A building manager in Chicago told me I was wasting time by greasing guide rails every 3 months

4 comments

4 Comments

Ran into the SAME thing with a property manager in Minneapolis. Told me every 6 months was plenty. Well I stuck to my 3 month schedule anyway because the old Otis elevators in that building were HEAVILY used by a daycare on the second floor. After 8 months the manager called me back saying the rails were getting noisy and the ride was rough. I just showed him my log and reminded him what I originally said. He switched to 3 months after that. Sometimes you gotta just do what works and let the results speak for themselves.

emma_jones2d ago

Same here. Showing the log changed their mind fast.

noraroberts1d ago

Stopped tracking the lube intervals on a set of gears myself a few years back. The manager at the time said monthly was a waste of money. I just kept doing it my way and logged every visit. About 4 months in, one of the motors started overheating and tripping the breaker. I pulled out my log, showed him the dates and that I had been keeping the gears greased. Then I asked him why the motor was running hot. He never said a word about cutting intervals again.

pat_harris2d ago

Buddy of mine runs service for a mixed use building in St. Louis. He had a manager try to stretch lube intervals to 4 months cause "budget cuts". The manager was also a stickler about logs like you said. My buddy just kept his 3 month schedule quiet. After about 5 months the cab started shuddering on one of the high speed runs. Manager called him in a panic. He pulled his log right there, showed every 3 month entry. Told the guy "I been doing it right, your budget cut was the problem." Manager never argued again.