I lived in one building without any kind of algorithm, and another which was wonky, then tuned/worked remotely by security.

OK, but would freak people out, at times, when the elevator would be waiting with the door open. (Security used to watch people coming in, later at night, after an issue.)

quote:

Originally posted by mdblanton:
I thought you were supposed to press the button the same number of times as there were people waiting - so it knows how many people it needs to pick up

Omgosh, I need to remember to do this sometime!

"Let's see, um... eight of us on here? [poke-poke-poke-poke-poke-poke-poke-poke]."

[QUOTE]Originally posted by architect:
I imagine there are several standard elevator floor selection algorithms that (probably) vary by manufacturer. So one's answer might differ by the brand of elevator you're using (or maybe whoever programmed that particular unit). Maybe we can get Otis in here to address this crucial issue?

Anyone know, off hand, where one would buy a fireman's elevator key?

That is for the box on the wall storing keys for first responder persons. Different states or locals use one of several different keys. There really aren’t many keys that would help the average rider aside from Code Blue in a hospital. The most useful would be Independant Sevice found in the car panel, often locked behind a door using the same key. That removes the car from serving hall calls and gives the operator control of the doors and floor selection. Some ritzy places may have a VIP hall key switch that brings that elevator to that station when it has emptied out.

Used to do service / repairs on the County Court House. You should have seen all the klickety klack old wooden racks of relays and switch gear, and the gears and drums of steel cable in the sub basement elevator room. Circa 1935. Pretty cool actually... and in the pit underneath the elevator... Rows of coil springs... looked exactly like they just come out from under an old car! If that elevator ever falls it is absolutely gonna bounce!

Also, we got to maintain the courthouse clock for several years and the manual bellringer mechanism. the clock about the size of a washing machine, all open gear work, sat in the middle of a room that was about 15 feet square. There was a double driveshaft running out to the face of each clock. One shaft for a minute hand and one for the hour hand. 4 sets. One of the routine jobs we had to do at least once a year was to loosen the drive shaft couplings, and re-synchronize the hands on each side for each of the 4 clock faces so they told the same time... How did they get out of time you ask? If more than three or four pigeons landed on one of the clock hands the leverage of their weight would actually cause the driveshaft couplings to slip and get out of time.

The bell ringer, was literally a sledge hammer hinged on a pivot with the leaf spring to help it bounce back after it hit the bell. Eventually, they replaced clock and the ringer with an electronic set up. Hope that hardware got saved by somebody somewhere and didn't get tossed.

One more story from those days... I was eating lunch one day when the County Judge, who oversaw maintenance of the courthouse, called and said come quick. The electricity is running out of a light and onto the floor! She was serious... It was an old antique fluorescent light. The ballast had overheated and the tar filler was running out. LOL!

Sure did. Living in the projects you learned how to make it an express elevator.
Slam outer door open then close inner door, hold with your converse then duck so they couldn't see you. As the elevator reached floor it would stop and then continue. Elevator all for yourself.

OP, you need to add an option for "when the elevator arrives and the doors open, rush inside before waiting passengers can exit."

Aye, there is magick involved with elevators. Having worked in several high rise buildings and hearing the incantations of many, I have assembled that wisdom:

1) Let's say you want the 39th floor, if you enter the car and 39 is lit, press it again, it prioritizes 39 and the car will go directly there, despite other floors being lit.
2) If there are 6 people waiting to descend, press the call button 6 times, the car will skip other floors and stop at the floor with 6 waiting.
3) Press and hold the close door button upon entry. Hold the button until the car stops at your desired floor. It will bypass any other floors.

Umm, no. I once rode an elevator with an elevator tech, he summed it up this way: "You look old enough to have ridden in a 1964 Chevy Nova (I am and have). This elevator has the same level of technology as that 1964 Nova so, no, it's simple relays and once pushed, they don't register any additional pushes. It's all myth".

Until the "smart" elevators installed in multiple high rises occupied by my employer. Myth, the system maintains a count of "requests" for a floor, the floor with the most requests is served first. So said Realty Services. To which I politely say "bullshit", the elevator still stopped at floors sequentially, there was no apparent priority.

One building had a system that showed every floor that bank serviced in every lobby. Push the floor and the system directed you to a specific car. It worked well enough but I very much doubt, and never experienced, any efficiency gain.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SPWAMike0317,

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
So said Reality Services.

Are they on the same or different floor from Fictional Follies?

the Willis Tower express elevator became stuck between floors where there were no openings. It took the fire department several hours to cut through the stainless steel lining.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Anyone know, off hand, where one would buy a fireman's elevator key? a quick search reveals

Please, please don't do this. Fire service mode recalls every elevator in the bank, if not the building. It's not a discreet "priority mode" for the elevator. Also if you take it out of fire service mode the wrong way, you risk screwing up the elevator to the point it won't work. Ask me how I know..

A local paramedic got his hands on one and used it for a medical and almost took someone's leg off that was exiting another elevator because the doors immediately shut and recall. He got in pretty deep shit for it.

All I know is I was always taught to fart inside the elevator so as to be polite to those outside.

At work there are elevators where I badge in and hit the floor number I want to call the elevator and elevators where I get in and then badge to access the floor I need and elevators where I can just press the floor I need. So my times I stand in the last one wondering why I’m not moving before realizing it’s the one that I need to press the button.

I hate the garage elevator at my local VA hospital that I park and walk all the way out of the garage and around to the front entrance. I know how they work. In this case, poorly.

The only time to mash them all is when you’re taking the stairs and racing your sibling. First time I saw a kid run out of the stairs, push both the up and down buttons, then run back into the stairs, I thought, “What the actual ?” The second time I just laughed. Inappropriate, hooliganish, but much more innocent than plenty of other mischief they could be getting up to.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Need an option for "yes - after I press the call button I stand in front of the elevator door because the elevator is just for me and nobody could possibly be wanting to get exit when the doors open"

Need my option:
"Take the stairs."

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

Can anyone read the text above the left switch?

quote:

Originally posted by straightshooter01:

Can anyone read the text above the left switch?

Looks like "Light Switch On" to me.

Back in the 1970s I spent a year and a half on a Transfer Of Technology project at an automobile factory in Barcelona. There was an unbelievable caste system there, every level had its own bathrooms, cafeteria, etc.

I spent most of my time in the factory building, but attended some meetings in the nearby office building.

The Director level guys in the office building were treated as if they walked on water. There was one elevator that was reserved for Directors only, so of course, that was the one that I used.

It was a three story building and all the Directors' offices were on the third floor. I typed a notice on an index card and taped it next to the buttons inside the elevator. It said, in Spanish, "The button for the third floor does not work. Until it is repaired, it is necessary to press '1' and '2' simultaneously in order to go to the third floor."