Step back in time... The Schindler 1962 electro-MECHANICAL lift!

[@idl3k_elev]

Excellent explanation! This kind of Schindler was built to last way longer than typical modern day lifts with lightweight quality materials, proven by the fact that these lifts had been operating for 61 years. Sad to see they've been replaced into a thin can quality Schindler 3000/3000 Plus. Hong Kong still has loads of these Schindler lifts operating in the city, particularly in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Some of the oldest ones still surviving date back from the 1950s; last year I filmed four which date back from 1955. Wish we had 1960s Schindler lifts in Indonesia :(

[@hobbified]

This exact "work your way up, then down, then up again, servicing requests as you pass them" behavior was the original basis for the block device scheduler in Linux (it makes a good match for the seek heads of rotating disk drives), which is the reason why that subsystem is named "elevator".

[@SusanAmberBruce]

Strangely emotional how these fantastic machines come and go without most people ever noticing.

[@npsit1]

What an amazing machine.. I can't imagine being the technicians who installed it and THEN being a tech 50 years later who has to fix it.

[@Tobirobih]

The exact same Schindler lift is still in operation in my apartment building on 13 floors. There's no rush to replace them. Schindler still inspects them annually and services it, if needed.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

excellent! It's day will come eventually though, as parts need replacing and none are available (3D printer to the rescut perhaps!!)

[@Leo-v8t6m]

@@mrmattandmrchaygeggegeg

[@alexhajnal107]

Some municipalities have mandated the complete replacement of elevators older than a certain age.

[@verybighomer]

It may become tricky once the old technicians maintaining them go into retirement. Had an issue with an older production machine once and the manufacturer told us "No one here know those anymore". They called a guy in retirement who was happy to help fortunately.

[@Schlipperschlopper]

The quality was very good as all Lifts in Russia and North Korea!

[@ssaraccoii]

Your question regarding the brake motor is actually quite simple. Phase protection. The brake motor is a 3 phase motor. If there is a phase loss, the motor will not turn, preventing operation. If the phases are reversed, the contacts on the brake initiate the correct relays to correct for directional rotation. Worked on a classic Schindler. It was a work of art.

[@Johan-nm7tg]

It's sad how they removed such old Electromechanical masterpieces. They´re really fascinating how they made these lifts back then by hand without a computer. Nice Video

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

While I am sad it got replaced, I am also happy it did. One side of me loves relay logic and it's just a wonder on earth that it works like that. The other side of me maintains machines daily and I could imagine myself trying to find a relay marked MK27 *somewhere* in the room for a good long time. Also preferring new for the increased safety. These old things, while beautiful, are just dumb as a rock and a nightmare to maintain.

[@alexhajnal107]

@@whatevernamegoeshere3644 I disagree. The simpler (and in this case physically larger) the technology the easier it is to inspect for correctness and condition. Systems based on active electronics (microprocessors and their support components, e.g. capacitors) are much more opaque. In a safety-critical role I prefer simpler technologies whenever possible.

[@Schlipperschlopper]

China does not accept any other lifts than Chinese or Russian in the world!!!

[@synth1002]

digitization is all about controll of people, you don't comply with government, they block you, no but literally...

[@snigwithasword1284]

Everyone's a conservationist until they get the estimate 😅

[@djkarcher1896]

This is some proper madlad engineering. Sparking relais, motors all over the place, and a masterpiece of "smart electr(on)ics" for 1960s standards. This stuff should actually go into museums as a whole. You don't need to build a shaft for it, but I would like to see the whole motor room setup on display in a museum. Ridiculously overbuilt, and just aesthetically pleasing. Great video!

[@SamSitar]

what is madlad?

[@tiagoferreira086]

I do electronics, and honestly i think that these eletro-mechanical elevators are way more complex and fascinating that modern stuff, plus back in the day they didn't have pc to simulate or design all that eletro-mechanical stuff, its just mind blowing the engineering skills that people had, huge respect to them.

