1

In Spiceworks, we often joke that tech-savvy people end up being asked to fix everything that uses electricity, (and more).

While I’m personally used to fixing all sorts computer, phone, and camera issues for family and friends — tasks that have lots of ups and downs — a few weeks ago I fixed my first elevator.

The case of the frozen elevator

It all started one dark and stormy night, when I received a distressed message in a neighborhood group chat about someone (and two dogs) being trapped in an elevator, with the cabin stuck somewhere between floors. All I knew was that something happened to make the elevator freak out unexpectedly while it was moving — probably the multiple one-second power outages that happened in rapid succession during the thunderstorm that night.

I actually have a very similar elevator system in my house (which I’ve had to debug before). Being the only person in the neighborhood somewhat qualified to come to the rescue, I rushed over there to help out.

Elevator troubleshooting

First, I had to debug the problem and figure out what was wrong. But instead of looking through OS logs in a server room, I headed straight for the mechanical room to check out the current status on the elevator’s controller board.

With a few red lights on the board lit up, presumably indicating a fault, I did a physical check of the mechanical system. The hydraulic system seemed operational, and no elevator doors were open (which triggers an emergency stop). Using a special elevator key that I had from my house, I was able to disengage the elevator door latch on the ground floor. When I looked up the shaft, I saw the elevator cabin (where my neighbor was trapped) close to the elevator door on the second floor, but ever so slightly out of alignment by a few inches.

Understanding the situation, I knew it was safe to proceed. I went up to the second floor, and using my handy key, I was able to gently disengage the latch to open the elevator door. A few seconds later, a very grateful neighbor and two dogs happily stepped down carefully, relieved to be free after their 15-minute adventure / ordeal.

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Once everyone was safe and sound, I closed the door again. Now, it was time to follow tried-and-true computer debugging steps. That’s right… turning the system off and on again, but with a twist. If you aren’t familiar with home elevators, they often have both 240V and 120V electrical systems… with a controller board handing the logic, which is connected to a UPS battery backup (which probably failed to do its job during the flickering power event).

So, after turning off the 240V and 120V power and disconnecting the controller board from the UPS, I waited for 30 seconds before powering everything back on and plugging it back in. After the controller board booted back up, I noticed that several formerly red indicator lights were no longer lit up. The 240V hydraulic system also re-engaged. Encouraging!

To test that everything was in working order, we tried to call the elevator to the ground floor… Success! No more stuck elevator, and the cabin was now able to travel safely to where it needed to go. Everything was fully operational again.

Morals of the story

  • Computer debugging skills come in handy in other areas, as similar logic applies.
  • Turning it off and on again really does often fix issues, computer or otherwise.

Happy ending: The “end-user” in this case was truly appreciative. A couple of days after the incident, they invited my family over for a delicious dinner. So, in addition to gaining some elevator debugging skills, I ate some delicious food and leveled my relationship with my neighbors.

43 Spice ups
2

At a previous job, I had to troubleshoot and fix the emergency call phone on a wheelchair lift that was only ever used to haul heavy things to and from the basement. Only had to work, because, possible emergency reasons that’ll never happen, but still…that was pretty…interesting.

12 Spice ups
3

I have repaired a stair lift in someone’s home once doing something similar. It did end up being a control card. This was before I started my IT career, I mostly loved to tinker with things and I got voluntold to look at it.

11 Spice ups
4

When you went to visit them did you use the stairs? :wink:

I don’t know much about elevators, but my last employer was sold on a new elevator that was ‘widely used in California, but practically nowhere in the midwest’. Yeah, being in IT meant me and my coworker got a crash course in some aspects of how it worked and we got the installers to provide us with login credentials to the interface since they really didn’t understand the ‘computer’ aspects of it. Having that information and understanding how it was configured came in handy several times because the elevator was having a lot of issues over the first year. They finally got the issues sorted out, but I think we know as much about that elevator as the people who installed it.

13 Spice ups
5

Haha… I haven’t been back in their elevator since the incident.

I did go in the elevator on the night of the incident, to show them how they can unlatch the door themselves from the inside, using a credit card.

14 Spice ups
6

To release yourself using just a credit card call this number, pay me a fee of £50, and I will restart the system for you.

16 Spice ups
7

Yes its often not about having a directly relevant qualification or job history but having the requisite background and experience to have given you the required mindset to solve the problem.
Of course any relevant related experience makes that process simpler and safer, add in a dose of common-sense and you’re quids in :slight_smile:

Either way congrats, without the prior safe exploration of my own lift system, I wouldn’t have had the nerve to touch someone else’s while they were at risk etc.

