Appreciation post: That old Otis at the Denver library

I was fixing a leveling issue at the Denver Public Library last Tuesday and noticed their main elevator is still running the original 1960s relay logic. No microprocessors, no VVVF drives, just hardwired relays clicking away like a metronome. Am I the only one who thinks the old stuff is more reliable than these new digital boards we deal with now?

3 comments

3 Comments

veraramirez1mo ago

Same reason I still use a flip phone for calls.

tyler_baker1mo ago

Yeah but a flip phone won't crush your foot if a relay sticks...

gavin9283d ago

Read an article just last week about how those old Otis systems can run for 50 years with nothing but basic maintenance. Makes you appreciate how they built things back then, before planned obsolescence was a thing. The clicking sound is honestly comforting, its like the building has a heartbeat. I get that digital drives give you a smoother ride but there's something to be said for a machine that just WORKS without needing software updates. Probably be the end of an era when that one finally gets swapped out.