c/elevator-mechanics

Pro tip: A firefighter in Chicago told me to always check the pit sump pump first.

Got called for a stuck elevator in a 12-story building during a heavy rainstorm last Tuesday. The fire captain on scene pointed at the pit and said, 'Water's your problem, not the motor.' He was right, the sump had failed. How often do you guys run into water issues versus actual mechanical failures?

Finally bit the bullet on a digital tension gauge

It was about $350 and I put it off for years thinking my old spring scale was fine. Used it today on a set of governor ropes that felt a little off, and the numbers showed one was way tighter than the others. Saved me a ton of guesswork and a possible callback. Anyone have a good trick for keeping the sensor from slipping on really worn cables?

Saw a crew in my building trying to adjust the governor rope with the car on the pit floor

They had the car parked down there to work on the buffers, and one guy was trying to tweak the rope tension. I had to stop him and explain that the governor needs the car's full weight to set right. We ended up putting the car at the top landing, ran a full speed test, and the overspeed switch tripped exactly like it should. Has anyone else run into this on a recent job?

Just read that the first passenger elevator safety brake was invented because a guy got tired of cutting ropes.

Found it in an old industry history book at the library. It was Elisha Otis in 1853, and he literally demonstrated it by having the rope cut while he was standing on the platform. Anyone know other weird origin stories for the gear we use every day?

Working on a 15-story retrofit in Portland, the old rope gripper versus the new magnetic brake was a real eye-opener.

We had to replace the safety gear on a set of older Otis units. The original rope gripper system needed constant tweaking for alignment, maybe an hour of fussing per car. The newer permanent magnet brake from a different job just dropped in and held spec with a simple gap check. Has anyone else made that switch and seen their callbacks drop?

Finally caved and bought the $300 digital inclinometer for aligning rails.

It cut my setup time on a 20-story job in half, so what other pricey tools have actually saved you guys a ton of time?

Got stuck choosing between a 3/8 inch drive or a 1/2 inch for a stubborn gearbox bolt on a 1980s Otis unit.

I went with the 3/8 and the socket cracked like an egg after a solid whack, so what's your go-to move when a bolt just won't budge?

Shoutout to the old-timer in Philly who showed me the trick with a zip tie on a governor rope

I was stuck on a 1980s Dover traction job for hours until he walked by and said, 'Kid, loop it tight right below the sheave and you'll get your tension every time.'

Question about hydraulic line crimping methods

I was doing a repair on a 5-story bank building and tried using a hand-crimper on the new hose, but the fitting leaked after a week. Switched to a bench-mounted crimper from the shop and it's held perfect pressure for over a month now. Anyone else find the bench tool is the only way to get a reliable seal on those high-pressure lines?

Took me a decade to figure out my governor rope tension check was wrong

I was doing a full test on a traction job in a Cincinnati office building last Tuesday. The governor rope felt fine, but the safety gear wouldn't trip during the overspeed test. My apprentice, a new guy fresh from trade school, asked if I was checking the tension with the car at the top landing. I'd always done it with the car in the pit, which is how I was taught. Turns out, that extra rope weight at the top changes everything. I redid the tension with the car up top and it was off by almost 30 pounds. How many of you were taught the old way versus checking it at the top?

PSA: Check the call button before you blame the motor

Got a call for a stuck car at the old Riverside Hotel downtown, and after an hour tracing the controller, I found a kid's gum wrapper jammed in the hall button. The front desk guy just laughed and said, 'That explains the sticky floor.' Anyone else run into weird stuff blocking the buttons?

I thought those new magnetic brake gauges were just a waste of money.

A guy on my crew in Atlanta swore by his, but I kept using my old feeler gauges. Then we had a job with a tight pit and terrible light, and I watched him set the gap on a Dover Miconic in about 30 seconds flat. I borrowed it for the next car and haven't gone back. Anyone else make the switch and find it actually saves real time?

Warning: I thought the new wireless elevator test tools were just a gimmick until I used them on a job in Phoenix.

