Home Forums General Discussion Technical Questions What do I have here?

I am the owner of a 90yr old warehouse building in Des Moines, Iowa with a large Otis freight elevator (the car is 17'-6" x 8'-0"). The machine is in need of repair but I am having trouble getting any of the local elevator companies, Otis included, to put much effort into identifying or finding parts. The Otis dealer consulted a database and could not find the elevator listed for this building, and was very unwilling to come out and look at it and try to figure out what we have. They immediately push toward replacement, and we went down that road but the costs are so high I would strongly prefer to repair. I am clearly a novice with regard to elevators, but I have assembled a series of pictures and I am hoping someone could give me some ideas of what this elevator is, where I may need to go for parts, or a suitable technician who wants to really figure this out.

Thank you for any help.

greg

Otis elevator room

The elevator was making excessive noise and I got a quote for them to replace the thrust bearings but when they came to perform that work they 'removed covers and end cap. Found ring has settle worm shaft.'

From the pic I'm seeing the ring definitely looks badly worn...
I'd get a couple of companies to look at it, and to be thourough. I've seen Rings wear and worm shafts brake, and it's not a pretty site. Plus pretty dangerous.

hi mate the problem you have is that these types of machines are well past their used by date( i think most things have a build design life of 25/30 years) but bc of the good build quality and the expertise of the elevator mechanics we keep these lifts going. unfortunately there comes a time when machinery just need to be replaced. if you went down the road of a mechanical overhaul (crown wheels,worm gear, bearings, ropes etc) normally what happens then something else needs to be repaired and parts req generally need to be made up it comes to a point of cost prohibitive when compared to modernisation considering parts and labour knowledge are freely available.

i dont envy your situation.

They might think you have no money to pay them when the work is done.

You have what is also known as a basement drum machine, even if it is in the overhead or another floor.

It's very costly to maintain even though it seems like only a few electric controls to maintain.

If your lucky, you might get a flood and the insurance would pay for its replacement. May I respectfully suggest that in your next commercial building purchase, you hire some one to give you a value on the machinery in it?

I have no axe to grind here and agree with the others who suggest you do the prudent thing and replace the outdated equipment. The old fiber coated power wires might still conduct electricity, but is it worth the risk? I think not.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert L Krieger Jr.

My Bad, it's a drum machine in the overhead.

Robert L Krieger Jr.

this is a nice old machine but uppo72 is right ,only going to make short term friends with this one ,no overloads or low voltage protection because of mech contactor driven by, teller rope no finial limits ,liability so great if worked perfecty you wouldnt want any one using it ,I still admire the craftmanship

100% agree. I have only seen 1 of these machines, and we were removing it so that the mod crew could install a new machine. Things allways break at the worst times.
You could fix it and then lose the motor next week. A new elevator would work better, be safer, and use much less power. I don't envy the elevator men attempting this repair. Good luck

keep calling around, hit your area and find some other building's that are in that area, ask who they use. i have been seeing in my area some companys will not take care of these old elevator's.....not even there own equipment. I love the old otis stuff! but everyone is right it has to go, needs to be updated and yes very very expensive.

Thank you all for the replies. I bought the building 8 years ago, and we knew it wouldn't last forever, but it gets used very sparingly and was doing well until the past year. The biggest problem with replacement is the size. At least keeping it as a freight elevator keeps the cost down, but I'm still looking at $350,000. There's got to be another way.

greg

hey fitch sometimes its better to look at alternatives but i would be looking at a mrl lift replacement(a lift that need no motorroom) or even a hydraulic lift to get a big loading lift. either way i guess you will have to do a cost benefit analysis to determine if its viable.