EXCLUSIVE: 100+ Floor Elevator in the Sears/Willis Tower! (Machine Room)
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2022
- (5-27-22) In this video, I get to take a ride and look at the machine of this MASSIVE TALL freight elevator in the Sears/Willis Tower in Chicago, IL! This elevator is F3 which is the freight/service elevator that goes from LL1 all the way up to floor 102! This elevator at the time of recording this was still an original Westinghouse elevator with relay logic! It was one of the only remaining original elevators left in the building and one of the only remaining high rise DMR systems left. This elevator still has the giant tall panel of buttons that has all the floors on it. This is for sure the most buttons I have ever seen on an elevator before! The elevator has been slightly converted to Otis's Compass system. There is a new compass panel outside which you use to call the elevator, but all that system does now is activate the floor on the relay system you want to go to. On the way up and down the elevator does make stops at 34 and 67 which is marked by the "stop" tape by those floors. After taking a ride, we then got to check out the controller and machine for this elevator. I've seen a lot of relay logic systems and selectors, but the size of this controller blew my mind. The height of the cabinet is about two floors tall and the mechanical selector spans the entire length of the controller! A big shoutout to Andrew for arranging this tour and the elevator technician for giving us this once in a lifetime tour of this elevator and building!
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Rode that elevator many times. We had radio equipment in the penthouse that I maintained. The RF energy was so thick up there that it was impossible to turn off the fluorescent lights.
So the lights just glowed on their own because of the rf energy
@@imeakdo7 Yes. In the penthouse turning the light switch on or off only made a small difference in the intensity of light from the fluorescents, they always produced light because of the stray RF energy from all of the radio and TV transmitters. Not a particularly healthy place to hang around. As I remember the highest elevator machine room was a floor down, and it was fine there.
Just saw your video. My grandfather, Dan Santini, spent his entire career at Westinghouse. At his retirement in 1965 he was the Chief Engineer. I can remember him testing relay logic diagams in his basement when I was a kid in the late 1950s. He held the patents for "automatic" elevators (as opposed to having elevator operators) for Westinghouse, which he invented in the 1930s. I suppose the elevator in the video is using his design, although he had retired by the time the Sears Tower was built.
That's so cool!
I hope he gets the credit he deserves that is very cool👍
I hope his name wasn’t Otis.
I had an uncle who retired from Otis Elevator many years ago. He traveled all over the world working on them.
That's nice. Chickey.
I worked at the Pennsylvania Hospital in the 70's and went to the elevator penthouse. The technology was just like this. There were only 6 floors, but the elevators were big, being a hospital, and the motor was about the same size. The sound of the relays randomly clicking is unique. That brake on the motor is huge.
Very cool! These older relay logic systems are really fascinating from an engineering perspective.
As an elevator enthusiast myself (but still have yet to ride on a high speed elevator), I usually like looking at the brand whenever getting on one in general.
I used to be terrified of elevators in my childhood days, but now as an adult, all of my fears have disappeared; I can comfortably get on an elevator without anything to worry about.
I'm still scard of them as an adult even after knowing a lot lol. I hate getting stuck in them and even the newest smart ones always have problems
Baby steps..and keep a Tony Robbins motivational podcast at the top of your playlist, too.
@@pleasedontwatchthese9593 I as well still worry about getting stuck in an elevator, even though my fears have disappeared.
In my case, it would really vary on the condition of the elevator it self.
Wow, that thing makes some noises. When an elevator makes those sounds in a video game, you know to be ready when the door opens.
I've played plenty of games like that. In this case it's just a lot of mechanical mechanisms!
Didn't think I'd see you in the comments section of an elevator video lmao
That's crazy cool! And the selector, while huge, is considerably more compact than the enormous pie plate selectors on the Otis service cars at the old WTC.
Yeah I'm amazed at how compact the selector is on this thing. I look at our 13 stop Otis selector and it's as tall as half of the one in this video.
@@stlelevators I just worked on a 16 floor Otis pie plate selector yesterday. The car was bouncing on the first floor where the contacts got dirty. It's interesting how efficient and reliable those older machines are when they are properly maintained.
Ooh, got a photo?
@@cat1554 Careful - that kind of stuff can get you in trouble..
