Got called out for a stuck car at a 12-story office building downtown yesterday

It was a 2002 Otis traction unit, and the car was stuck between floors 8 and 9. The controller was throwing a code for a faulty door lock circuit, but all the locks on 8 and 9 checked out fine. I spent an hour tracing wires before I found a chewed-through section in the traveling cable at the top of the hoistway... a mouse nest up there had done the damage. Had to do a temporary splice to get the car to the landing. Do you guys always check the traveling cable first with phantom door lock faults, or do you start with the hoistway doors?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray_mitchell8d ago

Man, that's a classic. I always start at the hoistway doors because it's usually a bad lock or a misaligned switch. But you just proved why you can't ignore the traveling cable. Those things get beat up and chewed on all the time. It's a pain to check but it'll save you hours of chasing your tail. Good catch finding that nest.

luna_craig588d ago

You're right about the traveling cable, @ray_mitchell. It's out of sight so it's easy to skip, but that's where the real gremlins hide. I've seen more than one call where a single chewed wire in the cable caused a dozen different fault codes. It makes the whole system act crazy. Checking it first can feel like a long job, but it often turns a full day of head scratching into a quick fix.