The Atwater has Kone “Eco Disk” elevator motors – there are no reduction gears or pulleys, it’s a giant motor that has multiple cables (7), each of which is sufficient to hold the elevator at maximum load.
From the CMI days, you can see all three elevator motors. The room is so narrow if one of the farther two need to be replaced, all the others in the way need to be removed first. Not ideal.
One of the elevator motors, and the end of the cables (bottom)
Back side of the motor and the other end of the cables
In the CMI days. Note the red dust everywhere – that’s called “cable rouge” – it’s pure iron oxide, created when very small flakes of steel come off of the cable, fall through the air, and oxidize. In general, too much of it indicates poor cable maintenance
The cable ends are spring-cushioned
This prevents sudden shocks from being transmitted through the equipment
When you reach your floor, you’ll hear a “click” sound from the elevator room – it’s this thing – the brake – which locks the elevator on that floor so the motor doesn’t keep trying to hold the elevator in place
What the top of the elevators look like
Guide wheels keep the elevator centered on the rails and dampen out bumps
Some of the elevator controls
This cabinet is usually closed, and looks much tidier that way ☺
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