Supply a picture of the electrical diagram as well...

Hey guys. Sorry for being MIA. The elevator was down again yesterday and it was an ordeal to get it running again. The tech said that the heater in the oil was turned off which probably caused the elevator to go down.

We did do the following:

A oil heater was installed?
The rails were polished?
Contactors or relays were replaced?
The oil over tempature sensor was replaced?
The piston packing was replaced?
And the oil flow was adjusted?

We also replaced an entire part of the controller (I don't know what). And, there were other repairs completed in the past year.

Upon recommendation of the technician, we are going to do the following:

1. replace the entire valve
2. replace the oil (tech said the color is off)
3. replace the leveling board
4. replace the old contactor

It's a lot of money to us but we really need to make sure that the elevator doesn't break down again. It's really killing us. If you guys think something is unnecessary, please let me know.

JKH, I forgot to mention your recommendations to the tech yesterday. It was a little hectic. However, I printed out your instructions and will give it to the tech the next time he comes out.

Do you guys think that I should get the manufacturer, the installer, or an engineer to come in and maybe they can see if there are any glaring problems?

Thanks again, you guys.

I don't know the company you are dealing with, but it looks like they are changing a lot of expensive parts in the hope of fixing a problem. I hope you have a full maintenance contract, one where the company absorbs the cost for a monthly fee. It seems like a competent adjuster should be able to isolate and fix a specific problem, and not just throw parts at your expense to see if something sticks. Unionized Elevator Companies have Techs that go through lengthy Apprentice Programs and ongoing training. I would make sure you are dealing with a reputable elevator company. This thing has a smell about it.

Yep,,,have to ask,,who is paying for this,,is it yourself,,or is it covered by a fully comp maintenance contract,,,this could be interesting!

WorkingSuper,

I'm with JohnJay on it seems they are replacing parts hoping to fix the trouble.

Your control manufacturer has a technical department. For a fee I'm sure they will have someone come out and help your contractor.

Unfortunately, we're paying for it because it's impossible to get on a fully comp maintenance contract when there are so many problems from the start. It's been VERY expensive.

We've been using non-unionized but I'll look into maybe alternatives like you guys suggested. Maybe it's the only way to fix this problem?

Today, I've been contacting the manufacturer to see if they can come and take a look.

Or get it in writing to say once these parts are fitted, lift will work ok,,,see what your elevator company say then!

Not to get you guys fired up, just because they are non-union doesn't make them incompetant. Many non-union shops come from and have people that were in the union and went thru the classes. My point here is even in union shops there are bad mechanics, we should help each other. A few bad ordeals by either and it gives all of us a bad scent.
Workingsuper,
your getting good advice here. My suggestion is to collect references on similar jobs, even from manufacturer and choose who you work with accordingly. It does seem as though this problem has gotten way out of control.

WorkingSuper

Forget the contactor an have them install a soft start seimens Nordic.Very easy to incorporate on a Motion Control. An make sure tech unhooks both up valve coils when sizing valve.

At this point, a technician should be camped out at your building. They should be running the unit endlessly until it malfunctions, multiple times if necessary, so they can witness first-hand exactly what is going wrong. They should be doing this before handing you a laundry list of repairs that might make the problems go away.

Just a few points. I can see why they are recommending these replacements. Levelling issues(levelling board/valve), bad oil(viscosity issues between cold and hot temps), contactor(poor even 3 phase supply to motor which may have caused overheating of pump motor). However you generally don't just do a scatter gun approach.
-Normally you don't need to replace the valve just clean the filter in front of it(mesh) and thru it to allow oil to pass thru. This includes the valve block itself.
-A poor contactor can be split and cleaned, but generally I agree new is better.
-Oil should be part of a simple check and lube service contract.
-Levelling board may be needed if lift not reaching floor level.

All of these things should be used as test functions and if not the fault the existing should be re installed and this is a way to mitigate cost. You would hope there is a little more critical fault finding to ascertain whether these are really needed.

Having soft starters really protect the pump motor from the inrush current that does the damage requiring re wiring eventually. Also union v non-union isn't the issue. Its training v training.

Ps. Lift will always break down, so don't think you will ever get a lift that never breaks down. All we try to do is minimise the situation.

Let me first say a genuine thank you for you guys. You guys really have been great.

Yesterday, we've set up a time with the manufacturer to come already so we're going to wait to see what they advise before proceeding on any repairs.

Motion Control seems responsive as we are communicating with them on all the problems.

The installer for the elevator was Florlift Elevator. I don't know too much about them but from what the techs say, they apparently didn't do a good job and I'm trying to figure out how to fix everything.

I'm going to take your suggestions and see how to incorporate them. I'll see what the elevator company say about the softstart siemens nordic. and I'll see if the company can have a technician camp out at the building but not sure if they would be willing to dedicate one person to do this...

I was told that hydros break down about 2-3 times a year plus times down for maintenance issues. That sound about right?

2/3 times a year is good,,can think of a few over here I did,,breakdowns regularly,,vandalism etc,,,,overuse,,but hopefully ,you are getting there!

WorkingSuper, if your current service company cannot dedicate a technician to your property to witness the failure after you've had all of these issues, you should look for a company who can.

Agree there rac66, someone needs to set up a tent and watch for awhile. If the problem occurs a couple times a day, I would be camping out.