The week I had to replace a 30 year old governor rope on a 15 story building

Last Tuesday in downtown Portland, a call came in for a full stop on a 1989 traction elevator. The governor rope was frayed down to maybe 40% of its strands. The building manager wanted it done yesterday, but the old sheave was worn and the rope had to be custom ordered. We were down for three full days while I waited for the part, with tenants yelling at me every time I stepped into the lobby. The worst part was the rope had to be threaded through a chase that was only 18 inches wide, so it was just me and an apprentice sweating it out for 8 hours straight. Has anyone else had a governor job turn into a multi-day nightmare because of one stupid, hard-to-find part?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary_foster922mo ago

Eighteen inches? That's just brutal, I can't even picture trying to work in a space that tight. Honestly, the custom order wait is bad enough without adding a full day of wrestling rope in a closet. My old boss would have lost his mind over three days of downtime.

taylor_miller102mo ago

Man three days doesn't sound like the end of the world to me. I've seen jobs drag out for way longer over way dumber stuff. Custom orders can be annoying but honestly that's part of the deal sometimes. Maybe your old boss needed to chill a bit if three days was gonna make him lose it. Probably worth the wait if it fits right in the end.

lucasw822mo ago

Honestly, that "custom ordered" part is the killer. A buddy of mine got stuck for a week on a hospital job because the governor shoe was some oddball size they didn't make anymore. Tbh the whole job just sat there waiting for a machine shop to make one from scratch. Ngl it makes your three-day wait sound almost lucky.