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

As for complexity, no, these are 100% less complex than today's elevators. One reason for it is that in a PLC adding circuitry is free. You just code it in. The prototype doesn't change most times, the install, the drawings, nothing really changes if you just add code, so they just do when needed to take out some dings and bugs here and there, like the mess with directions seen in this one. As for the relay logic, as most floor locating functions, memory, limit switches and such are replicated and as it controls two lifts at the same time with 6 floors including basement, most of the circuit is a stacked carbon copy of the same logic pieces 6 or 12 times literally on top of each other, as you could see on the traversing contact wheel's top contact stack or on the wall of relays. On newer ones complexity is much higher but the operating principles are roughly the same, it's just all in code now. The funniest part is if the PLC is coded in ladder diagram, it's quite literally the same ladder diagram that was used for relay logic, it's like a living drawing of almost exactly all of this above. Also a side note, modern lifts can change modes for specific times. When most people leave to work, the lift will idle in the middle or on a specific floor to arrive the fastest for calls. During the afternoon it will home to the ground floor as people are coming home, less waiting time as most will get in it there. There's riot mode, sabbath mode, restricted floors, service mode, fire mode, a floor can be just entirely turned off when the opening hours are done for a store. It can take an ID card. It can do multiple of those at the same time. There is just so much now.

[@Petertronic]

Those relay controls would happily run just about for ever I think, they did well for 6 decades. I hadn't seen the pop-out buttons before - really neat. Sad to see it all torn down. Excellent video as always.

[@juliogonzo2718]

I'm sure the relay contacts would be replaceable too

[@Damien.D]

​@@juliogonzo2718 I fix electromechanical pinball machines (and newer electronic ones for what matters) and never had to change one contact blade at all, in machines that have thousand of plays at their counter from their golden days, and were then neglected for decades. These contacts just need some adjustment from time to time. Not even cleaning because they work with a self-cleaning action (the movement of the armature makes contacts rubs each other at each stroke). In AC, there is not that much arcing in low power logic circuits (as demonstrated in this video).

[@careycummings9999]

So glad someone preserved this old lift and its workings on film. Years ago, there was a documentary on the NYC cable TV channel about the water driven lifts in the Flatiron building in New York City. It was fascinating. Hopefully, it will turn up on YT someday. Keep up the great work!

[@blk77sunshn]

I really enjoyed your video ! I'm a bit saddened that they removed such beautiful machines. I'm a master machinist myself and really appreciate such level of skill and labor needed not just in the motors but all the other pieces too. Well, I guess, as they say, time marches on and so must we. Great video !

[@hobbified]

3:03 I'm pretty sure the whole idea of the pop-out buttons is that they give positive feedback of the floors that have been requested, and that the controller can pop them out when it needs to. They're not *intended* to be pulled out by hoomans, that's just a side effect.

[@maxb9369]

The advantage is that a falsely pressed call may be canceled. This is a requirement in some countries even today

[@allmycircuits8850]

To think of it, this reversible motor brake serves as wrong phase detector/FIXER. If two phase wires were switched, that brake motor goes "wrong" direction therefore switching "wrong" direction for main motor. But because of switched phase wires lift ends up going in CORRECT direction! If one phase is missing, even brakes don't release while brake motor itself doesn't get damaged, it's designed to withstand being locked for long period of time. Not sure that was engineers' intention but that's rather neat functionality which many far more advanced lifts don't have!

[@mrmattandmrchay]

I like that idea, yes, phase reversal would be resolved. I don't remember seeing any electrical devices in the cabinets for phase loss or reversal either. Thanks for the comment.

[@joelfenner]

Probably true, but also assumes the installation crew wires the brake motor to the 3-phase connections on the drive motor correctly as well. 😂 It's really hard to read the motor tag at 8:18. What surprises me the most is that they used an AC motor as a rotary actuator (you can make out the 50Hz marking on the right, as well as what looks like a 0.9 A current rating). It's more common to see DC motors as rotary-actuators rather than AC, since "dinosaur" brushed DC motors have intrinsically good stall torque. AC motors tend to perform poorly at stall, and are prone to draw excessive currents, so either the motor is special or they did something to limit the stall current (like a high series impedance).

[@allmycircuits8850]

@@joelfenner When installation of lift is finished, of course they test it and if it goes wrong direction, they find incorrect wiring and fix it. Phase detector is to resolve issues when some wiring in the house or even leading to the house via cables was renovated and they they just turn on the power without noticing lift maintenance crew. At that point lift shouldn't burn down or behave dangerously to people. As far as I know, standart reaction to wrong phasing is just to stop working, so eventually they call maintenance, they find out about wrong phasing and call electricians to rewire it correctly. That one lift just don't care, it would work with any phasing! About AC motor, I presume it has much higher rotor resistance which sets maximum torque to zero rpm and also greatly reduces starting current.

