Tac 20 does not have much to it, Solid State starter, a few relays, the large IOC board and a couple communication boards. Your building should have a owners verison manual from Thyssen When we installed the job.

I don't think we have an owner's manual.

If it is this:
http://thyssenkruppelevator.com/downloads/OwnersGuide.pdf

It is a bit thin on information. Are there service manuals available somewhere?

Canada's code differs by province... Ontario's is fairly strict, whereas as Quebec's is nearly non-existent... where abouts are you located?

Just looked at that pdf... definitely NOT an owners manual... what specifically are you looking to do or learn?

EDMAn:

I am in Alberta. I thought the code used was B44 across Canada? Also I looked at the trade body and I was surprised that you are not a Red Seal trade despite being inter-provincially mobile and all the training coming from the same organization which I also a subset of the umbrella international organization. Love governments that can't get their Crap together.

I suppose the best thing would be to find the owner's manual and go from there.

Some of the inspection/repair/maintenance code would be handy as well, but without a strong vocabulary of the trade it might be a little over my head.

Im not sure how Canada codes work but here in states there is a tag on the controller to what ASME code to inspect too.

Who do you have a maintenance contract with? If it is Thyssen ask for a Maintenance Check Chart it shows what the tech will check every visit. If it is only and Oil and Grease contract then things change the tech will look for leaks make sure the oil level is correct and most things on call backs are billable. Also Thyssen should have what they call a BEEP manual on the job that covers our maintenance program. On the building end of things you should check fire service once a month Phase 1 and Phase 2 also check the intercom.

sbrmilitia:
I have our contract here, and it is with Thyssen.

There is some paperwork in the controller cabinet. I didn't pull it out of the sleeve but it looked like circuit prints. I'll have a closer look.

One of the projects I am working on it gathering information on what our tradesmen are actually doing in the building and making sure that they are complying with our expectations/contracts. I will ask for a Maintenance Check Chart. Do you have customers that are as involved as I want to be with this? IE - receive documentation that the checks are being done and what exactly is being looked at? How does that usually play out?

BEEP - This is an acronym for what exactly? Again, I'll have a look around in the equipment room for docs.

CSA codes are usually around 80 dollars to purchase. If anyone has access to a spare copy I can have that would be nice. I'm one of the few people out there who likes to read codes. I am a code master for my own trade. =)

Another contract question, as per this line:

We do not have the technical knowledge to lockout the elevator and open the lower door to inspect the pit. Half a year ago the pit was found flooded by one of the techs. We have no idea how long the water was down there, presumably since the last inspection. The pit was cleaned out and life carried on.

Recently the painted steel in the shaft was found to be rusting and peeling. It had just been repainted shortly before the flooding in the pit area happened. The building is only 5 years old, and we live in a semi-arid region.

My concerns are of course related to how do we achieve satisfaction of our contractual obligations as quoted above without proper access and/or training to the pit. It seems clear to me closer oversight is required. Can I get some advice on how to approach this general problem of oversight?

I think the gory details of the flooding and having to paint a new shaft/pit twice in one year is settled and ended up on us, mostly through capitulation I think. Going forward I think we need to learn to manage our assets better.

So that is in part where I am coming from. The rest is my life quest for knowledge.

Beep is Basic Elevator and Escalator Procedure, if you have one required in Canada it should have all the maintenance and some code info in the book. The US BEEP covers this. Any questions about your contract and what it covers should be refered to a service rep in the office you have the contract with, they can tell you what is your contract coverage and it can vary greatly. I do not know if TKE Vista is available in Canada but if it is this will allow you online access to service records and callbacks. Please do not get in pit without your service provider present, ask your route mechanic what they think about the rust. If it becomes an issue Rustoleum make a paint primer that stops rust on rusted metal.

You have to have a tech let you in the pit. You sign a indemnity agreement before you are let in. If yours elevator runs with a limited amount of callbacks and you see your tech regulary then maintenance is getting done.

You can also hire a consultant to perform a maintenane evaluation.

Tac-20s does not have inspection switches in the controller. Its extremely dangrous if you try to enter the pit or hatch.

Keep up good communication with your tech. If you have any concerns he will be more then happy to address them for you.

lae, what your referring to about water damage is to indemnify the lift contractor of any damage caused by water infiltration. In other words the provision is not really for the owners to inspect the pit area moreso that they are liable for any damage. It can get quite flooded, infact ive had a complete basement floor flooded to the ceiling shorting out both old(56') Otis lifts, which used old VIR trailing cables that had to be completely rewired and the water washed away all terminal markings making the job twice as long. I think the job cost around 10k to fix. It goes without saying the owners wish they were more vigilant about any leaks. By the way remember you should have building insurance to cover losses.

We don't use BEEPs in Ontario. B44 has an appendix which lays out what monthly/yearly maintenance tasks must be completed. But Thyssen is moving awin y from that, as this appendix is being scrapped and the code will soon state that a maintenance control program must be in place. That program (MCP) will require documentation to be left in your machine room, outlining what tasks need to be preformed in what intervals. I'm assuming that'll be our version of a BEEP.

I definitely agree with sbrmilitia... maintain a good relationship and dialogue with your tech... he'll be the only one who can give you the good answers you're looking for. Not trying to take away from the account reps, but they rarely have any field experience...

Do you have an inspection authority for elevating devices in Alberta? We have the TSSA (tssa.org) who conduct periodic inspections. They are sworn-in officers of the province (carry a badge and all). I've found them much better to deal with than consultants...

Sorry for the really long reply time on this. Changed jobs and so forth.

I read through the maintenance log book. The tech seems fairly organized. Maintenance tends to happen about every 3 months, as per our contract.

The pit was never painted according to the log book, only rust was removed, this was just prior to flooding. So clearly there is some misscommunication going on. I'd like for the tech to just talk to us when there is a problem but the chances of meeting bumping into him seems small.

The real problem starts with the flooding. The tech otes in the log book that here is 4" of water in the pit. The next day he notes there is about 6" of water in the pit. Five weeks go by and there is 1.5' of water in the pit and there has been electrical damage.

The first time the condo board heard about any of this was after the entire thing, when we got the bill, which was huge.

If the board doesn't have access to look in the pit(not enter) how can we be contractually responsible for maintaining it in good order as per

Lastly, it seems some negligence was involved here with Thyssen. The tech did a good job but something got f'ed up somewhere between him and the board.

Is there a point of contact at the building that the service guy can check in with? If there is he needs to be letting this person know of any issues with the building. The point of contact is usually a building maintenance guy or property manager.