PSA: That 'smart elevator' retrofit at the Henderson building is a nightmare

I was on site last month at the Henderson building downtown and they pushed through this whole smart elevator retrofit. The contractor sold it as a quick fix for the old Otis system. But the new controller board kept throwing fault codes every time someone pressed two buttons at once. I spent three days just tracing wires because the installers ran them like spaghetti. The building manager told me, 'We paid 80 grand for this thing,' but now it runs slower than the old relay logic. If you get a call about a smart retrofit, double check the install specs before you sign off. Has anyone else seen these new boards fail under basic use?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice3361mo ago

Wait, you're telling me they paid 80 grand for something that can't handle two people pushing buttons at the same time? Sounds like they bought a fancy calculator that happens to run an elevator. Nothing beats the old clicky relays when you just need to get to the third floor without a software crash. I bet the building manager is real proud of that "upgrade" every time he has to take the stairs.

miamitchell1mo ago

And honestly @alice336 it's like the same problem with smart homes - people spend thousands on "connected" stuff that falls apart the minute two things try to talk at once. We've traded simple reliability for flashy features that break constantly, from elevators to toasters to car infotainment systems. The old clicky relays might not look cool but at least they work when you actually need them.

emmaj3325d ago

The new stuff actually fixes problems the old relay systems always had though.