[@s_t_e_n]

Yep, classic Schindler, they also used 3 phase motors for their doordrives

[@workaholica]

5:50 This rotary switch reminds me of how older, non-digital washing machines used to encode their programs.

[@BeckettsElevatorAdventures]

I'm never disappointed when I click on a MM&MC video. I really marvel at the minds that came up with these older machines. And of course, your visual annotations explain things so effectively. Thank you for putting so much work into your video and showing me things I might otherwise never see.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thank you very much! I do try my best :) Problem is, they take ages to edit :)

[@RODALCO2007]

These electro-mechanical lifts are a true piece of superb electrical engineering. Love those lifts with the doors passing by. Seen those in Portugal and The Netherlands. A pity that the lift machines were replaced after 62 years, the new units won't last as long for sure. Your videos are always of superb quality and would have taken many hours/days in editing time. Choice of music is perfect.

[@AlexBesogonov]

The old machines did not last for 62 years on their own, they had to be maintained just like any other piece of equipment. The brake pads had to be replaced, relays likely needed multiple adjustments and replacements. Modern systems will likely last longer, as they are much simpler mechanically.

[@RODALCO2007]

@@AlexBesogonov Agreed, maintenance as you mentioned is always needed with machinery which is used on a daily basis, weather it is old or new.

[@paulstubbs7678]

Thanks for the quality over quantity, I'm so over sites that pump out garbage when they really have nothing new.

[@jcthe2nd]

And he drops a absolute banger of a video thanx mate

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Cool, and thanks for the nice comment also! :)

[@ShayBlez]

Thank you for these videos, I've used electromech lifts before and heard these noises of operation from farther away. I appreciate learning how its all worked this whole time in greater depth than I've thought to pursue. :]

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Love the old stuff, based on your comment, this is the extreme end of the scale - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z32riJmHlrhopNE It's totally mad the systems they used to install and maintain!!

[@suchcone]

QUALITY as ever! I thoroughly enjoy your videos - a big thank you for your continuous dedication. As well as to your viewer who supplied the footage. It's a joy to still see content done as a passion and not rushed out to appease advertisers.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

I'm all about quality, interesting videos. I couldn't really care less about trying to push out like, 5 videos a week. It's just not me. I like to be proud of what I upload and I'm really glad people are giving me some really great feedback. However, I did have someone about 2 months ago comment that 'my videos are too few and far between'. But I think I'd prefer it this way, than just to rush them out to keep such people happy. I mean, I do have a life outside youtube and that must take priority. You should have seen my tweak list. In fact, I'll share it with you (and yes, I AM a perfectionist!!) FINAL CORRECTIONS 00:31 Animation - cars need to move faster. 01:45 ground glow alignment 03:56 ground glow alignment 08:54 divider missing 09:18 bennie footage too blocky speed it up and freeze it 11:35 cant see lift background, fade up a bit. 12:41 lady/man floating towards roof 16:42 better zoom-in fade 17:02 timer finishes before door closing 17:38 don't like sudden stop 19:31 dont do the zoom thing, 'for more info' zoom into page instead 19:34 gong video stops too soon 19:55 cross pan slower, or shorten next pic 22:25 start the zoom out smoother CORRECTIONS 2 00:30 no sound, no pop out button audio 01:24 - lift in background going up, lift at front going down! 17:06 - def needs a pause/title 20:27 - title reqd 22:59 - it needs an ending before cutting to end seq CORRECTIONS 1 00:22 coming up is wrong 02:06 lift cars text up a bit/centre 07:51 Voiceover needs moving 08:36 brake motor loose bottom part 08:46 the divide needs a line + 10:00 08:57 not perfect (also 5 secs before) 09:20 interlock bar text, move to right 09:50 doesnt zoom centrally 10:50 needs fade? 11:37 fade back in after title 13.48 motor overlay make more interesting? 14:19 remove title? 16:05 sound fade 2 sec earlier 16:15 door timer title 16:30 box switch, titles otherway around? 18:04 red arrows a touch later 18:56 floor switch, misses UP?/mid/low 19:00 not sure about arrow tracking 19:30 fade out first, then back in 20:37 what MRL means title reqd 22:45 growl then pause longer 23:20 nicer ending?

[@DominickCascianoIII]

ahh to sit in that wooden chair and listen to the whirring of motors and snapping of contacts!

