Have you been told by your elevator service company that the elevator controller is obsolete and needs to be replaced?
One major OEM obsoleted one of their hydraulic controllers a few years ago and are now actively promoting a replacement control board to ensure a reliable and safe operation going forward.
I get asked a lot of questions about what to do if your elevator controller is obsolete, and as part of my consultant service, I review the documents and provide a recommendation on what to do.
How much does it cost?
The upgrade is not cheap! It can cost between $20,000 to $30,000, depending on the location of the elevator, with the pricing being reflective of local labor costs.
If you cannot afford to purchase the upgrade right now, it’s time to start budgeting for the upgrade in the next 1-2 years, or if you’re part of a condo association, think about a special assessment for the homeowners.
Why is it obsolete?
As with all electronics (think of your household appliances and music system), they get old, and it is difficult to find repair parts. In this case, the control board is over 15 years old, and the elevator company is unable to manufacture new boards and parts. The upgrade kit replaces the obsolete control boards and will help to ensure your elevator’s reliability.
If the control board fails, then it may take 2-3 weeks to replace it, and the elevator would be
out of service for this time. If that is acceptable, you could wait for a failure to occur and then
pay for the upgrade. But it is probably better to proactively replace the board with the upgrade kit. This will allow you to have better control of when the elevator will be out of service for just 1 or 2 days.
You may be able to find an aftermarket control board my contacting a local elevator company to see if they can purchase one for you. You can use our Elevator Directory to find a local company by simply entering your zip code. However, I highly recommend you pay the company with whom you have your service contract with to install the control board because they are ultimately responsible for the safe and reliable operation of the elevator.
Need help?
If in doubt, please send me an email to chris@myelevatorservice.com so that I can help you.