I am from elevator manufacturing company in Saudi Arabia. I have been installing more than 1000 units elevator in Saudi. This is the first time I face this problem. 3 out of 4 elevators in one building were damaged the same way; where VVVF inverter, braking resistor and braking unit were damaged. All four elevators have been using since one year, recently the first unit was damaged 3 months ago, after one month the 2nd unit was damaged, then two weeks later the 3rd unit was damaged too. I have no idea why it happened in one building and so frequent. Why not other buildings in other location of Saudi Arabia. Please help me.
2006-09-18 01:45:58 · 4 answers · asked by Richard C 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
The building is still under construction; however, the elevators have been handled over to the building owner since one year ago so that the construction workers and the staffs can use the elevators to travel for the renovation and final touch-up. So, it is very new, not yet opened to public, very few people used. The building has 9 levels, average floor height is 3500mm. Total travel is about 40m. It is passenger lift for 13-person.
2006-09-18 02:05:14 · update #1
We installed them at the same time. I am in-charging for the elevator controller design, so I did not install it by myself. In Saudi, the summer is very hot and humid and dusty. I am wondering how can the elevator controller being damaged one by one within 3 months (in summer season). But why not other >1000 units elevator in other places. How could find out whether the cause of damaging was due to the building power surge or unstable power supply? How to proof the fault was from the building and not from the controller design?
2006-09-18 02:10:00 · update #2
What's the design of that building? What's the floor to floor height? Lift configuration? Overall height? Volume of usage? Any one of these things, or a combination of a number of things may result in such failures.
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The one thing that pops into my mind now is the conditions on site - what is the main contractor like with his housekeeping? Are his installed elements well protected? Is dust and debris ingress a problem?
The lifts may well be under quite a bit of use by the workers. Are they being used well out of what can be reasonably expected out of passenger lifts (ie: overloading with heavy materials such as machinery, cement, etc.).
You may also be right about the regulation of the power supply and it is a worthwhile avenue to pursue.
I imagine that a reasonable way of looking at it is to find other buildings in similar conditions using the same parts and point out why and how they haven't experienced the same issues. Compare the circumstances, and the practices/track record of the builders. Find out how exactly the faults happened, and what exactly the faults are - electronic, mechanical, software? From there maybe you'll be able to form conclusions as to whose liability it is, and whether the faults are to be covered by the warranties.
2006-09-18 01:49:22 · answer #1 · answered by k² 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We need more information, but you may be able to guess at the reason. Since all the elevators are in the same building, did you install them at the same time? And did you install them personally? It's possible that some mistake was consistently made in all of the installations. Perhaps that building has an unusual climate condition; it could be very humid in there, or some dust particle is present. Maybe the owners of the building have been using the elevators in a non-standard way for which the elevators were not designed. I'd suggest you thoroughly look for any ways in which that building is different from other buildings, and see if that leads to the cause of the broken elevators. Good luck!
2006-09-18 01:49:31 · answer #2 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have over a thousand good installations so the problem is most likely in the power quality or power supply coming to the building. This instrument will record and spot the power quality problems - Fluke power quality analyzer 430 http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/Fluke+430+Series.htm?catalog_name=FlukeUnitedStates&Category=PQTTOP(FlukeProducts)
If you think power quality is good you may also check the room where the controller is installed, is moisture condensing? is a lot of dust getting in the room? check the cooling fans & air filters and is the room locked? - disgruntled workers or vandals can cause a problem.
2006-09-19 07:46:12 · answer #3 · answered by cycloneweaver.com 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get a VSD specialist to look at it. it sounds like it could be to do with cooling or harmonics.
2006-09-18 15:15:59 · answer #4 · answered by Clamp Monkey 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