ABANDONED TOWER EXPLORE - Rare ACONIC transistor lift control system from 1970s

A lot of editing went into creating this video, building plans, animations, voice overs and everything timed perfectly to music. It's what you'd expect from the mrmattandmrchay channel - QUALITY NOT QUANTITY.
Pronounced 'Ack-kon-ic', this is a very rare lift control system which was way ahead of it's time in the 1970s.
The mrmattandmrchay channel has teamed up with THELIFTDRAGON to bring you a future video that goes towards explaining how this unique system works.
Manufacturer: SCHLIEREN (later became Schindler)
WANT TO SEE ONE WORKING?? Link below:
• 2 EPIC 70s SCHLIEREN A...
VISIT THELIFTDRAGON HERE:
/ @theliftdragon
Wire-wrapping was used to connect some of the wires at the back of the controller (totally wasn't expecting that!)
Thanks to JONARD TOOLS for allowing me to show the short clip about "what is wire wrapping":
• Jonard Tools Wrap/Stri...
[[[[[[ PART 3 COMING VERY SOON ]]]]]]
I'm hoping we've done enough to be worthy of your support...please consider subscribing to the mrmattandmrchay channel - thank you!
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IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT SAFETY AND KZbin:
My channel does not promote or glamourise dangerous activities like lift surfing.
Featured in THE SUN and THE MIRROR newspapers:
• Teaching KIDS TO SURF ... (see this KID trying to surf a lift)
VERY WORRYING... 12 year old kids surfing lifts: (link below)
• Random lift adventure 13
mrmattandmrchay is a RESPONSIBLE and RESPECTABLE channel.
It goes without saying that KZbin is a public platform and our channels are popular with kids, and kids are influenced by what they watch. I'd like to think these kids didn't get the idea of surfing lifts from 'my' channel.
A warning in a video DOES NOT exonerate you if harm should come to a kid that was copying something that YOU have portrayed as a fun activity.
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THE MRMATTANDMRCHAY CHANNEL, established 2008:
I'm passionate about uploading quality and interesting videos for YOU, my audience.
What is my channel about? "Old lift machinery made interesting", old air-raid sirens, prehistoric alarm equipment. If "I" don't find it interesting ...then IT DOESN'T GET UPLOADED!
I always spend a lot of time editing my videos with animations, video in-sync with music and voice overs to bring you QUALITY videos to watch.
My moto - "Quality NOT Quantity" - spending a month editing a video is not a rarity!
But without you, I'm nothing here. Thank you so much for watching.
...mrmattandmrchay is me (Matt) and my son Chay.

[@TheLiftDragon]

Thank you again for putting all the effort together to make such a thorough and detailed video on these truly remarkable lifts and the really interesting building in which they're located! I am glad that I was able to help you on the subject of the Aconic controller and it has been a very interesting journey for me as well so far, studying all the old manuals and reading into what the engineers of Schlieren invented here in the 1950s. I am looking forward to creating part 3 with you and to dive deeper into the subject. Also thank you again for linking my video of the Aconics, timing has been a good coincidence and I'm really glad that I was able to film this extremely rare group of lifts.

[@hariranormal5584]

The video style, effort that has gone into it, the music, they add so much anemoia type of nostalgia honestly. Something about places which were cared for and then just forgotten for ever, but still exist... broken, but exists.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Precisely the comment that I like, and it makes all the effort and 'attention to detail' worth it! Thanks very much for the nice comment :)

[@makito85]

So true!

[@wannabeetiger]

Ancient Elevator (lift) Kingdom music!

[@srpacific]

I spent a lot of time in (working) elevator rooms a few years ago on a contract job. We audited about 500 elevators throughout a government agency, including some that were over 80 years old. It was really cool to see this and it brings back some memories of opening up a machine room not knowing what decade the actual equipment would be from. In some cases they modernized 1950s elevators to 80s standards and left the old electro-mechanical cabinets and motor-generators behind. I’m not sure what the maintenance standards are like in the UK but in North America the elevator contractors are focused on new builds and modernization and do not care about service and maintenance contracts. In some cases one technician will be responsible for 150 elevators all over the city, each needing about 5-6 hours a month in code-required service. Well you do the math, they simply aren’t getting the service and not one of those 500 elevators was even close to meeting the A17/B44 code standards for North America. Even though it’s required by law! Thanks for the videos!

