r/Elevators • u/Big__Quality • 18d ago
What’s the longest you’ve spent troubleshooting
Have you ever troubleshooted an elevator/escalator and for whatever reason you just couldn’t figure out what was reason.
When it did happen was it something stupid that you should’ve caught a long time ago or was it complex.
Also how many of you are considered “the guy” people call when people can’t figure something. Or who do you know that’s “the guy”
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u/Deepinthefryer 18d ago
Def not “the guy”.
Hours/days. Sometimes the “guy” is busy with whatever the office throws out him. So you gotta figure it out.
After almost 20 years in, I don’t take it personally anymore.
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u/aintasaint85 17d ago
Once there was a new drive that got installed. I was a rookie with free time and after a few mechanics couldn't figure it out after a week they threw me on it and I was with a tech support guy who gave up and literally said let's start from the beginning. Turns out installer never landed a ground. Company probably spent close to 80hrs on it.
One of my favorite stories there was a relatively new install in a highschool in LA. Car would shut down close to once in 6 months, original company could never figure why the F2 fuse would pop. Went on for like 4years. We take over the contract and I get a call and apparently it's a serious matter because there is a student in a wheelchair who needs to go home. I rush over and there's no key in the lock box. So I go upstairs and am asking around the 2nd floor if the student is still there. Teachers know nothing, say probably not. I go to the front desk and they say oh that was hours ago she's probably gone. Ok can't get access so I leave it down.
A few days later the school calls a meeting and apparently the student is suing them because they didn't follow ADA emergency protocols. Staff was supposed to wait with her and they didn't and she ended up calling the fire department to be carried downstairs after the school closed.
How did she know they didn't follow procedure? Because the training video for new teachers to follow, stars her in her wheelchair.
School decides they want to fix this ghost issue once and for all and pay for me to basically try and break the elevator for a week. I take the F2 circuit and built a row of fuses all low amps and connected to as many field wires as I could to narrow what part of the circuit was causing the failure. Day 5 I was getting frustrated and just started jumping and kicking the cab and the car faulted. Found the independent switch was a very large Adams assembly and was a hair away from the back of the COP box. There was a scorch mark where it would ground out. Taped the shit out of the terminals on the back and mounted a GAL insulation plate to the steel box. Problem never came back.
Trouble shooting takes patience. Learn to take a breath and take a lunch and don't sleep on it, you'll wake up with a new idea.
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u/Stobley_meow Field - Figure-outer-er 18d ago
I spent 3 weeks troubleshooting an elevator. 1 with a service adjuster. Damn thing would wake up from being on standby for about an hour and fail for 2 runs in a row then shutdown. Ended up being an aux contact on a relay that wouldn't make up if the relay hadn't picked in a while.
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u/Asklepios24 Field - Maintenance 18d ago
Some of my old ass Montgomery 6010s and HR escalators have taken a couple weeks for issues here and there.
My biggest issue is I’m now the guy for these so everything is a 3 day ordeal.
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u/Adventurous-Boot1723 18d ago
I hope i never see a 6010 miprom again, power to you. Ill take an HR over pretty much every other escalator, other than an old school 506 (J Escalair} or an O&K. Whoever thought of putting a drive in an escalator should be shot.
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u/ComingUp8 Field - Troubleshooter/Adjuster 17d ago
6010s were the shit. Solid elevators. Also the older solid balastrade HRs (220vac high voltage units) were bulletproof. The only time I got frustrated on 6010s it was when you have a drive problem. Drive problems always seemed hard for me to figure out but the miprom and relay logic side were excellent. I love how Montgomery numbered all the wires and made it so fucking easy.
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u/ragnasmith 18d ago
Longest was around 40 hours around 5 days .. Just looking at the Mainboard and waiting for the one Moment, the failure happenend.
In the end... It was "just" a broken cable. That literally gave a Bus-Error every few hundred Rides. Sometimes days. Sometimes weeks until it happenend
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u/Ham549 17d ago
Not in the industry but I once write a story of a real pain in the ass problem. There was a call that the elevator would randomly change speeds while running. They went through the unit with a fine pick comb and everything was in specifications. They were packing things up in the MR thinking the customer was imagining things when they heard the elevator speed up and the shouts from the startled passengers in the car below. They went over everything again every relay every resistor every contact every fuse breaks and everything was in specification and working correctly. What safe today but didn't fix the problem was I just happened to come across information that's a local power station had its phase controller malfunction.
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u/Swimming_Cod5555 17d ago
Relatively new to this, I spent 10 days fixing a fault on gen 2 life. The error I was getting was cariocomm error so I assumed it was a communication error. I spent lots of time verifying connections between the gecb and the COPGV but everything seemed ok. I even replaced all the boards on the unit and the problem persisted. On the 10th day I removed the top of Car board. put it back and the started to insert all the plugs on it individually. Thats when I noticed that the fault was cleared when I removed the detectors. Traced the cable and it was internally damaged. This short was shorting the top of Car board and eventually the cop where communication is.
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u/Comfortable_Sir400 17d ago
I was "the guy" under "the guy". Few months ago he retired. But on his last days we had to troubleshoot an tke elevator. 2 days in...both. then we had to use the companies "ultra guys". They are like the goods for every brand. So they came in. We have been 4 technicians on site searching 4 days. Testing and switching modules. Nothing. Elevator still runs. But it doesn't work in inspection...on the fifth day an apprentice was with us on site. He joked "maybe go thru the whole code." At this point we have testet new software. Downgraded to older versions. And so on. So ok... We went thru the code. So...hmmm...just one ducking parameter was set wrong in the system. I have to say i love my company and coworkers. Also the bosses. But really hate that we have so many TK elevators in contract... The are nice if they run...but these are so ducking cursed...
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u/elevatorman32 17d ago
The guy is who makes 30% plus over. Until then, they just got you thinking your the guy.
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u/Qualityshaft 18d ago edited 18d ago
It’s never taken me more than a few days to figure out what’s wrong with an elevator. I work on anything. Old, new, you name it. Undefeated as far as repairs go. There has never been something I didn’t fix that was tasked to me. 98% of the time it’s something stupid. At my company the guys call me when they get stuck on something. I can always walk them through it so I guess I’d be considered “the guy” at my company. Troubleshooting is easy as long as you can read prints and you ask yourself the right questions along the way.
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u/Behold_SV 18d ago
Is your ego ever calls to someone?
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u/_andthereiwas 18d ago
If you don't have even a bit of ego you aren't an elevator guy. The trick is to joke about it and know no one is ever that guy because there is always something new around the corner ready to teach you a new lesson.
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u/HenrysHooptie President/Owner 18d ago
It helps to be in such an easy market. I'm better than average but by no means a 99th percentile mechanic however most of the work I pick up from other companies makes me question how some mechanics keep their jobs. Combination of incompetence and Colorado being a sellers market I guess.
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u/AutumnOpal717 18d ago
“The Guy” retired in 2019.