[@tobiaswittenmeier1877]

What a wonderful old machinery! And thank you for the very good explanation.

[@TechOne7671]

Modern day electronics do amazing things but that old electromechanical “engine” is a work of art. Man, that machine room is for professionals only, keep yours hands in your pockets!! I can just see the safety report now, the recommendations probably cost more than the new lift. However will the new one run for 69 years ? Great video. All the best.

[@crocoland6330]

Very nice work Matt! And detailed as always! The old Schindler machinery is so fascinating and satisfying to watch

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks for your comment crocoland, yes I agree. Schindler is the most interesting, followed by Otis, then Express and bottom is Bennie (can't see much action inside those ice-cube relays!)

[@foxmoulder2430]

Ich bin Beeindruckt. Mechanische Ablaufsteuerung vom feinsten. Herrlich!

[@dominikkarkowski]

your edits are amazing. Great job 👍

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thank you so much!!

[@cowboyfrankspersonalvideos8869]

It's interesting that at the time of the shoot, the motor room was in better condition than the inside of the actual lifts. Shows that the service people took some pride in their work.

[@Humble_Electronic_Musician]

Fascinating!

[@confuseatronica]

its like a telephone switch but every single part is scaled up, even parts that don't need to be bigger to function the same

[@mrmattandmrchay]

I agree, but I suppose when each manufacturer had to design their own system back then, the small size wasn't a consideration when you had an entire room. Also, the larger the device, the easier to diagnose and repair.

[@liftboy92]

This is just so sad. Those lifts are so reliable and tough. They have been in service for 61 years and I highly doubt the new Schindler 3300 will last this long. It might be a far stretch, but I suppose if well cared, these could outlive any new elevators. Because of this I recently founded a company dedicated to care for heritage and relay-logic-controlled elevators. The knowledge about fixing these is applied sustainability and should be carried on.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

If only we had enough money to spend it as we liked, we could buy a 10 storey building and setup a whole array of vintage lifts! Problem is, it's a niche subject and I don't think 'most' (not all, just most) would particularly care!

[@liftboy92]

@@mrmattandmrchayWhat I have learned after running this company for half a year now, is that a lot of people care for their old lifts and want to keep them, but the elevator companies talk them into getting a replacement.

[@MLX1401]

@@liftboy92 Our apartment building has two original Otis 70's lifts. Around 2018 there was a major fault with the other floor logic controller, and the company servicing them started pushing for a makeover. They claimed replacement parts simply can't be sourced anymore. This caused serius debate if an investment loan should be planned, or maybe just leave the other lift abandoned. Then covid happened, meetings went to a halt. After two years, we switched service provider and surprise; suddenly the replacement part was just a call away 🙃 Lifts are running like a dream now!

[@Damien.D]

​@@mrmattandmrchaythere are weirdos in the US who runs a telephone exchange history museum. All kind of massive telephone exchange hardware from electromechanical to digital, all is kept fully functional. So a 10 storey building to keep old elevators running is not so far fetched.

[@bertspeggly4428]

@@Damien.D Calling them weirdos is a bit insulting. I find their videos most informative.

[@CC-ke5np]

In Germany, there are more and more mandatory safety features which have to be retrofitted. Public accessible lifts have to have them all. This is the main reason why lifts which are still good are either replaced or heavily modernized. For example, moving walls are not allowed any more. A lift must have an inner door. Doors must sense the force and stop if the force becomes too great. This is a big problem with dirt accumulating in the guide rails. The simple bulb&photocell systems must be replaced by "laser curtains". Also those old lifts waste a lot of power. With ever and rapidly increasing costs for electricity, keeping an old lift can become really expensive over time. Especially the kinds where all cabins start moving when one call button is pressed. Sometimes, the building code suddenly requires a lift with a large cabin to be able to transport patients horizontally. In most cases, the lift shaft is made deeper and a cabin with a compartment door is used which can be opened for moving furniture or injured people. And like in this case, the building owner wants the lift reach the top floor, too. So there are many reasons why those neat old lifts vanish. Lack of knowledge is the least reason. Lack of spare parts or new safety standards are the primary cause.