[@SeanBZA]

Yes, I had 2 lifts, and both got the correct service, such so that Schindler used the one as part of the annual review from the Swiss parent, as it was a good example of the era lift, and was in good order. Even went and painted the motor room floor, and put all the warning yellow paint on moving parts as well. Had a stack of spares for the unit in the one corner, especially vision panels, with the pig glass wire in them, as those were kind of expensive to order each, but not so when you bought 5 at a time cut to size.

[@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24]

@@SeanBZA it's cool when the old machinery is still being used in the modern era.

[@lzh4950]

Meanwhile in my country some landlords award their lift/elevator maintenance contract to a 3rd party company e.g. 9G that's different from the lift manufacturer, maybe because its cheaper. We also had a shortage of lift technicians to service all my country's lifts maybe because such a career is seen as more menial here

[@jhonbus]

Came for the "Iconic" lift controller, stayed for the Aconic lift controller, said "Alright mate" to the pigeons. 11/10.

[@Tigrou7777]

I appreciate the fact that you are making the effort to put it all back together when you could have literally thrown it on the floor (especially since it is already broken and beyond repair).

[@carrottheman]

2 pigeons casually living in the lift motor lol, cool vid honestly. the editing put into this is insane, I know how darn hard it is to edit a video. I like how in depth they go into the lift motors and control boxes, checking every detail, love this kind of content

[@-mski4800]

I love the quality and effort that is put to your videos. As an engineer myself (but from another field than lifts), I'm the type of person who is always curious and seeking for the answers. I don't need to do that here, because your videos are so detailed that my curiosity is well satisfied. You're doing outstanding job here. Your videos and explanations helped me to overcome my fear of lifts long, long time ago.

[@38911bytefree]

This must have been cutting edge back in their days. By early 70s transistors proved to be reliable for any application. They struggled a bit with power applications up to late 60s. But for signal control this was the way to go. They can swtich millions of times without deteriorating, and this reduce maintenance. You will still see relays where high voltage or power need to be controlled. But for logic control this was the perfect choice. I imagine that back on this era, we weren't so sure about solid state yet and many other companies just stuck to the safe an proven relay logic. And because all the engeneering was used to it, while moving to solid state would require another different set of skills.

[@CFRTrainSpotter]

in TheLiftDragon's video where he shows an original Aconic lift, he says the technology appeared in 1959 and was first used publicly in 1961, so it was even more incredible back then.

[@brunoais]

Every time I see one of your videos... WOW! It is undoubtedly quality over quantity and I LOVE IT! Also amazing how you got all of this and put together. Thank you very much for sharing all of this with us!

[@silverbankruptcy]

Can I ask a stupid question? I am not an expert. If your converting from AC to DC can't you use a Voltage regulator? attaching two motors seems a little ridiculous and wasteful to me.

[@abpsd73]

I imagine fault tracing and troubleshooting on one of these lifts would have been quite daunting for any technician accustomed to working with relay logic. Having to trace a signal instead of hearing an audible click of a relay and being able to readily see the position and condition of the contacts, even with the tech at the time they could have had a bunch of status LEDs to guide a technician as to what the I/O of a particular cad was doing. Electronic enough to [hopefully] increase reliability but still antiquated to be unable to run self-diagnostics.

[@scythal]

This is so intriguing... the atmosphere of the video makes it somewhat spooky, but it's interesting to see what's left inside abandoned places like these! I've personally seen abandoned towers like these in person, but I'd never dare to venture into one, haha

[@ZZ9ProductionsOFFICIAL]

these videos never cease to amaze, the editing is always on another level every time. Never heard of this type of lift logic before seeing this, very much looking forward to seeing more in the next part. Also very curious to see what the inside of those lift cars look like. I hope those pigeons appreciate those old lift motors lol

[@spikester]

This channel hits all my love of electromechanical, love the effort that is going into documenting these old lift systems, the attention to technical detail is absolutely outstanding.

[@BenDeSwert666]

And yet again, MrMatt has the answer. I came across this exact controller in the Agfa Gevaert plant here in Antwerp. I always wondered what it was, because in the 17 years i'm into the buisness this was the only time i've seen this controller. Turns out it's the elusive Aconic. Sadly, this lift was decomissioned in the late '90s. The freight elevator in the same motor room, that probably had the same controller, was modernised by us KONE with an LCE cpu and KDM drive unit.

