The problem is that there are 2 different professionals here with differing opinions. I was hoping by coming here, I can figure out who's right.

But, I guess you're saying it's impossible to say without directly inspecting the equipment?

Did these companies actually trouble-shoot the trouble to its source? Or, did they come in take a quick look at it for free and say "I think this is what is the trouble"? By your brief description I can come with several alternatives of my own.

There is no simple answer to your question. If you paid someone to find the trouble they should be able to prove and explain the trouble to you. If you didn't pay anyone then there is no reason for them to find and tell you what is exactly wrong and what needs to done to correct it.

And no one is saying you can't find help here. I am saying that you are giving too little and/or vague information. If you were in the industry your questions would be worded differently. And you would have included the manufacturer and model of your equipment. Is it doing this at every landing? In each direction? Where are you located?

I am asking these questions so I may try and find a responsible and safe way to assist you.

What happens exactly is someone presses a button. The car jerks a little and then moves to the desired floor. Then, there is a wait for a few minutes. And, then the door opens.

Today, the car's safety got triggered and they were working on it all day to get it off. This is an office building so it's been a nightmare with the tenants screaming bloody murder.

Trust me. We don't cut any corners and make sure that the elevator professional does all the work. We sign off on all work that they suggest. We definitely want this to be done the right way.

And, thanks so much for everyone's help. Hugely appreciated.

I closed the other one and will answer questions on this one.

Here is the brief summary of the history.

Starting from 1.5 years ago, the safety would constantly trigger. Perhaps, several times a month. It would cause the elevator to be shut down for about a day, sometimes longer depending where the elevator's position was. But, every single time, it looks like there would be too much slack in the cable.

The techs couldn't figure out the cause. We've put in a heater in the oil, polished the rails, replaced the packing, etc. Along the way, we also replaced several electrical components in the controller. This improved the elevator immensely. Instead of breaking down several times a month, it now breaks down perhaps every month or 2. A big improvement but still not sufficient since this is an office building.

Starting from 2 weeks ago, the elevator started to jerking around a bit. The oil flow was adjusted and the heat on the heating element was reduced slightly. This helped with the jerking but there still was a long pause. The same pause that I explained earlier.

Yesterday morning, the elevator's safety was triggered and the techs worked all day to put the elevator back on. They are working on it today.

The elevator company still have no idea why the elevator is acting the way it does. I guess that's the most important because once the elevator is back and running, it's only going to break down again if we can't figure out the source of the problem.

Yeah I agree. The pause when levelling in sounds like its levelling in really slow. You could prove this by either do what we have for centuries and that is just staring at the job for ages or fix a temp camera on record on the car to record movement( have done this on a really intermittent fault!!). It sounds like the levelling valve but then again if the down is ok when levelling that seems maybe not( if it is common to both directions). Is the up stop transducer functioning? Is the lift actually level and the doors aren't just opening?

It also sounds like 2 faults really. When you say safties I take it you mean safety gear? It seems to me it shouldn't take all day to get these out unless they are really slamming in or are right at the top of the shaft. Its usually quite easy to bump it up to unlock them. What about burs in the rails or loose rails as well?

Finally I would suggest you have a comprehensive lift contract as in this way they are obliged to attend for free to all callouts and it wont cost you a cent.

john jay - yep...it's a roped hydraulic. Not sure if I have an overspeed collar.

it sometimes takes all day to get it off the safety because it happens on the top floor. This time, it got stuck on the top floor and they stated that something snapped.

Additionally, they said the temp sensor in the oil tank broke and they replaced it. They said this is common every 5 years.

But, they still don't know why the safety keeps going off.

They said they will be replacing the old contactor. They say that the only thing they can do is keep fixing it and keep going by baby steps.

From what you guys are saying, it really could be a number of things and best way is to get the professional to figure it out. The problem is they can't seem to do it. I'm really loyal and so I've been sticking with the present company for a while but I really need to get this elevator running...

Do you guys suggest a certain way to resolve this? For example, would hiring an elevator engineer to consult with present elevator company help? Or is there a certain type of company I should be using? Like union as opposed to non-union? Or should the techs have certain type of accreditations?

Thanks in advance for your help, guys. You guys have been great...