This has to be the COOLEST video I’ve ever seen on UA-cam.
Man this is INSANE! Awesome elevator and relay logic controller!
Yes it is! This is probably one of the coolest elevators I've ever ridden!
Absolutely astonishing piece of kit, and I hope it's still going strong. Those DMR systems are a work of art, especially the "mini elevator" mechanism. The scale of it is incredible; reminds me of the Otis system in the old World Trade Centre towers. We had a few of the DMR systems in the UK but as far as I'm aware they're all gone now, sadly. Thanks for the great video!
This looks so exciting. So glad you did this!
It was so cool to see!
This is true history! We don't even have enough DMR lifts today, MrMatt flimed one amazing Express one which got modernized. the way these work are just amazing, it's kinda weird that these could STILL be produced today, but never would be. heh, "oh its possible alright except its gonna be impossible"
Oh boy, I can’t wait to see this thing!
Same with me, i always wanted to find out what the machines look like at the Sears Tower
This is so, so COOL! It's absoutely nuts on how the relay box is two stories tall!
The fact this is only 2 floors tall is actually quite impressive. Imagine an otis pi plate selector on this thing...
These beautiful elevators are amazing.
I remember riding that one up to the top! It was so busy that we had to take the westy! It was pretty awesome to experience.
If these get modded, that COP deserves to be in the Elevator Museum
Yeah!
Elevator museum?
This has got to be one of Westy's best known intallations. Perhaps this is where people got the idea for the elevators from both Elf and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 😂
Maybe..
That shits gone now, otis modded it
Yeah they compassed it, but I think they kept the og motors. These broke so much no wonder only one cab was in service.
This was an EPIC experience!!!
Yes it was!
@@stlelevators looks like dover
Same just watching!
Is your video online, too?
Gotta love Westy. What a unique machine room!
Probably one of the most unique machine rooms I've seen.
The whooshing air and the creaky sounds from the high speed is kinda satisfying
Totally
Awesome ride!
I rode that elevator a time or two back in the day. I worked for an audio visual company who provided services to a law firm on the 90-something floor. When you got an express run ( no stops at any other floors) you could feel the wind come through the crack under the door. Also, your ears woud pop a time or two as if you were ascending in an airplane. And this elevator is fast! You would almost need to hold in to something as it shaked and shimmied through the shaft. The service elevators were (maybe still are) operated by union operators. Their job was to ride up and down all day and just push the button for you. Thats it, nothing else. If you had a full load gear, they would not budge an inch so you would have to split it into two trips. If it was a busy day, it could be over 20 minutes before that car came back down as it serviced all the floors between. Also DON'T piss them off, they would skip your floor and you would be screwed. One lady operator was as very obese. She sat in a rolly office chair with 3 of the 5 wheels broken off. She carried a long thin stick to reach the buttons for the upper floors so she did not have to stand up. The loading dock is cool too. All our gear had to pass through metal detectors before we could go to the elevators. They had a 100' long air lock to prevent the pressure differential in the elevator shafts from creating a windstorm. And after 9/11, they employed a full time bomb sniffing K9, and if he was on lunch or had the day off DOCK CLOSED! Thanks for this video to help me recall these stories.
That elevator has its own heartbeat :)
Yes it does!
Can’t wait for this!!! I’ve watched MrMattAndMrChay’s video of the express lift DMR control. I’m interested to see how similar this one is.
It's a lot taller for sure haha
Damn, that has got to be the tallest relay control board in the world! DMR was, at one point, also exported to the United Kingdom and sold under the Express Lift name, and that's because Express Lift had a technical partnership with Westinghouse. I believe Mitsubishi had similar system back in the 1960s-1970s, because both companies also had technical partnership (in fact, Mitsubishi Electric had partnered with Westinghouse since 1923).
I think it's currently the tallest original one, but I'm not sure.
The "6,7 and 99" cars in the original NYC World Centers went from the 6 story sub basements to the 107th floor. One set for the North "A" tower and the South "B" tower. I miss those among many other reasons to miss them.
I have never seen a elevator machine room in person, y’all are lucky y’all get to see that stuff.
Maybe someday you will!
That was Amazing and Epic!
Yes it was!