[@joelfenner]

The topology of the transistor blocks and the (apparent) passive component "grid arrays" they plug into (the BLUE blocks) is very reminiscent of the short-lived 1953 NIST "Tinkertoy" project. I suppose this was both a reliability idea (active components are fully modular and can be replaced by yanking a plug module) and a construction flexibility idea (the logic of a "BLUE BOX" segment is defined by the passive component connections within the "grid"). The fact there's a full grid array in there feels like they're presaging the internal construction of FPGAs or "burnable" memory devices. Never saw anything quite like this in production. The topology seems very "dated", even for the era, but is very beefy and beautifully overbuilt. 1960s integrated circuits were a reality, and by the 1970s they were in commercial use in all sorts of higher-end tech. It's a guess, but I can only imagine this was a move to assure the buyers that the system had a lot of redundancy and deep safety factors. Honestly, if I had been a repair tech back in the day, and I had the drawings, fixing a system like this would have been a dream. Failed resistors were probably pretty uncommon. And if a transistor, or cluster of them, failed or were destroyed, it'd be a fairly simple matter to pull a block, take the thing to a bench, and yank and replace the failed silicon. None of the usual rework tools to desolder and pull parts from a fragile PCB, less risk of damaging a trace or having to put in a shunt wire etc. Takes up more space, but had to be easier to maintain when it went wrong.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Very interesting comment and thank you for that.

[@RODALCO2007]

The copper thieves must take heavy tools with them to take out those field windings. You were lucky that the vandals haven't smashed all those circuit boards up. Beautifully made circuit boards from the 1970's. Thanks for making the video.

[@VelocityBeat]

Here before your channel blows up.. remember me!

[@djadventure]

Interesting, many things are written in German (Iam German) The video is just as interesting as all others and you explain everithing perfect. 19:35 Actually my first thougt was that if i was there i would try that potentiometer and just when i was thinking that you grabbed it. Keep up making these great videos with incredible quality and knowlege Greetings from Bavaria (Germany) (Did i wright everything correct?)

[@SylvieonPiggyFan29YT]

Where the hell is Hilton park part 5 huh?

[@TheWertzuiop13]

12:09, on the left corner , i saw it pooping :D

[@Thegonagle]

As someone who has been fascinated by machines of all kinds since before I can remember, these elev-excuse me, lift videos are absolutely fascinating. And imagining the history behind the unused buildings as you walk through is kind of fun. Thanks for work you put into making and sharing them.

[@Lift.Tracker]

@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 Ah, I always thought that was their proper name lol!

[@CFRTrainSpotter]

i cant wait for part three, was worth waiting this long for this video to come. its a big shame how such advanced tech (and rather interesting building) was abandoned after only roughly 25 years. as for the building itself, its said that the structure itself is in great shape, but due to the sick building syndrome, its not known if it will be demolished or undergo severe rebuilding.

[@jfwfreo]

For some reason I can picture someone like Dave Jones of the EEVBlog KZbin channel going gaga over this amazing 70s era electronics. Double sided hand-drawn PCBs. 70s era metal can transistors. Funky plug-in modules. Hand-wrapped wiring. I wonder what sort of capacitors a system like this would be using and how they avoided the "capacitor plague" that 70s era electronics (e.g. old CRT TVs) are known for.

[@SeanBZA]

Transistors as plug in modules, on the assumption that they, along with diodes, are the more failure prone items, so put them into plug in modules that are mostly identical, so that you can simply keep a half dozen spares in the room, and quickly plug in a replacement, and send the faulty one to be repaired.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks for the comment and yes, fascinating system and plug-in transistors. I'm not sure that I'd like to fault find this though - imagine randomly swapping out transistor boards until the lift starts working properly again! The know-how must have been very specialised! Did you notice that some of them say 'do not swap'? Wonder why, as TheLiftDragon says that the resistor blocks are the same, just newer design.