[@lbochtler]

id rather have dangerous freedom then destructive safety

[@audvidgeek]

I was in Sofia Bulgaria in October 2023, and The Rila Hotel, which was built in 1960 during soviet occupation, the elevators don't have inner doors. They have recently renovated the hotel, and the elevators, but STILL use the same elevator cars without inner doors, but with modern electronics. I was very surprised by this

[@WooShell]

I wish I could get hold of one of those mechanical timers.. something like these is still missing in my collection of electromechanical control systems, and I've got a feeling that those will be very hard to find nowadays.

[@paulh5293]

You have no idea how good it feels to come home after a tough week to see a new mrmattandmrchay video waiting! As always, a superb video and incredible detail. One of the very best channels on KZbin. As to why they used a motor rather than relays - wondering if its as simple as to not infringe someone else's patent?

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Sometimes editing videos like this just seem to take too long and I do wonder whether it's worth it or not, but then comments like this make all the time and effort worth it afterall! I don't seem to be 'able' to just upload something these days, without making this type of video. Sometimes I wish I could to get some more videos complete (I have a massive backlog!!), but as I said at the end 'if ''I'' dont find the video interesting, then I don't upload it!!'. Thanks very much for your comment, it has restored my stance of 'quality not quantity'.

[@CAESARbonds]

Nice shots of all those mechanical gizmos. thanks

[@MmmHuggles]

lol the warnings. back when "safety precautions" was just a healthy dose of "dont touch it".

[@ericroland7868]

I love elevators, especially the old ones - and I love these videos. Thank you so much for putting these videos out there!

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Love reading comments like these, these take time to edit, but I think they're worth it in the end. Thanks for the comment.

[@ericroland7868]

@@mrmattandmrchay I had a maintenance contract in an old parking garage that had a mechanical sled controlled elevator - One DC generator. I wish I could give you a video of it, it was beautiful. I don't think it's in operation any more.

[@ericroland7868]

I'm still looking through your videos to see if anything is similar to that. The best I can describe it is a "sled" ... it moved back and forth horizontally and had rotating cams within.

[@ericroland7868]

@@mrmattandmrchay They are absolutely worth it! So so so much! You are a huge part of making this platform be educational.

[@joris3842]

Thanks Matt for again a great and very informative video, it was a pleasure to watch 😀

[@antharro]

Hey Matt. Been a long time since we last talked. Good to see another video from you, even it had a sad ending. Do you know if it was replaced because a fault occurred that couldn't be fixed, or if it was a pre-emptive replacement? It did bring to mind your old video from ages ago about the old Schlinder lift motor room, so I'm glad you linked it. :) Hope all is well.

[@mr.struppi9903]

Wow, that were truly extraordinary lifts and of course an extraordinary video of them (as always😅)! At least they came up with a creative way of using the space of the former motor room! Thank you very much for sharing the great video! After nearly ten years watching your videos, it never gets annoying, because every lift from back then is different!

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks very much for your comment Mr Struppi! It's great to hear some feedback from people that have been watching my videos for so long. I do carefully chose the content I upload, and I have so much more waiting to be edited. When I retire in another 25 years time, perhaps I'll catch up by then haha! Yes, imagine an engineer looking for the old motor room now! Really good idea, floor 6 must serve a purpose though.

[@pantherplatform]

That sound gave me flashbacks of working on elevators in New York and New Jersey. I'll never forget this one in Hoboken I used to work on. That clacking was amazing!

[@boyinlove2k]

Lovely video and attention to detail - a pleasure to watch.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Many thanks Vimal.

[@TDIMAXDIESEL]

Electro mechanical is fascinating !

[@fabiolmfonseca5961]

Hi mrmattandmrchay! It's nice to meet you again. Well done! Excellent video. These ancient mechanisms for controlling lifts are simply brilliant. It's a shame that, perhaps due to expensive maintenance or even a lack of technical preparation to take care of these mechanisms, they are being replaced by electronic ones, where it is easier to change a board than to adjust switches, relays and fuses.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks for the comment Fabio. In the end, lifts are part of a business, more profit to replace the whole lift than keep spending money trying to fix it. I suppose its like a car, as it gets older the maintainence and repair costs increase, at what point do you 'cut your losses' and get a newer one. In the end, it has to happen.

[@309lincoln]

Thank you for documenting this amazing machinery. History must be recorded.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Agreed! I visited this place about 3 months ago - got to see the lifts as they are now, and, well nothing interesting there now unfortunately.

