11
Cracked a door leveling trick after 12 years in the trade
Had an Otis elevator drifting bad on the 4th floor. Kept messing with the selector tapes and nothing worked. Tried adjusting the door interlock bracket by 1/16th inch and it locked in perfect. Anyone else ever mess with interlocks to fix leveling issues?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
linda5001mo ago
Quoting "mess with interlocks to fix leveling issues" - that's a pretty big stretch. You're saying a 1/16th inch tweak fixed drift on the 4th floor? Sounds like you got lucky more than anything. Drift that bad probably had a worn brake or a slipping drive sheave deep down, not a door bracket out of whack by a hair. I'd double check the brake torque and tape wear before calling it solved.
6
jesser791mo ago
linda's calling it luck but I've seen door interlock bracket tweaks fix all kinds of weird stuff on old Otis units. The 1/16th inch move changes the contact pressure between the car and hoistway door, which can mess with the controller's feedback loop if the brake is already borderline. I've had a 211 car drift on me twice on the same floor, turned out the roller guide was binding on the rail just enough to throw the leveling off, and a door interlock adjustment fixed it for three years until the guide shoes wore out. Sometimes the simple stuff gets overlooked when everyone's chasing the big parts.
2