I HAVE , somewhere a copy of "The Elevator Constructor", which was the union publication in 73, with an article about the topping out party. The construction crew was showing off their proud Westinghouse work. My dear friend Paul, who was with Dover gave it to me. He would never let go of his Elevator World magazines....but I got a glimpse at the WTC system...I wonder where they went..BTW, great video.
This is SO COOL!!!!!!! I like the select O Matic panel
It's not a Select O Matic.
it's DMR
Love this video!
Thank you!!
That is simply amazing!!! Thanks for capturing one of the holy grails of the elevator world!
This was an amazing experience
@@DieselDucy I could only imagine!
Westinghouse is not a holy grail bro. Not at all.
I’d say a non-modernized elevator that serves over 100 floors is a holy enough grail no matter who built it. Did you see the height of that selector carriage? Do you even lift, bro?
I use to look after 24 Express Lift DMR GEARLESS Machines. This one looks like two of my control panels stacked on top of each other
Sweet tech rarity these days better not ever get replaced
It probably will.
That's a huge amount of buttons!
It's the most I've ever seen on a panel!
That's amazing. I hope yall be able to get that COP the moment that service elevator get modded. That'll be a great piece of elevator history for the museum.
I hope so too
@@stlelevators If so, that Big COP will go through Indianapolis, IL (Home of the Colts with Lucas Oil Stadium, Dayton, OH (Home of WGI WinterGuard International world competitions with colorguard and indoor percussion-I miss indoor percussion), and Charleston, WV to Ronake.
Nice
Amazing tour of the amazing elevators in this amazing skyscraper! I was also astounded at how quiet those machines are, even if they are big, high horsepower monstrosities, and the selector looked a lot like a linear track version of both the vertical Otis "Pie-Plate" and horizontal Dover "Composite" selectors. Also, what was the capacity of those freight elevators that you rode on?
I didn't actually get to see what the capacity was.
Probably 10000
Elevatours, Oh my gosh! Very tall
Wow. A most amazing thing is Floor 13.
Almost 10k. Let’s keep this thing going.
this is it…the magnum opus of UA-cam elevator videos!
It's on my personal list of favorites.
Схема электрическая, наверняка, огонь. :) А этот электромеханический "компьютер" (8 минута) вообще шедевр. Но обслуживание его дорого стоит. Во всех смыслах.
Wow! The Sears/Willis Tower even has a thirteenth floor.
Yep!
The machine room has been well looked after
Those controllers are massive! and amazing marvels of engineering! I remember the DMR installation overseas in the Royals Royce building which has a similar floor selector. There traction machine was much larger with double wrapping. They are going to replace this elevator at some point? Ought to leave it it's historic. I take it still has an MG set. 480VDC to the gear-less traction machine. Great video of the windy city 102 floors up.
I believe the MGs are on another floor. This one will probably be replaced at some point.
@@stlelevators Very likely, I've seen this type of installation with the MG's one or more levels below. The MG's in the WTC were five or six floors below the machine room.
When I worked at Westinghouse in the 70's I seem to recall seeing contact stacks being assembled at the East Pittsburgh plant. Called "silver stacks"?
Wow!
This was so cool to see!
@@stlelevators Sounded like riding in a car!
Excellent video! I hope that you can come to my hometown of Kalamazoo Mi because we got lots of neat elevators here in the city
Maybe someday.
As a kalamazoo native and a former elevator constructor for 25 yrs., my work took me far from my hometown, throughout Michigan and the upper peninsula, Indiana, Minnesota, & South Dakota. You could say I seen it all but, I would disagree. Perhaps if I worked alot longer, that would possibly be true.
It was an amazing career to say the least. Wish I started at a younger age. I was amazed at the older installations early 1900's. And yes, there are many still in service today. I did one skyscraper earlier in my career. Minneapolis 1999, 56 story. Where I seen low, midrise and hi-rise cars. Whereas a passenger may need to take 3 seperate elevators to reach top floor. They had microprocessor controlled dispatchers that learned the traffic of the passengers throughout the day & night including holidays. It was self learning and employed algorithms for best timing. Also had two full run service cars- top to bottom. One was roped 2:1 & other 1:1. Me and a few others roped those cars from the roof top when it was -47 below zero. Not a good time. Seems like there were eight-3/4" or 7/8" cables each car.