[@shayne87]

The sounds of relay logic boards click-clacking very familiar to me. We still have 4 cars with this with 11 stops in my building. If we have a power failure we have to manually reset each car individually by tripping a relay with a flathead. It's a long walk up the stairs to the motor room when this happens.

[@mushroomcraft]

Do you have a video on the lift with the blue door at 16:17? It reminds me of some long gone 70s carpark lifts from my childhood, and I just need to see more.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6rXc4ekYrqIq6c

[@mushroomcraft]

@@mrmattandmrchayThanks!

[@LachieVidsTransportVlogs]

Can’t think of many lifts in Australia this old that are this complex and old. We do have lifts from the 60’s but most of them are cheaper models with not many floors. One of the last known Otis autotronics got ripped out a few years ago here in Brisbane and replaced with gen2’s… not because of reliability problems, but for the reason that the current techs don’t have the required knowledge to maintain them!

[@UncommonElevators]

I’m glad to see that you’re using Georges’ videos, I remember watching his videos of the high-rise schindler DC motor room. Absolutely amazing. It has same selector in this video but it’s much bigger so it can fit all the floors.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Oh you mean this one? kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z32riJmHlrhopNE WHERE DO I START LOL! omg, imagine maintaining these, some ear defenders for a start, the relays keep clacking away continuously, it's like its raining outside and it's hitting the roof or something - nope, just thousands of relays!

[@UncommonElevators]

@@mrmattandmrchay Yes, that’s the one. I would love to know where that video was filmed and what kind of lifts are there today.

[@aufwolkeseven]

Inselspital Bern

[@Josh.Davidson]

Amazing video. So sad that the lifts were removed.

[@nivardovirlan4731]

The pair of timers at 17:00 are used in some models as Timer before opening doors and Timer of Door Opended

[@CoolDudeClem]

It's almost like the inside of a mad scientists lab! I could probably stay there all day just watching all the parts moving and clicking. Certainly a feat of engineering, this.

[@russbellew6378]

In the mid 1970s, my employer's office in Lagos was on the 6th floor with an old Schindler lift like this. It didn't work 99% of the time.

[@tagvideor]

Love your videos! I really like that you value quality over quantity on this channel!

[@deborahchesser7375]

It’s like moving art watching the mechanical systems at work.

[@simoncroft9792]

The extra interlocking is definitely for safety. German Safety equipment companies have been prominent in developing interlocked safety relays and standards since the 50’s

[@erwinvb70]

Hope to encounter a similar lift one day, but it will get less likely every year

[@s_t_e_n]

Maybe that double direction brake is designed so that the brake will always be applied when the lift changes direction. Making sure it wont put unwanted load on the motor.

[@dieseldragon6756]

Thanks for uploading this, Matt! What an amazing piece of machinery and it's so nice to see it being documented so well! ❣ It's always sad to see these being taken out of service/replaced of course, but I think we all understand that landlords will do everything they can to cut down on communal bills - Especially when energy prices are now so high an „upgrade“ gets bought-forward for the efficiency savings. By the way, just to see if my eyes are as Eagle as they used to be: Am I right in thinking this was in Switzerland, possibly Zürich? 😇

[@Windhund27]

Great Stuff. Brillant Pictures. 👍. Greetings from Gernany.

[@robinausbayern1999]

I like that intro with the preheat fluorescent lights in the elevator shaft!

[@sandippatel2472]

Thanks sir for awesome new video🎉🎉🎉

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks for the nice comment also Sandip.

[@marcfruchtman9473]

That's some really cool mechanical tech... thanks for the video. If a single person owned the elevator the "pop-out" buttons would make sense... but, I would imagine it would be easy for someone to pull buttons that they didn't want to stop at to save time at the expense of someone else... it would create a lot of conflict in some areas.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

I really don't think the 'pull out the button' idea really worked, as it's not something a passenger would think to use. Yep, if you were a prankster, then you could have great fun with them, especially highrise with lots of passengers!

[@b43xoit]

I can imagine a fistfight breaking out.

[@jagboy69]

AWESOME!!! I could sit and watch that thing work all day! It's a work of art! Theliftdragon had another spectacular all mechanical lift worth checking out. Thanks for explaining the workings, but I gotta ask >>>>> Could you smell the burning ozone as the contactors were working?

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Unfortunately I wasn't present on this visit - this is all from Georges. And me too, could spend all day getting footage from lifts like these! (yeah, problem is then have to spend 3 months editing it!!)

