That old timer in Chicago told me to always double check the governor

Back in 2019 an elevator mechanic named Frank pulled me aside after I finished a governor test and said my tension sheave was off by a hair. I shrugged it off until three months later that car oversped during a load test and the safeties barely caught. Has anyone else had a seasoned guy point out something that saved your license down the road?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily51119d ago

Had a buddy named Tom who worked maintenance at a hospital in Detroit. An old electrician told him his governor tension was too tight on the freight elevator. Tom said it felt fine, but the old guy just shook his head and walked off. Two months later that same car tripped the safeties during a full load test and the rails got scored bad enough to need replacement. Tom still talks about that guy like he was a prophet or something.

gracecarr19d ago

Yeah that governor tension thing is real picky. I had a similar issue on an old Otis years back, the manual said something like 3/4 inch deflection on the rope and I thought it was fine at 1/2 inch. Nope, safeties grabbed during a light load test anyway and I learned the hard way to trust the specs not my fingers.