Rant: Got stuck fixing a governor on a 30-story Otis in Midtown

I was up on the machine room roof last Tuesday in NYC, trying to figure out why the overspeed governor kept tripping at the wrong speed. After 3 hours of messing with the tension sheave and chasing the manual, I realized the rope groove had a flat spot from wear (maybe from the last guy overtightening it). I swapped in a spare sheave I had in the truck and it ran smooth on the next test. Has anyone else run into governor rope groove issues on these old Otis models?

2 comments

2 Comments

abbyhall13d ago

Maybe it's just me but a flat spot on a governor rope groove doesn't sound like that big a deal lol. Like yeah it tripped early but you swapped it out and it's fine now, no building got evacuated or anything.

gray31413d ago

Jump right in and hope the governor rope doesn't decide to make a break for it. It's like your car's check engine light coming on for a loose gas cap, you don't ignore it just because the building is still standing. Swap it out now or spend next Saturday explaining to an elevator why it can't take a nap between floors. Flat spots are like cavities, small now but eventually you're pulling the whole tooth.

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