I was working on a high rise there and the old wired tester was a pain with all the long shaft runs. A guy on site had a set of those Bluetooth enabled tools and let me try them. I could check door lock circuits from the pit without running a line all the way to the machine room, which saved a ton of time. So, what's your take, are these wireless tools actually worth the money or just another thing to break?

Got called out for a stuck car in a 15 story building, tried two different ways to free it

The car was stuck between floors 7 and 8. First, I tried the standard manual lowering procedure with the brake tool. It was slow and the car kept jerking. Then I switched to using the rescue device with the portable power unit we keep on the truck. Had the car at the landing and the doors open in under 4 minutes. The power unit gave way more control and was safer for the passengers. What's your go-to method for a manual rescue when the main drive is dead?

Fixed a stuck governor rope in a tight shaft in Cincinnati

I was on a call at an old office building downtown last week. The governor rope had jumped its sheave and was jammed against the wall, stopping the car. The shaft was so narrow I could barely turn around. I had to use a small pry bar to lift the rope just enough to guide it back onto the groove, working by feel more than sight. Has anyone else had to deal with a rope jam in a space that tight?

PSA: The new safety clips from that big supplier are junk compared to the old style.

Had one fail on a traction job in a Denver high rise last month, the spring just gave out. The old forged steel ones we used for years never did that. Anyone else run into this with the new batch?

Got into it with the building manager over a 1998 Dover governor adjustment in a Chicago high-rise.

He insisted the old spec was fine for a full speed test, but I found a worn pawl spring and refused to sign off until we replaced it, so has anyone else had to push back hard on a safety call like that?

Got called to a high rise in Chicago where the governor rope was frayed down to the core

It was on a 20 story building, and the rope had been rubbing against a sharp edge on the sheave for months. The building guys said they heard a weird noise but thought it was normal. I mean, idk, maybe it's just me but that's a full system failure waiting to happen. Now I check the entire rope run, not just the car top, on every inspection. Anyone else had a close call from a simple thing everyone else missed?

Had a door operator on a 90s Dover start making a sound like a bag of nails in a dryer this morning.

Turns out the drive gear on the motor had worn down to almost nothing, so I had to pull the whole unit and replace it with a new one from the van, which took me and my apprentice about two hours in a cramped machine room.

Just shelled out $450 for a new digital hoistway tape measure and it saved my whole week on a high-rise job.

Warning: I tried a new brand of 3/8" drive socket on a stuck sheave bolt and it rounded off

It was a 'Pro-Grip' socket from a truck that came by the shop last month. I was working on a Dover MRL in a downtown Phoenix office building and put some real torque on it. The socket just gave way and left the bolt head totally smooth. Learned that sometimes the old, beat-up tools you know are better than the shiny new ones you don't. Anyone have a go-to brand for sockets that can take a serious beating?

Changed my mind on those digital level apps for car leveling

I always thought you needed a real machinist level for the job, but my foreman in Chicago showed me his phone app reading within 0.02 degrees of our certified level. What's the most accurate tool you've found for setting up a car?

That time a door operator gear stripped on a Friday afternoon call

Got a call last Friday at 4:30 PM for a stuck car in a downtown office building. The door operator was making a nasty grinding sound. Opened it up and found the main nylon gear was completely stripped, just shredded teeth. I didn't have the exact part on my truck, but I had a universal gear kit from a different model that I was able to modify to fit by shaving down the hub with a file. Got the doors cycling in about an hour. Anyone have a go-to brand for those universal gear sets that actually holds up?

A hospital in St. Louis taught me to always check the pit for toys

Got a call for a car stuck between floors at a children's hospital. Found the issue after pulling the pit access door. A plastic fire truck had rolled under the car and jammed the guide rails. The kid must have dropped it through the gap. Now I look down there first on every hospital or school job. What's the strangest thing you've ever pulled from an elevator pit?

A lead mechanic in Atlanta told me to ignore a specific fault code on a G1000 system

Honestly, he said 'that's just a ghost, it'll clear on its own after fifty cycles' but I insisted on tracing the wiring and found a chafed conductor in the shaft. Anyone else refuse to just ignore a code without checking?