[@SeanBZA]

@@mrmattandmrchay Well, they would have a few variants of the transistor blocks, so fault find to a board area, then swap out the transistor blocks with the spares one at a time, and see if fault clears. No worse than in any industrial control unit, where you isolate to a region of the controller, then put known good boards in, or swap from an identical good unit, and see if the fault moves. Saying do not swap is just those might have been a later modification, with slightly different internal wiring, so you have to swap the transistor block along with the blue block, as the old and new do not intermix, though the interface to the rest of the unit is the same. Plenty of times i did board swaps in avionics to see what was faulty, then take the now known faulty board, and fix later on after sending the unit back out as serviceable.That way you get the urgent job fixed fast, and can troubleshoot the fault, often a known fault you have marked down for that card, and fix at leisure, being able to do a good job.

[@davipereiravanzela7761]

10:26 what motor bird

[@Bozebo]

Great spot for the final showdown in an action film :)

[@odetterebello]

Thankyou

[@linwang687]

part 3 no w

[@twocvbloke]

As a trekkie, them orange doors are so very reminiscent of those used on the sets for TNG, it's be fun to be able to salvage some and dress them up as such, but, it's a niche thing I'm sure and not many people would want to have such things, never mind working out how to remove them safely... :\

[@agems56]

I still prefer mechanical contacts and relays over motherboards, cards and solid state controllers because of the reliability! On another channel, a working example of a 1957 masterpiece is still in operation today! I left a referral to your channel on purpose in the hopes that he will network, or share his work with you! I will review my history and give the precise video I am mentioning here! I am also a subscriber to your channel, because you really work hard for the quality and thorough explanation in detail about everything. YOUR COMPASSION TO THIS SUBJECT REALLY SHINES,

[@TechOne7671]

Nice work mate. Them old transistorised control must have cost a bomb back in the 70s. Shame to see all the old gear go to ruins like that but just like the rest of the building it has served its purpose. All the best.

[@dykodesigns]

The Aconic controller looks like an Analogue computer to me. Interesting design with those plugin modules. The circuitboards look very artisan, a bit like my father’s hobby electronics projects from the 70’s. Definitely a hand drawn layout.

[@SeanBZA]

Very much digital DTL logic there, with likely 24VDC power rails, and a few bias voltages as well for the logic. not all that complex, basically emulating the old relay based controller, just with transistors instead of relays, so that they would last longer, and remain operating with minimal care other than clean air and dusting. Likely faults were still in things like interface, switches and lamps, but the core logic likely was mostly fault free.

[@westelaudio943]

Hand drawn like most of them were back then. But I wonder why there is no silkscreen.

[@JFinnerud]

The copper thieves had a field day apparently. Must have been like Christmas 😶

[@litz13]

Best thing about these videos (besides the absolutely geek-out over obsolete technology) is that all you need is a giant gun center-screen, and it could be real-life Doom. The music absolutely rocks. :-)

[@izools]

Fun fact - those round silver components that look like components are actually shift registers - they each store 512 bits of information, like a tiny RAM chip, each 0.5 Kilobits in capacity. You would need 16 of these transistor-looking components to make up 1 Kilobyte of RAM. Damn strange each module only contains 15 of these 512-bit shift registers, I guess the word length in the logic must have been seven bits? Who knows, but each yellow or blue plug in module is just shy of 1Kbyte RAM.

[@Vaakoh1]

Wow!! What an amazing job of engineering. Excellent and fascinating video. Very nice work. Thank you for your expertise producing these for us.

[@felixlohrer9600]

Found a german homepage still selling spares for ACONIC Controls.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Hi Felix. Wow! Wonder how much they sell thesedays! Can you post a URL as I'm interesting to take a look, thanks.

[@rodev93]

At 10:28 There was a Pigeon Nesting In the Motor Lol. That's just Funny. And The Reason was they didn't really fly away is because they where Harf asleep so They don't Fully Think of What a Threat is. Usually it would fly away but because it was kind of sleeping you did not scare them. But I found it Very cute.