[@hakanhellgren]

Hello from Sweden. Great phootage and explaining, really sad they have to replace them, it was very clean in the old motor room so i can understand that they have maintained them vell during the years in opreation.

[@kaasmeester5903]

That looks a lot like the lift system my auntie's apartment building had back in the 80s; the button panels and lights look exactly the same, except the buttons did not latch; maybe that was a slightly later model where the latching buttons had been replaced with latching relays.

[@VintageLiftLad]

What a beauty

[@mahuhude]

10:43 The way this is engineered the cabin always has to fully stop before the reverse acceleration starts.

[@brianhood4182]

As an old lift engineer the last time I worked on one of these lifts was to use gas axe to remove it for a new German lift to be installed.

[@samuellourenco1050]

Love that lift. No inner doors.

[@dragonstorm9968]

I just LOVE it, its very interesting to watch.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Cool, thanks for the comment dragonstorm

[@passacaglia28]

I'm glad that at least some parts for the old lifts went to a museum.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Yes, it's very nice to see. Here in the UK, no-one cares and everything is thrown in the rubbish.

[@passacaglia28]

@@mrmattandmrchay Sounds like many places in the us as well.

[@paulstubbs7678]

I scored some nice open wound ceramic resistors, assumed to have been used to damp the start and stop motor currents, they are very handy for testing power supplies and really big audio amps. Pity I didn't know of this channel back then otherwise I'd looked further.

[@michaelweidmann266]

I collect old Schindler elevator parts, relay controls, panels, motors...

[@samuellourenco1050]

I remember riding a Schindler lift with pop out buttons. If I removed the call the lift would stop at the last floor in the direction of travel.

[@glennbartlett416]

Something is only fascinating to the human which stimulates their mind when they can see physically how something works rather than the modern cyber age

[@georgH]

There's something I've never understood. With these systems, all the control is done by the wheel, without any input from the lift in the shaft other than the cable running the wheel. Is that correct? Is it possible for the wheel controls to become slightly out of synch enough to require recalibration to bring back the stopping places of the lift in synch with the floors? (I'm thinking of few cm tops)

[@georgH]

I refer, specifically, about the slowdown and stop contacts

[@DMahalko]

I am no expert but at 6:11 you can see the cam actuation points are clamped onto the timing wheel via a slot that wrap underneath the cam. They are firmly anchored and can't move. There is likely a machined spiral groove on the drum for winding the cable to keep it precisely aligned. Failures are only likely if the thing isn't lubricated regularly which the elevator maintenance person should be doing on a schedule anyway, or if the electrical contact points burn and erode, which if it operates at low voltage is unlikely to happen. If the car position tracking cable were to break, there is likely a cable tension detector for this situation, and an emergency recovery procedure to take the car to the bottom and open the doors.

[@brunoais]

There's still only the overrun switches in the shaft. When tripping one, power is cut from the motor room to that lift. The only way to bring it back to service is to lower it manually just enough. There's a variation where the power is only cut to the direction it relates to, which became the standard. There's even one last variation which is having only witches at the bottom and the counter-weight is what prevents it from going too high. I've seen that only once.

[@weirdmindofesh]

My I have two thoughts for why that brake motor operates the main motor contacts. 1. Sequence of operations, rather than having a timer circuit that closes the traction motor contact at in the correct time as the brake is coming off to keep the motor from running against the brake, why not have the brake motor operate those contacts, they only appear to be closed as the motor reaches the end of it's rotation. 2. Safety, if the brake motor fails to start, the lift is locked out by it's own brake and cannot run, it will never attempt to even put power into the traction motor.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Very good comments, the wonders of youtube - every day is a learning experience! However, point two, all brakes have a microswitch that I'm assuming lock-out the main motor if the brake doesn't lift. I suppose with this system, as you say, all the contacts are mechanically linked.

[@weirdmindofesh]

​@@mrmattandmrchay I've never been close to lift equipment, I threw out two logical guesses, a microswitch on the brakes would serve the same purpose but that's a little more complexity, these lifts seem to be pretty cost reduced lifts compared to others.

[@juliogonzo2718]

There is a two floor elevator in the shop at my work. It used to be a government building at one point. Ever since my employer bought the building 20 years ago, it has never been operated as the cost to inspect and certify it was quite a lot and they have no use for it. Building was built in the 30s. I should see if I can access the control room to take a look. I've never actually even seen inside the elevator car either.