WOW, A DMR still in operation !! Thought those were all extinct by now. They were also used by Elevators Pty Limited (EPL Kone) in Aust when they were in partnership with The Express Lift Co.
I wonder if there are any remaining EPL relay logic lifts left in Australia or if they have all been modernized/replaced...
This one will eventually be replaced.
I guess you have to keep a 50gal drum of contact cleaner nearby. Just as amazing as a electro-mechanical telephone switch of that vintage.
I should go for a behind the scenes tour!
Sorry it’s not something anyone can just do.
After seeing all of the motherboard problems in an otherwise uncomplicated mechanically controlled gas furnace, I am still not sold on electronically controlled products for longetivity and reliability!
The age of this working relay logic controller says it all! An absolute masterpiece of engineering without the help of computers, just a slide rule, pencil and amazing brains!
Those furnace boards are built down to a price, and run in harsh environments with little attention paid to maintenance. These lift controls are built for long service life, fault tollerance, and continuous use which cost a lot more.
Omg... 100th floors of those elevators are in action... Jeez, what expect of the place in cold tall tower of the building it is, huh!! 😮😧
Very interested as to why there is a stop on those floors. Does the elevator need to change to a different set of cables at those locations because it goes so high up?
Amazing relay logic setup!
mrmattandmrchay has an elevator UA-cam channel from the UK, and would really be impressed with this elevator! He does fantastic multi camera editing on his videos, and goes into great detail on how the relays and general relay logic works, and is himself a qualified elevator engineer from the UK!
He would really be thrilled to hear from you guys! Cheers from Calgary Canada!
I've seen his videos! He does an awesome job explaining things!
Wow this is epic. I love the tall selector. Did all of the passenger elevators have relay logic/DMR control before the Otis mod?
At one point, yes.
I live in a 2 story apartment complex and this elevator is 1k times faster than ours. Crazy
Scary
I think this is going to be amazing! I hope it’s a in depth look too because there aren’t many original elevators like this!
It's about as in depth as we were able to get.
@@stlelevators EPIC
The machine room is so awesome!!!! I just wish there was more footage of it and some montage like MrMatt&MrChay does... This is still better than nothing, though!
Yes I wish we had more time to get better footage but it’s better than nothing!
@@stlelevators That was all the time you had at the motor room? 😭
@@brunoais yep..
This elevator here earns a World Record of 100+ Floor Lifts that are in original state.
I don't know of any other towers with an original elevator this tall, but I also don't know what every 100+ floor building has either.
Awesome video and tour! When the time the F3 elevator does get modernized, aside from the controller, are they also going to replace the machinery and cabs?
Thanks! The machinery and cabs will probably be upgraded.
Amazing! Is this one along with car 61 still original? Also did you talk to the technician about getting the floor buttons from both elevators? I can’t imagine people just throwing these panels away.
They are original except for the fact they are activated by the Compass system now. Eventually they will be fully replaced.
Thank you for not calling it the "w" word.
Only reason it’s in the title is to help the video with the algorithm. It will always be Sears.
This is EPIC!!!! Was the Service Elevator shown in the video the only original working one in the bank or were there others that weren't modernized yet? I noticed that on the annunciator only one elevator (the only you rode) was lit up and showing on there.
I'm not sure if the other ones were working or not. They were either finished being modernized or in the process of being modded. I don't know if that annunciator will be used on the new system or not.
When I went to Chicago and went to the Willis tower. The way my stomach dropped in the elevator lol. It was the weirdest feeling
That's what fast elevators will do!
I rode on top or on the car top of an express service car at full contract speed once, 850 fpm the full 54 floors. That was amazing!
Get towards the top, you think your gonna Willie Wonka out of the top of the elevator shaft !
That relay controller is quite advanced, quite rare to find
It's giant too!
Do you know the reason why it always stops at 34 and 67 in either direction? Is this for keeping the hoist ropes from vibrating or developing resonance? Or more to do with the controller needing to divide up the travel into approximately 35 floor sections? Having visited the observation level back in 2017, the elevator they use doesn't' need to stop between the basement and top floor, of course it's probably the newer style controller. Fascinating video.
I’m not sure why it stops.
It didn't stop when new either. Our family did the tour when Sears Tower was a year old... ears popped! It was a wild experience for 1 10 yr old kid!