[@mathiscoenen9633]

Cool channel, nice vids, I like to relax and watch your vids. Now, maybe the 6th lift engine is placed higher and maybe even installed first so this lift could raise all other equipment into place. So no external companies would be needed to get the materials to their position. Also when parts would have been needed to replace, they could do it all internal (except for lift 6 🤓. For the boards: you should not waggle them out, but pull them straight out, in order to not damage the side sliders. Like sliding them in: straight, not waggle. Same for the transistor blocks. Interesting are the matrix resistor blocks. I am curious what they were used for, since it is plenty of them. I am used to work with matrix board with diodes. Good idea of having the steel wires going “around”, also on the bottom of the lift, do there is no need for a compensation chain which makes spooky noises. AC to DC, yeah, thats what I worked with too, DC motors can be very powerful and easy to regulate. Did they use DC or half DC? When using half DC (in fact: from AC to DC using only 1 diode) makes the motor even more powerfull. Many greetings from the Netherlands ❤

[@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24]

You should have visited the tower in the late 2000s it was completely intact and still had lighting and power. The lifts probably still worked back then. There's photos as late as 2009 showing it lit up at night looking just like a normal office building.

[@harryharrison__]

Having found your channel a few weeks ago I am truly hooked! The attention to detail in your explanations and graphics is fascinating and I’m learning a lot already. You capture the feeling inside these buildings beautifully as well, the music and filming make you feel like you’re in the room with these beautiful machines, their quietness now all that’s left of a once bustling and full of life building. Having never really paid much attention to lifts in the pass I can see the incredible work that goes into them and how they become almost their own being in a building. Keep it up and I can’t wait to see more.

[@andreas7136]

11:00 I think, copper scavengers were already active in the building. The motors are opened and the field coils are missing. Maybe also cables in the building.

[@Fluxkompressor]

I can't figure out how technically um-educated the people are who rip out flimsy control wiring with value-lowering lamp sockets on them but leave big clunky transformers in the cabinets Also they go to the effort of taking out the field windings and leave the rotor windings untouched

[@ClassicalRips]

The field windings were replaced with pigeons, a much cheaper alternative that requires no copper

[@BartBe]

I assume that, after the building was decommissioned, they cannibalized some of te parts. Those hand made parts must have cost a fortune.

[@UQRXD]

I have never seen any thing like the , cooling grid resistor set up. I call it hat because I have no idea what to call the thing that the transistors plug into. Over all I am surprised to see so few capacitors. Such a lovely lay out on boards. I worked with transistor PLC controllers.

[@inuyashacoolieo]

Gah, scrappers ruin everything! This should be in a museum!

[@ag6371]

The Aconic was actually introduced in the 1950s

[@Lift.Tracker]

I don’t think such technology would’ve been possible in the 50s. How do you know?

[@mattheww3116]

I like how you paused the music for the pigeon 🐦

[@oneteaminbristolbcfc]

Brilliant thankyou

[@CarlCostelloPlays]

👍🙂

[@OBGuy]

Hell yes! I'll say more after I watch this video.

[@michaelwebber4033]

AD to DC generation is in my world called a Ward Leonard generating set

[@ag6371]

These might have used DC choppers for speed control

[@elixier33]

Hey x I really do enjoy watching your content I don't know why

[@jacksidewalker4188]

I fucking love this stuff❤

[@lauternate22]

Overengineered stuff of the 70's

[@LiliumBS]

LOL a pigon built his nest in the machine of lift 6

[@johnnyrodriguez4161]

I commented on another post but didn't realize it was 11 years old lol but I'm curious if you have any clacker relay videos

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Hi, not sure what you mean by the term "clacker" relays? Do you mean something like this?: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3yWfq2DmdCsqZo

[@nyler10]

Great videos! What happened to part 3?

[@Aawsomeguy]

I hope your still making elevator videos. I enjoy them very much.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Yes I am. I have about 5 videos on the go at once, each one has a complicated part which takes a little time to finish. Time that I'm find hard to find! Next video should be up within the next 1-2 weeks.

[@linwang687]

Now tell all KZbinr go to Malmö

[@andreas7136]

26:00 The swiss engineers of Schindler in the time were very careful with transistors as active electronic parts in a lift control system. They made them changeable like electronic valves.

[@dusanmilojevic3017]

Engineers of Schlieren not Schindler.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks for the comment and yes, fascinating system and plug-in transistors. I'm not sure that I'd like to fault find this though - imagine randomly swapping out transistor boards until the lift starts working properly again! The know-how must have been very specialised!