[@QuarioQuario54321]

12:40 This seemingly was an option in more complex buildings. I don’t know what Schindler did back then (they did not in a complete sense enter the US market until around 1990) but Otis in addition to their system you explained 4 years ago also made Autotronic for use in larger buildings such as department stores, hotels, and office buildings from around 1950 to 1980. Similar systems existed with Westinghouse, with their selectomatic system introduced around the same time, and then updated with the Mark II and Mark III at an unknown time, Mark IV in 1963 which could recall to an intermediate floor, and Mark V sometime in the 1970s) and then made a digitally controlled model known as the EPOCH in 1985, before selling their elevator division to Schindler in 1989. The Express DMR was actually based on Selectomatic.

[@MichalM]

Beautifully engineered. Must have taken some time, and cost a fortune, to install all that equipment!

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Yes, wonder how much that cost! I hear that the old Schindler kit was quite an expensive lift compared with the other choices at that time.

[@urgentkestrel7990]

What music is used at the intro of the video?

[@Trizo]

What a shame they've been replaced with out of all things, a schinlder 3300

[@elevcro]

All the new lifts these days are just boring expect orona 3G

[@paulkocyla1343]

I hope this tech will be preserved. Mechanical logic has its own beauty. It´s easier to demolish stuff, but the true historical value will remain and should be preserved-

[@bezare9728]

I wonder, how short the new elevators will work untill they have to be replaced. Schindler wants us to replace 25 year young lifts because they have no spare parts left...

[@ThumperKJFK]

DUDE. why do you put MUSIC in the video. Your showing us how the motor room looks and sounds with all the moving equipment, and relays. That sound that you will only find in a all analog system. Wow. Now day's it's all PCBoards and chips and variable AC to AC motor systems that just buzz a little during frequency switching via those box power supply. Gone are the AC converter motors, and synchronous motor sets. What a beautiful sound, and smell of the motor room. Other than that. Nice video. Memories 👍✌

[@Plaxton_presidents]

Awesome I like Schindlers

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Me too, and still plenty of old ones in Europe I'm told!

[@HEISENBERG.methking]

Its a old gold⭐

[@sc1338]

Reminds me of the old WTC elevators. They were magnificent

[@abpsd73]

I agree the contacts setup on the brake seems over-engineered. While it adds a failsafe that the brake is released before engaging the motor, the same redundancy interlocking could have been provided via a limit switch and relays/contactors

[@christopher-2000]

Awesome video

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks Christopher!

[@mfx1]

So it looks like they designed the shaft based on future expansion so they could use the extra space for a new lift to maintain service while the others were upgraded/removed. forward thinking design.

[@royamberg9177]

had everything they needed with out the finicy electronics

[@bertspeggly4428]

Interesting! I'm making a three-floor lift model in Meccano and am still trying to work out a control system. This is just a bit too complicated.......

[@filanfyretracker]

And today the elevator is controlled by a box probably smaller than some full tower gaming PCs. Reminds me of phone exchanges, When they were electromechanical the ones for a big city had huge buildings that were structurally "overbuilt" by standards even for industrial buildings because the switching equipment was a heavy live load. And today, 20 floors of urban exchange are basically 2 maybe 3 floors of digital switching. all that complexity in this video for 5 floors, makes me wonder what did the machine rooms at some place like Empire State Building looked like before they got computerized elevators.

[@mrmattandmrchay]

Thanks for the comment. You mentioned bigger systems from this era, how about this hospital.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z32riJmHlrhopNE

[@filanfyretracker]

@@mrmattandmrchay that is pretty amazing equipment. side note though I doubt they give tours but if ever around Connecticut, Otis has a test tower over by ESPN in Bristol, CT.

[@Retroman1852]

Also wow just mechanical 🤯

[@Mr.1.i]

It will be 415vac

[@francisbacon-moneygrabber9996]

"Schindlers Lifte" was really a good film!

[@SunnyJulienDivine]

22:00 almost made me cry ☹

[@alanstarkie2001]

They should make a movie about it and call it Schindler's Lift...

[@razvanschuster5058]

Hmmm... I'm not an expert, but the elevator buttons kinda look like 70s Daka lifts? I don't really have a point of reference where I live, but i've seen some similar button panels on 70s Dakas. (On other youtube vids)

[@petersaunders747]

I can't believe all those exposed electric not guarded or in cabinets.