Got a call for a stuck car in a 20 story building downtown, found a sheave groove worn way past spec.

I was on a service call at the old First National bank building. The car was stuck between floors 7 and 8. When I got to the machine room, I saw the problem right away. The traction sheave groove for the number one rope was worn almost a quarter inch deeper than the others. We had to rope the car, block it, and swap the sheave that same day. Anyone run into a situation where one groove wore out way faster than the rest? What was your fix?

3 comments

3 Comments

xenagarcia1mo ago

Seen that happen when a rope gets lazy and stops spinning in the groove. We just replaced the sheave and the whole rope set to be safe. My old foreman would've called that a rookie move, but hey, we all miss things sometimes.

terrybennett1mo ago

Replace the whole set every time it happens. That rope damage tells you the sheave is already shot, so patching one part just kicks the can down the road. It costs more later when the new rope gets chewed up fast.

hugo_bennett18d ago

Its crazy how stuff like this mirrors life, right? You ignore one little problem and it just keeps wearing down everything around it until the whole system breaks. Kinda like ignoring a leaky faucet til your floor is ruined.