From the Wikipedia article: levators and escalators
The Sears Tower was planned with 103 elevators,[151][159] including 14 double-deck elevators.[151][168] The office stories are served by 97 elevator cabs; due to the presence of the double-deck elevators, these occupy 83 shafts.[124] As designed, one bank of single-deck elevators connected the lobby to the lowest 28 stories.[168] Banks of double-deck elevators traveled to "sky lobbies" at the 33rd/34th and 66th/67th floors, where passengers could transfer to local elevators. The 34th through 103rd stories were served by local elevators that operated from the sky lobbies.[151][168] Two elevators also ran directly from the lobby to the Skydeck on the 103rd floor.[169] As of 2018, the elevators carried 5.8 million passengers per year.[123][124]
Six of the elevators are used for freight.[159] One of the freight elevators served all stories, traveling to a height of 1,440 feet (440 m).[169] During a fire or another emergency, this elevator would be reserved for the Chicago Fire Department. Other elevators would be controlled from the 33rd floor. During a fire, elevators would be dispatched to the affected floors to assist with evacuation.[151]
From my experience in Michigan, all elevators have a key switch activated fire service mode. Whereas, firefighters have full control of the elevator. Prior to that when fire is detected, elevators automatically return to egress floor lobby and shut down with the doors ooen.
Why can’t the elevator go to 102 without stopping at 1/3 and 2/3 of the way up?
im curious about this too
Not being in the elevator industry, I'd say it's part of why the panel is broken up into three different sections. Each section involves a control interface of some sort for the elevator, and in order for the next panel to 'activate' the elevator has to make a stop on a floor in that panel. The most 'obvious stop is going to be the first floor of the panel, where it hands off control to the next panel.
If it were a microcontroller based elevator, it could be programmed to simply pass control on to the next control bay while moving, but this way also allows the elevators that don't have full range of floors to transfer passengers to the 'express' elevator, and vice versa.
I know that the World Trade Center towers elevators were also configured to only transfer between lobby floors for rides to the top. A shaft may have had three elevators running in it, each on a separate lift motor, and two fo them could not (obviously) bee at the same lobby floor at the same time.
There may also have been some consideration for the fact that as you move (say) 40 floors, you've just experienced a 400 foot, or 120 meter elevation change, and some people may experience uncomfort at the pressure change, and need to get off the elevator to recover and catch another for the next block of floors.
That said, I'd prefer to hear from someone who's worked on these elevators from a control service perspective. Perhaps someone who's worked on them from a design perspective, though that might be harder to find.
These Westinghouse DMR'S are known to have notoriously weak bladders, so, just in case...
I wish they addressed that on the video to make it more educational as well. I'm also curious about that.
So... this is "Schindler's Lift?"
Sure has good alignment for an old, mechanical controller.
I'm waiting to see Rod Taylor in the equip. room...
I saw one of those in NYC
DANG
Yea it’s crazy.
wonder how these elevators are doing today.
That’s one long ride to the top, imagine if you have to stop multiple times on the way!
I was told it can take up to 20 minutes for this elevator to come.
❤the control panel and would love to obtain some old floor indicators and panels ,,ive asked diesel to help me find some but no luck 😢
What is the maximum capacity/load of elevator F3 in the Willis Tower?
I think that this elevator may get Otis CompassED cuz I saw the Otis Compass indicator on the spot where the lantern was supposed to be.
They will all go at some point.
A 100 FLOOR ELEVATOR IN A SEARS?!?!?!? that's crazy
This was their HQ
That controller though was absloutly nuts!
It's the most impressive one I've ever seen!
@@stlelevators That’s what I was thinking! I never thought I would ever see that in my lifetime! Holy smokes! I also wonder what kind of fire alarm system they have too!
@@IanGSully I think they have EST with EST genesis speaker strobes?
@@misterak4603 Oh gosh! Not a big fan of EST lol
@@IanGSully lol, they aren’t too good tho I agree. A simplex would have been nice.
I wonder if this is the largest (in terms of # of floors served) relay logic elevator still running with original logic. I suspect it is given that it was the tallest building in the world well into the era when relay logic elevators got replaced with fully electronic elevators running on digital logic.
