Home Forums General Discussion Print Talk 70's Elevator Not Working

One of my electrical customers ( of over 30 years ) has a 70's elevator that quit working ( in North Miami ).
Called an elevator company to fix hos elevator, they came and left it in a high speed down mode ( no slowdown or approach speed ) an told him it was safe, don't worry about it.
The elevator quit working and he called them back and he asked them to fix it, They told him it was working when they left and refused to come back.
He called 2 other companies and they said they were too busy to come out and the equipment was too old to deal with, buy a new elevator. I'm trying to get it running in
the mean time or find somebody to get it working. I did some minor work on the elevator years ago ( replaced a plug in relay) before I told him my insurance does not cover elevator repairs.( about 15 years ago ). He has had it serviced but now no one wants to even service it.

The customer has no problem paying for work, in fact he paid the elevator company the same day even though it was not working correctly. If it is a simple repair I could help
him now, I have traced many circuits in the past. There was an original drawing I copied 15 years ago ( 1 copy still in the elevator cabinet ) and it controls a EECO UV-5A valve assembly with a simple pump ( pump still works,,,I pushed in contactor ).
When I push in the up or down button inside the ca\ or on the outside, the relays click/chatter in the control cabinet but no motion or any ot the 3 floor relays remain closed...
Since the relays do pull in, at least the cable slack switch is closed..

See attached or if some old timer wants to give it a look (customer WILLING to pay) you can email me at [email protected]...

Thanx, dhsvcs

It might be wise for your friend to enter into a standard maintenance agreement with a licensed elevator contractor who employs trained licensed elevator mechanics.

He did try....The last company is one of the larger ones in Miami....And they are the ones that want to sell him a new 3 floor elevator, not trying to repair the existing elevator after they told him it was SAFE to use going down at hi speed with a sizeable jerk at each floor.....

If you know of a good company that serves the Miami area that actually repairs elevators, not just installs new ones, PLEASE give me their name....

The owner is looking also.....

They only want to sell him a new 3 floor elevator, and do not want to service or repair the existing one...

Best course of action would be to call a licensed elevator company in the area and begin regular maintenance program. I've never known any of the big companies to turn down money just cuz the elevator is old.

He called 3 licensed elevator companies..

They all said buy a new elevator...
The last licensed company changed the rollers/guides, left it at high speed only, and refuse to answer the phone AFTER they cashed the check..

That was 1 1/2 weeks ago....

That is why I asked for a company that is familiar with older mechanical relay systems...

What companies did he call? Were they the majors or independents? Also the elevator is 50ish years old, it'sa good time to start thinking about a mod and putting money away for it. You have a good chance of having a company take it on and get it running if you tell them you plan on modding the car in the near future and you just need it to get by till then. Not many companies will take on a job like that without getting a contract especially if they know non licensed guys have been working on it. It opens them up to liability.

The customer has only had licensed elevator companies working on the system for the last 15 years..

The print you have is not original , it appears to be something made to replace a lost original.
The advise your getting here is frankly wrong, we have hundreds of old dover units from the 60s and 70s , they are easy to work on, most parts are available or can be updated to similar current parts. , all the units installed since then require mods because parts are not available
Go down the list of elevator contractors, call each one , soneone will come fix it. .if not fan out and look in other cities, you cant tell me someone cant fix it.

What brand and model is the controller? Do you have a pic of the controller? If it is a Dover product, it is either a Fleetwood or a GAE.