I go to a small church; we have a 5/6-yr old roped hydraulic elevator that gets very modest use. Maybe up & down 3-4 times a week.
I do most of the maintenance on the facilities in my spare time. My elevator maintenance company does a minimal inspect/lubricate twice a year by my contract. And then they have to have two guys present at my annual inspection.
I was present at the last annual inspection. I wasn't hovering over the guys; I was in the next room doing some other stuff. They spent about 30 minutes trying to make the overspeed/governor safety activate with no success. I got the impression we were still passing the inspection from the state inspector (New Jersey) but I guess what he meant was we could continue to operate. That day, the elevator maintenance co. said it should be no big deal to fix it. Then we got the write-up from the state inspector stating the fault on the governor. Ok, fine, I proceed to get ahead of things and get my elevator co. in to do the governor repair in plenty of time for the re-inspection which will no be at the semi-annual. (which normally doesn't require my co. to be there but will now)
I call to get them in to do the (supposed to be simple) repair and was told they have no idea what needs doing, they don't get the inspector's report, please send it. I do that and about a month later I get an email saying that basically the repairs were done that day & the faults are do to water damage (I am still dealing with keeping water out of the pit) and that will be taken care of with their October (pre-annual inspection) proposal. But that proposal was a $2800 bill to just scrape and paint the 'pit equipment' which I did myself before the annual inspection, rather than pay elevator repair labor rates for paint work. I immediately call and get put through to someone that is the service coordinator and after explaining the proposal was just paint work, he says the governor rope needs shortening. He's not sure when this was determined to be a needed repair but that he can see it in pictures(?) He reiterates that the governor safety activation issue is fixed. I call and after a few days speak with the state inspector who says, no, nothing was fixed that day. Otherwise there wouldn't have been a fail report.
So: If anyone can suggest a course of action? I am considering learning how to test the governor safety myself but it seems to be a two man job. I am not certain if the testing that day was simply manually swinging the counterweight but the inspector explained that this was one way of testing it. The "governor rope shortening" job is proposed at $2000.
Again, thank you for any advice.
Here are a few pictures of the unit:
I'm sure you are competent at what you do. And it sounds like you are completely frustraighted with your current service provider.
The red (orange?) wheel in your picture is the governor tension weight. Is it moving freely? It appears to be hanging well.
If you are dissatisfied with your current company, call another company or ask your inspector to recommend three other companies.
Not all companies & customers are a good fit for each other...
I was only considering evaluating testing the governor myself, simply to ascertain readiness for inspection, since I think my company is wrong about it. I will get a look at the unit again soon but the 'wheel' just seems to be a fixed in place pulley to me? In the new near $2000 proposal, it is said "the overspeed governor rope has stretched and requires shortening" I'm pretty sure this has been kind of trumped up. If I was totally sure, I would switch companies without thinking about it. The lingering doubt is what puts me in a conundrum. I need a governor fixed to pass my inspection, the inspection itself costing a minimum of $400 and my company wants to fix something different. So with or without spending $2k with them, I expect to fail again and either have an elevator put our of service, fines for a second fail, or at least the cost of another resinspection. Thank you again for the advice.
If you can take a picture of the governor that would be great. Many of this style elevator use a governor that allows us to overspeed it at the governor. A picture will tell.
Let me if this helps or if you'd like better shots of anything in particular. That bottom 'pulley' (I call it a pulley) can be turned by hand, eg., there is not a ton of tension on it. And I think it may be plastic.
Thanks guys.
Dean
Understood, thank you for explaining. I thought the 10kg weight at the bottom was related to the governor/overspeed mechanism. I will try to determine why next steps in getting this unit ready for re-inspection.
Understood, thank you for explaining. I thought the 10kg weight at the bottom was related to the governor/overspeed mechanism. I will try to determine why next steps in getting this unit ready for re-inspection.
Actually the governor diverter sheave is related to the overspeed operation, but the latest photos near the ram and underneath the lift car are related to safety gear( which is related to the overspeed operation) and a bit about the hoisting rope. But lets simplify the issue. What I meant was the actual governor would be at the top of the shaft and that is what is determines how the lift over speeds.
Awaiting more photos!