[@Warp3326]

10:26 That bird is adorable

[@eddiewillers1]

I'm wondering if this Aconic system used TTL - transistor-transistor logic - as its stepping stone from fully analogue relay control to full digital programmable logic control?

[@mrmattandmrchay]

You're probably spot on Eddie. It's a very interesting concept, but wonder how much of a nightmare it would have been to fault find! Swap this transistor block out, does it work, no, how about this one! I bet there were more logic methods to do this, but it would have required a unique skillset and experience with working with this controller type.

[@Gazoogleheimer1]

I believe it is RTL. Possibly dtl but I don't see enough diodes. The interesting thing is how remarkably primitive it is given the age. RTL was 60s tech.

[@antharro]

Looking at the state of some of those equipment cabinets. I'm not sure if they're in their current state from vandalism, or if someone was paid to go around with a sledgehammer and "decommission" the electronics/electrical bits when the lifts were taken out of use. Either way, sad.

[@TransitAndTeslas]

That’s a thing? They’ll pay people to sledgehammer good equipment? Why??!

[@alex13902]

If you look at all the dropped traywork etc, looks like the pikeys have been in to steal all the copper.

[@asetatlikalem]

is there any ifts at this biulding-

[@MichalM]

Never seen wire wrapping before, that's quite interesting. I'm guessing there were no electrical drawings on the walls? I guess LiftDragon found some! Presumably the panel with all the bulbs behind it is a floor position display? Edit: Answered at 22:55! A very rare system indeed, but I'm not sure how it works. I don't even know what a transistor is, so I suppose I'll start with learning what they do, lol!

[@abballaguno55]

??? 10:19

[@georgesmith8113]

👍👍👍👊😎

[@UQRXD]

Bird inside motor.🤣

[@redsquirrelftw]

That's really cool, The green colour reminds me a lot of the DMS100 telephony switch, which is from mid/late 70's and is more digital. That specific shade must have been in style back then lol.

[@greenaum]

Wow! What a completely shitty way of designing circuits! They've got enormous big PCBs with hardly anything on them, and a load of transistors all clumped into a little cramped module... for some reason! I suppose it lets their service men swap out transistors as entire modules rather than needing to trace a fault and desolder the malfunctioning component, but even so... as far as using space goes, it's ridiculous! The costs of all those connectors (often the most expensive part) would triple the cost of the unit as a whole. And for what? What does it do!? I mean, sure, a few things, routing the lift, priority, speed control. But Speak 'n' Spell was out by 1979 and that had more than enough computing power for this. There were microprocessors around and used in industry all the time. Or if you like, just stick with relays. You could have reduced this to half a dozen PCBs or less with a computer, or not much more space by using a custom-designed discrete system, even if it was a modular one. But this looks a bit like somebody's invented their own computer from bare transistors, like IBM and the rest did in the 1960s. Not a chip on it, and there were loads of logic ICs back then! I could've saved them a ton of money designing something better back then, and I'm not any sort of professional electronics guy. So could most people who own a soldering iron. Really, what a WASTE!

[@NordicAxe]

8:43 “Do not swop” Love it 😂

[@Vincent561967]

Look likes Schindler elevator

[@idl3k_elev]

They are indeed Schindler.

[@SuperAMJS]

Should definitely keep it, it's historically significant. The "Get Carter" car park in Gateshead got razed to the ground, an absolute travesty.

[@raphaeljacob1548]

Who is the vendor of that lift controller? All the writings start in German.

[@Lift.Tracker]

Schindler, from Switzerland

[@NordicAxe]

Best quality videos ever. “Videos” is perhaps too basic. These are more documentaries. Excellent

[@Nico93]

So, where wondering if you can explain something in term of elevators that was come-on portrayted in animations or games? ive seen that sort of double door type doing some of 2 chime tone, what are they typically based on? that people is taking inspiration from.

[@RedWolf1989]

It always surprises me where KZbin's recommendations lead me. At first I thought this was just another Lost Places channel, but than I realized it is mainly about lifts. I didn't even know that there were people interested in these enough to make a KZbin channel about them, but in the meantime I found out there seem to be quite a few. Until now I was actually happy to see a lift being modernized. I don't find old lifts scary, but I didn't like them, being old and run down, rumbling and shaking. while I found newer ones much nicer, moving smoothly from one floor to the next, with modern looking buttons and floor indicators. However now that I know the elaborate relay technology behind the older lifts build before modern electronics were available, and especially the electromechanical floor selectors, I'm fascinated by them. So much effort and engineering just to move a lift car up and down! Now I feel said about every one of these replaced by modern technology, despite knowing that they aren't museums pieces, but part of a building's infrastructure, so sooner or later they will have to be modernized or replaced either for economical or for safety reasons.

