CA Elevator Mechanic cheat sheet

California adopts ASME A17.1/CSA B44 as Title 8, Group 2; A17.3 governs existing elevators, and Title 24 Part 7 sets accessibility dimensions.

Required car inside dimensions under A17.1: 5 sq ft minimum floor area, 7 ft minimum clear height, and 42 in minimum clear door opening width for passenger elevators.

A17.1 door timing: doors stay fully open at least 20 seconds for cars with power-operated doors, and door reopening devices must be active within 2 in of the leading edge.

Leveling tolerance under A17.1: car sill within plus or minus 0.5 in of landing sill, and automatic operation must stop and hold the car if it moves beyond that band.

Machine-room and control-space access: 18 in clear in front of controllers, 30 in clear working space in front of electrical panels, and no storage permitted in the machine room.

A17.1 requires a two-way communication means in the car connected to a continuously staffed location, with battery backup, plus a means to summon help if the primary line fails.

Periodic inspection intervals under Title 8: elevators inspected annually, and the permit to operate must be posted in the car and renewed before expiration.

A17.3 existing-elevator rules cover car lighting (minimum 5 ft-candles at floor), firefighter service, door restrictors, and pit ladder requirements.

Load plate data: rated load, number of persons, and manufacturer must be posted in the car; rated speed and machine data are posted on the machine nameplate.

Suspension rope safety factor under A17.1: not less than 12 for traction elevators with rated speed 500 fpm or less, and the factor scales with speed per the code table.

Rope tension equalization: adjust until each rope carries within 10 percent of the average tension; uneven tension accelerates sheave and rope wear.

Counterweight clearance: minimum 2 in of runby between car buffer contact and counterweight buffer contact, and 18 in minimum pit depth below the lowest projecting part.

Motor circuit protection sizing: branch circuit conductors sized at not less than 125 percent of motor full-load current, with overload protection in each conductor.

Hydraulic elevator relief valve must be set to open at not more than 150 percent of working pressure, and the tank must have a low-oil or oil-temperature safeguard where required.

Traction sheave and rope groove wear: groove undercutting or a worn U-groove profile reduces traction; measure groove depth and compare to rope diameter for replacement decisions.

Governor tripping speed for car safeties is set per code table based on rated speed, typically 115 to 140 percent of rated speed depending on speed range.

Electrical bonding and grounding: equipotential bonding of rails, machine, and controller to the building grounding electrode system; verify continuity before energizing.

Category 1 test: annual no-load safety test at rated speed with the car empty; Category 5 test: full-load test at rated speed with rated load every 5 years.

Safety test acceptance: governor trips the safety, car stops, and the safety sets and holds; measure stopping distance and compare against code limits for rated speed.

Buffer test: oil buffers must return to full extension within 90 seconds after compression, and buffer oil level must be within the marked range.

Door closing force: measure with a gauge; power-operated doors must not exceed 30 lbf kinetic energy limit, and the reopening device must reverse the door on contact.

Troubleshooting sequence: verify power at the disconnect, then control voltage, then safety circuit continuity, then door lock circuit, then motor and brake circuits.

Brake test: verify the brake holds rated load plus 25 percent, and check for even shoe contact and correct air gap per manufacturer specification.

Periodic inspection report must record findings, code section cited, and corrective action; serious hazards require the unit be taken out of service until corrected.

Use a recording tachometer or speed meter to verify rated speed; speed outside plus or minus 5 percent of rated speed indicates a drive or sheave problem.

Lockout/tagout: isolate main line disconnect, verify zero energy with a meter, apply a personal lock, and tag; only the person who applied the lock removes it.

Pit entry: stop the car at the landing above, open the pit switch to remove power, and verify the pit stop switch is functional before entering.

Fall protection: 100 percent tie-off above 6 ft in California general industry, and guardrails or covers over all floor and shaft openings.

Hoistway access: barricade the landing opening, and use the top-of-car operating station with the car top rail in place when working on the car top.

Confined space in pit: test atmosphere for oxygen and combustibles before entry when the pit has no permanent ventilation, and use a retrieval harness.

Electrical PPE: use voltage-rated gloves and insulated tools when working on energized circuits; de-energize whenever feasible and treat all circuits as live until verified.

Rigging: know the working load limit of slings and shackles, never exceed it, and use tag lines to control loads; inspect rigging before each lift.

Emergency response: know the manual lowering procedure, the location of the disconnect, and the entrapment release procedure before starting work.