Appreciation post: My new habit of drawing shaft details before every job

I began sketching simple elevator shaft layouts on a notepad before starting any repair. This came after I messed up a door operator fix because I forgot a limit switch location. Now, I always draw the hoistway, showing the car, counterweight, and guide rails. For example, on a recent traction motor issue, my sketch helped me spot a bent rail fast. It cut my troubleshooting time in half and made the repair straightforward. My callbacks have dropped since I started this practice. This little step has really improved how I handle complex jobs.

3 comments

3 Comments

stella225d ago

Wait you used to just go in there with no drawing at all? That's wild. How did you even keep the rail alignment or door gaps straight in your head? I'd get totally lost without a map. Seriously, a bent rail can ruin your whole week if you miss it early. Your old way sounds like a nightmare.

fionam115d ago

When I trained under my old foreman, we did most installations from memory. Honestly, after doing it for years, your hands just know where everything should line up. Tbh, @stella22, I get why a map helps, but for me, working without one made the process feel more natural. You learn to spot a bent rail by the way light reflects off it, not from a paper drawing. Ngl, it saved us a lot of time once we got the hang of it.

robert_ross955d ago

Seriously, I totally used to feel the same way as fionam11. But man, having a simple sketch to double-check things has saved my butt more than once now.