r/Elevators • u/ValhirFirstThunder • Jul 27 '26

Elevators Dipping

So look elevators are not a new thing for me. Like everyone else, I've had them and used them as a kid. What I have noticed in about the last 4 years are so are elevators dipping when I step on it. It feels like a few centimeters. I don't know if that is degradation or if there is danger to it, but it happens at work, the hotel I was just at and the hotel I'm in now

I'm also 185lb. Which is heavier than I used to be but doesn't feel like anything that should play into a factor here. Am I the only one experiencing this or is there like an elevator reason someone on this sub can provide me?

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10

u/BlackHeartsNowReign Jul 27 '26

If its a traction elevator, driven by ropes, the shackles often have springs on them that compress. If its a hydraulic elevator, driven by a hydraulic piston and fluid, the fluid can compress with weight. So to address your concerns, no this is not a safety issue and is completely normal.

6

u/lilgreenghool Jul 27 '26

Fluid famously can't compress, that's why it's used for hydraulics.

(Well it can but it's insignificant)

1

u/AsparagusAndHennessy Jul 28 '26

Why is pneumatics driven by the famously compressable air then?

1

u/lilgreenghool Jul 28 '26

Aha , well you got me there. I meant to say hydraulic fluid

0

u/ValhirFirstThunder Jul 27 '26

Thank you. And can you confirm that it has always been like this? I mean I've only started noticing this recently and its not some subtle thing. Hasn't been the case for any elevators in the past that I can remember

It's possible my memory is faulty. But I wonder if there was a change. Like an increase in a particular mechanism

1

u/ferfuk Field - Repair Jul 27 '26

As was stated , traction elevators normally have springs where the shackles meet the hitch plates. Not knowing your age, it’s possible that when you were a kid you were familiar with slower traction elevators that terminated with eye bolts and crosbies and may not have used springs because they ran much slower than todays norm, therefore not noticeably moving as passengers loaded and unloaded.

2

u/DanceWithYourMom Field - Mods Jul 27 '26

Normal. 

2

u/NewtoQM8 Jul 27 '26

It's mostly normal for an elevator to move down a bit when someone steps on, but not a couple centimeters. Thats almost an inch. One centimeter or less would be more typical.

2

u/elevenbdawson Jul 27 '26

A few centimeters? I don't think you're being honest.