c/elevator-mechanics

I finally caught why some guys keep messing up door hanger alignment on new installs

It's because they don't check the hoistway rail bracket level before bolting the hangers in, and then the doors bind after three weeks of use, has anyone else had to go back and fix that on an Otis job?

2 comments

grantp28•12d ago

Vent: That old hospital elevator job taught me a hard lesson about rail alignment

I was working a modernization at St. Mary's Hospital in Cleveland back in February, and we chased a door reopening issue for two days straight. Turned out the old rails had shifted maybe 3/16 of an inch over 40 years, throwing everything off just enough to mess with the sensors. Anyone else run into hidden rail issues on older elevator retrofits and have a go-to method for catching it early?

2 comments

jesse_green55•14d ago

Vent: Wasted $400 on a controller board that didn't match my cab

Last month I ordered a new controller board for an Otis elevator in a downtown Austin building. Spent $400 on it based on the serial number on the old board. Got it in, pulled the old one, and the connector pinout was totally different. Wasted a whole afternoon swapping it out before I realized the cab had a retrofit years back that changed the board generation. Anyone else run into mismatched parts from older retrofits?

2 comments

reeseperez•15d ago

Spent $180 on a digital level and it's kicking my butt

I bought one of those fancy digital levels from the supply house last month to help with rail alignments in a 40-story building downtown. The bubble on my old one was off by a hair and I kept having to redo the leveling brackets on floor 22. Has anyone else had better luck with the old analog style or am I just using the digital one wrong?

2 comments

grantmartinez•17d ago

Hit 30 year mark in this trade. Never thought I'd see that.

Started working on Otis elevators back in 93 in Chicago. Passed 30 years last month. Funny thing is I remember complaining about field wiring back then and it's still the same headaches today. Any other old timers hit a milestone that surprised them?

c/elevator-mechanics

I finally caught why some guys keep messing up door hanger alignment on new installs

Vent: That old hospital elevator job taught me a hard lesson about rail alignment

Vent: Wasted $400 on a controller board that didn't match my cab

Spent $180 on a digital level and it's kicking my butt

Hit 30 year mark in this trade. Never thought I'd see that.

The wild before and after I saw in a 40 year old elevator in St. Louis

Old timer told me to never trust a digital reader on hydraulic elevators. Was he right or just stuck in his ways?

TIL that cheap chinese limit switch was costing me 2 hours

Found out I was greasing guide rails way too often

PSA: check your governor cable sheaves before they fail at 30 floors

Had to choose between greasing the rails or replacing a worn roller on a stuck door at the old Marriott in Denver

Question about how I misread a brake adjustment for 5 years

That hydraulic oil additive was a total waste of $200

A 30-year vet told me to stop greasing guide rails like I was buttering bread, and cutting back by half stopped my car from hunting.

The door closer adjustment advice I got from a building super in Chicago

Just fixed a stuck brake on a MRL with a garden hose

Just had the worst week of my career on a MCE MOD job in Cleveland

Switched from roller guides to slide guides on a Schindler 330A after fighting with noise complaints for 6 months

Debate: lube-free rails vs. monthly greasing on heavy traffic jobs

Old timer told me to stop greasing guide rails every month, I thought he was crazy

Spent a whole day chasing a phantom door lock fault on a 90s Dover

Appreciation post: The Milwaukee M12 inspection camera saved a job in Portland

The week I had to replace a 30 year old governor rope on a 15 story building

My old foreman in Chicago told me to always carry a spare governor spring in my kit

I finally had to choose between a full motor rewind or a replacement unit on a 1980s Otis job