10 Spice ups
8

You have an elevator in your house?? My wife wants to move the laundry room upstairs, but it may be cheaper to install an elevator… I didn’t know spiceworks paid that kind of money. Forget the contests page, I’m watching the career page.

11 Spice ups
9

They had me at ‘work from home’ :rofl:

5 Spice ups
10

Our house is pretty normal, apart from the unintentional elevator flex. My parents are in their 80s, and we wanted to offer them the option of moving in with us in the future, if needed.

It’s not cheap or fast to install an elevator, especially if you want to add an elevator to an existing house — you have to demolish stuff, add walls, add power, and rebuild what you cut out, but it’s much less when you are building a new house. I recently moved to a new neighborhood designed for “ageing in place,” so there was the option for an elevator in every house.

The thinking is that it’s somewhat of an investment … instead of needing to use a very expensive assisted living facility (which could buy you many, many elevators over time), you can stay in your own house. There are folks like us who want the option of multi-generational living, and the particular neighbors I helped are quite a bit older than us, so they opted for the elevator for themselves.

17 Spice ups
11

Closest I’ve come to working on an elevator was to install a WiFi automation controller in the top of an elevator shaft that had to be tied in to the controller board. Had a licensed elevator tech working with me, so he provided the line to the controller board and we used the top of the car as a lift to get the controller mounted and configured. That was one of the more fun jobs I got to do.

5 Spice ups
12

BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT!! exactly the same problem with a very poor quality lift at my church.
Why do the lift installers do such sloppy mechanical work???

6 Spice ups
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Because once it’s installed, it’s out of their hands forever…installation and maintenance/support are two different groups.

5 Spice ups
14

Before the engine was replaced, I had to occasionally reboot the office elevator. It was installed in the early 1970’s and had a knife switch that had to be thrown to reset after an alarm condition or the random over shooting the main level. The entire mechanics were replaced in 2023. Sure enough, 2 days after finally having it back in action from a 3 month downtime, a hydraulic leak triggered all of our smoke alarms. Installers excuse was that after having wrong parts sent and the project time line tripling over the original quote, they “forgot to double check connections after testing”. Right.

7 Spice ups
15

A coworker and I just did the exact same thing about a month ago. It is not likely to ever be needed for anything at all but safety first I suppose (although it is probably more like avoiding liability, but I digress). The lift goes from the floor of a cafeteria to a stage, a rise of maybe six stair steps overall and it is open on top. Me thinks it would have been cheaper to put up a sign that said “In an emergency, yell loud”!

  • Forever in the Jack of All Trades, Master of None Club
5 Spice ups
16

Well, if you’re ever stuck in an elevator in the future, you’ll know how to reset the emergency phone :rofl:

2 Spice ups
17

Elevators. I do this in my building’s laundry room when there is a message on the washing machine that says, are you ready, Electrical Failure. I pull the plug and reset, voila.

4 Spice ups
18

I knew where that magical key was at the bank I used to work at. Had to retrieve it to let coworkers out of the elevator during a power outage on at least two occasions. Fortunately, our elevator had glass walls, so it was easy to see if someone was stuck inside.

My parents house has a stair lift, and I’ve replaced the batteries in it as well as the power supply twice now (the lift is probably 12ish years old).

My most non-IT task with “fix anything with a plug” was probably the time I installed an icemaker in a fridge, but I volunteered…I REALLY like my drinks to be cold, so I told them if they’d buy the parts, I’d install it.

5 Spice ups
19

So now you have hydroelectric experience!

6 Spice ups
20

Nothing so fancy here… but the office has a “good elevator” and a “bad elevator” also call the small one and the big one respectively. The big bad elevator is slow moving and does not close the door when you press a button but it works and has “rear” doors as well as main… to save you maybe 20 steps.
Right beside it is the good elevator. Door closes as soon as you press your floor, moves swiftly and relatively smoothly.
And the door stopped opening. I took it up one day and when I arrived at my floor the inner door opened about a finger width. Not feeling like being stuck in an elevator I put my finger in the crack… applied almost no pressure and the door started to move.
You can do the same “trick” on the outside by swiping a tad harder than you would swipe on a tablet/phone. Once the door starts moving it works for a few hours at least, maybe days before it “sticks” again.

Repair/maintenance has been out about 3 times and cannot find the issue. Like with IT issues the elevator works when they are around.

7 Spice ups