[@michaelbaotrantran6516]

Part 3

[@michaelbaotrantran6516]

Part 3

[@michaelbaotrantran6516]

Part 3

[@luis-ranma]

Keep up doing these amazing videos!

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thank you very much for the nice comment Luis! :)

[@liamemmaairraidsiren9046]

@mrmattandmrchay hi Matt how are it's me liam

[@michaelbaotrantran6516]

I want part 3

[@Petertronic]

Superb video, graphics, commentary and music again. I'm qualified in electronics and am intrigued by the blue modules and the transistor packs. Even the numbers on the transistors are not standard. Looking forward to more and will check out the LiftDragon

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks very much Petertronic :) appreciate the comment!

[@SeanBZA]

Motorola house numbers, though, looking at the case style, it was likely all plain regular 2N2219A and 2N2907A transistors, house coded from the Motorols JAN TX production line, using the transistors that had failed the more rigorous JAN TX elevated temperature cycling, but still passed the more relaxed industrial testing cycle. To pass the JAN TX in the military and aerospace certification you had to have zero failures in a batch of 100k devices, but commercial and industrial you could have up to 10. All passed at room temp, especially in the mid 1970's, where Motorola had dialled in production on those lines to be consistent batch to batch, and could have 99 out of every 100 batches pass the full space certification without issue. House coding so that the repair centre can only get them from the approved source, not just go out and buy them, but pay the price for the "right" devices. Vendor lock in for sure, and likely they had to send those back for repair to factory, despite them being commercial parts otherwise.

[@jonusjonus9271]

That is an incredible looking logic system. As you are looking through those control cabinets I can help but wonder, what was the benefit to such a system in the late 70's? Reprogrammability? Less moving parts? There are so many small components in that system, i have to believe it was a nightmare dealing with just one failing.

[@SamSitar]

the raised machine looks inconvenient.

[@Lift.Tracker]

Would be really funny if the lift car was able to come up to that level and open into the motor room lol!

[@suchcone]

Your videos are *always* a cut above the rest.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks very much :)

[@radarmusen]

Those 3d rat nest module looks like the way Apollo module was built, they was just potted.

[@arthurmario5996]

it's easy to see why so many buildings have broken lifts. an intermittent problem would be almost impossible to troubleshoot. if you "shotgun" the modules, what about all the backplane contacts?

[@wannabeetiger]

The video was almost like going on an expedition below the depths of the sea to search the Titanic or something! Nice!!!

[@Handdryerswithsplashy]

I wish you still filmed hand dryers lol especially rare ones as I’ve watched the vortice ones for years

[@agems56]

I choose analog relay systems over electronic circuit systems anytime, because capacitors always seem to be the weal link as they often fail first! I have heard often enough about mother board failures to convince me that old school is better for dependability!

[@povilasstaniulis9484]

A really amazing controller. Essentially a lot of crude digital logic circuits. A very early form of a digital controller. Incredible technology for it's time, far ahead of the competition. It's really sad to see all of these control cabinets and machinery in such a poor state.

[@tr606]

Good lord! I'm knackered watching you walk up them stairs to the roof

[@keith800]

Was the third lift a different size to the other two hence the raised lift machine platform ? if it was a smaller car then the rope suspension center's would be over towards the other lifts and causing the machine to over hang the other two.

[@markrgreenlane]

It’s a real shame these lists aren’t still running and after seeing The Lift Dragons video even more so, as the two lifts in his video have motor/gearbox units as normal and possible due to only being 10 stores, these ones in your vid are direct and would have been good to see the speed and control over 20 odd floors.

[@erict.35]

What do you have for protection? Don’t worry, I’m not from the police.

[@matthewgriffin4761]

Great video. Thank you so much for making these.

[@1sonyzz]

So, 50 years old

[@Lift.Tracker]

About 45, but probably will be over 50 by the time it’s scrapped!