An old foreman told me to always double-check the governor rope tension before a test

I was working on a traction job in a new apartment building downtown, and we were getting ready for the state inspection. My foreman, a guy named Ray with about thirty years in, pulled me aside and said, 'Kid, go tap that governor rope. If it sings, it's too tight. It should just sit there, quiet.' I figured I had set the tension right with my gauge, but I went back and gave it a flick. Sure enough, it had a high ring to it. I loosened it just a quarter turn. The inspector ran the car to top speed for the overspeed test, and the governor grabbed perfectly on the first try. If that rope had been tighter, it might have vibrated and not tripped right. Ray's simple trick saved us a failed inspection and a lot of extra work. Has anyone else had a boss pass down a little piece of advice like that that just works every time?

3 comments

3 Comments

park.wyatt1mo ago

That "tap the governor rope" trick is solid. I've seen guys rely only on the gauge and get bit. A rope that's too tight can bind up in the sheave just enough to slow the trip speed. It doesn't take much. Old timers like Ray have those little checks that the book never mentions.

mary_schmidt1mo ago

Totally. The book gives you the basics, but the real world throws curveballs. I watched a guy test a system by the book, gauge looked fine. Then we had a real call and the elevator took forever to get down. That tiny bit of extra drag on the rope from being too tight was the whole problem. Now I do the tap check every single time. Those old school tricks save your butt.

noah_walker161mo ago

Look, I get the old school tricks have their place. But come on, a rope singing? That sounds like voodoo. We have gauges for a reason, they give you a real number. Maybe @park.wyatt has seen it go wrong, but I've set plenty by the book and never had a fail. It just seems like making a simple job sound like magic. If your gauge is good and you set it right, it should work. All this extra stuff feels like looking for problems that aren't really there.