It's very possible that it is.
Looks like it's ready for a mod, outdated, new COP for buttons and PI new lanterns, bring it up to code. But it is a cool install and the building is pretty cool.
It's going to be modernized eventually.
This is one of the most interesting videos in this tower, great find. Does this serve all 3 basements and all floors (LL1, LL2, LL3 & above 103)?
To my knowledge it only goes down to LL1. It doesn’t go above 102.
@@stlelevators oh i see. Is LL1 a basement and LL2 the second basement with sky deck elevators?
Does that go as fast as the sky deck elevators?
Looks very, very similar to a DMR system I came across a few years back, but those were manufactured by Mitsubishi instead and were in a set of 6. Unfortunately the building they were in came down shortly after I discovered them.
Also, whats the capacity of this thing?
I'm actually not sure what the capacity is.
I have seen photos of the car station of this elevator before. It is very nice to see this still here, but based on what you said below, it sounds like this is part of the modernization project and will be modded probably pretty soon? Is this car the only original elevator going all the way from near the bottom of the building to near the very top?
Unless there is another original elevator in this building traveling even further, it is probably safe to say this is the highest-rising original Westinghouse elevator in not just the US but the WORLD!!!
What is the speed? The elevator mechanic said "originally" 1000 fpm, has it since been slowed down for some reason?
Does this elevator have a motor-generator? (one isn't shown and I don't hear it)
That selector is so cool!!!
Is the DMR system (with this type of selector) specifically used for high speed installations (traveling faster than a certain speed)? I have seen videos of other Westinghouse machine rooms, but never using this selector before.
This one will probably be the last to go because it's the only one that serves all the floors. I can believe this is the tallest high rise original Westinghouse in the world. I don't know what the exact speed is now, but its less than 1000fpm. The motor generators are on another floor. The selector is probably the most impressive one I've ever seen. This is the first time I've ever seen this selector.
@@stlelevators ua-cam.com/video/MJPl9NbqCDg/v-deo.html&ab_channel=ElevatorWorld%2CInc.
It is quite cute those elevators still use a slave inside to operate the same.
I liked your video. I'm also into flags. Would you, by any chance, be able to identify the second flag above the control panel. Thanks.
This is insane.
However, the Express lift doesn't make similar lifts when it cooperate with Westinghouse.
This is one of the coolest ones I've ever seen.
How come the elevator stops at 34 and 67 for each trip? I’m assuming that it stops at those floors each time the elevator takes a trip up and down the tower. Was just curious as to what the reason for that was. I have been in one of the passenger elevators up to the observation deck of the Sears tower. It was back when I was in the University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Marching Band. We played Notre Dame at South Bend and so the band stayed in Chicago. It was a great trip! Several of us decided to go up in the Sears Tower but most were too nervous about going. The observation deck had just reopened. This was in November of 2001, just a few months after 9/11. It was amazing to go up there and see for miles and miles. It was fun, until someone pointed out an airplane nearby. It was clearly landing at the airport but people in general were jumpy as hell. The plane didn’t bother me but all the people getting nervous made me decide it was time to go. The elevator was packed full of people shoulder to shoulder. Those were strange days, ground zero was still burning and the feeling that terrorists were around every corner was felt by many. At the same time, those were some of the best and happiest days of my life. It’s strange to think back to the attacks and remember those happy times, but also with the horrible disaster in the mix I feel a knot in my stomach. Anyway, didn’t mean to bring that subject up, just wanted to tell of my experience going up in the Sears Tower and also ask about it stopping on the two floors. Take care all!
I'm not sure why it stops on those floors. Interesting story though!
Could you please explain the RELEVANCE of this baby
Why not the elevator shaft or even a rooftop ride?
On a busy day on the way down by the fourth floor, I would press every floor
That indicator looks like the one you wired for the elevator museum.
Which one?
The round one.
@@mariokart8715 oh yep, they used to have IEE indicators. The original Westies got their Indicators replaced at some point later on without mod or not working anymore.
Its the Willis tower !!!!
Original Westinghouse Equipment I bet!
The description exists for a reason
@@elevatorfilmersg yes it does.
Ooh
I have seen these in person but never rode them
It is so cool!
@@stlelevators I did go on the skydeck elevators though