Loading…

I'm begging you, stop using that old rope lubrication trick on new machines | Elevator Mechanics - Babble Community

ray136•4mo ago

I'm begging you, stop using that old rope lubrication trick on new machines

I used to swear by putting a little WD40 on the guide rails during installs, same as my dad taught me back in the 90s. Then last spring I got a call about a Otis Gen2 that was acting jerky after three months of service. Tore it apart and found the rubber guide shoe had swollen up real bad because the silicone in the spray ate right into it. Now I only use the factory recommended dry lube or nothing at all, just clean rails with a rag. The material science on those polyurethane shoes is totally different from the old steel ones and they get ruined fast. How many of you guys have seen weird failures from using the wrong spray on newer equipment?

3 comments

3 Comments

theagibson4mo ago

Oh man, that reminds me of the time I was helping a buddy swap out a controller on an old MCE system and he sprayed lithium grease all over the encoders thinking it would "keep the dust off." Three days later the elevator was throwing position faults like crazy because the grease was blocking the optical sensor. We had to pull the whole encoder assembly and scrub it with alcohol and q-tips, took forever. That stuff is like honey once it gets warm.

ivanross4mo ago

Guilty as charged, I used to think a little extra grease was just good insurance. Then I had a similar mess on a geared traction machine where I figured a light coat on the drive chain couldn't hurt, but it flung all over the limit switch contacts. Spent a whole Saturday with contact cleaner and a toothbrush trying to get the machine to recognize the floor levels again. Changed my mind real quick about how careful you gotta be with that stuff.

miles_young594mo ago

Not enough people talk about how grease migrates when the motor heats up, it'll creep into places you'd never expect it. @theagibson is right that alcohol and q-tips are the only way to fix it once it happens, but the real trick is to just tape off the sensor area before you touch the grease can. Why risk turning a five minute fix into a weekend project?