elections and December is the Holiday Party.

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.