If you live or work in a building that has more than a few floors, there’s a good chance that you and your cohorts are spending a lot of time in the building’s elevator. Even the best elevator isn’t without some error from time to time.
More often than not, something will go wrong with an elevator eventually, potentially trapping many of your building’s occupants inside. This can, as you imagine, lead to some very unhappy people. That’s why it’s best to get familiar with a few common elevator issues that can help you to mitigate some of the risks of failure moving forward to lift emergency.
What are some of the biggest elevator mishaps and how can you avoid them in your building? Read on and we’ll walk you through the major ones.
1. Power Failure
The most common issue you’re likely to run into when it comes to a commercial elevator is the power cutting out. When this happens, the elevator can freeze in place, sometimes between floors, leaving those inside trapped until power is restored.
Elevators take a huge amount of power to run properly, which is why elevator power issues are so common. Any change in voltage level from the building to the elevator could cause it to cease functioning properly within an instant.
In order to avoid this, you should always keep a close eye on the power situation in your building. If you need, you can order an elevator maintenance audit that will help to seek out where future power problems may arise from.
2. Overcapacity
Another issue that can cause an elevator to stop running smoothly? Overstuffing it all. All elevators are inspected and given weight limits when first installed. Elevators, especially modern ones, are built with a lot of thought put into the process.
An elevator can judge the weight of what’s inside of it. If too many people or objects are brought into an elevator and the elevator’s weight capacity is exceeded, it will stop functioning as a safety feature.
While this is a smart design and good for overall safety, the non-functioning elevator will still need to be dealt with. The weight will need to be relieved from the interior of the elevator and the device will need to be reset.
3. Worn Sheaves
Malfunctions with elevators, unfortunately, happen all of the time, which can mean you’ll need to be on the lookout for any and all problems.
One place to keep an extra eye on is the sheaves of the elevator. When the sheaves get worn down, extra wear is put on the ropes of the elevator, which in turn puts more strain back on the shelves.
There are simple tools that can be purchased to inspect sheaves for wearing. These can be used to determine the potential extent of the problem. If the problem is serious, one might need to call in help from an elevator repair service.
Common Elevator Issues
If you’re looking to run a tight ship in your building, you’ll need to stay on top of the various and common elevator issues that exist. The above are some of the more common issues and some ways to handle them.
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