Otis Elevator HydroFit Instruction Manual

Owner’s Information Manual
HydroFit Elevators
Otis Elevator Company

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HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
Publisher: Technical Publications Department, Otis Elevator Company
Registered Trademarks, Registered Service marks, and Unregistered Marks are used within this publication—
where applicable—to properly honor the claims of all companies.
This publication is intended for those individuals or organizations in ownership of HydroFit elevator system and
equipment manufactured and sold by Otis Elevator Company. It is expressly designed to be informative and to
offer a limited understanding of the operation of these systems. It is not intended to be a guide for servicing or
repairing or installing elevator equipment. Professional providers of those services should be contacted to
perform any work in a safe and professional manner.
Any unauthorized reproduction, public display, or distribution of copies by any person of any portion of this
publication may be a violation of Copyright Law of the United States of America and other countries and could
result in the awarding of Statutory Damages of up to $250,000 (US dollars) (17USC504) for infringement, and
may result in further civil and criminal penalties.
Permission to use any portion of this publication should be addressed to:
Otis Elevator Company
Manager, Technical Publications
Otis Service Center
212 West Newberry Road
Bloomfield, CT 06002 USA
Copyright ©2004, 2007, 2009, 2012 Otis Elevator Company. All rights reserved.

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HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
Owner’s Information Manual
Table of Contents
Preface........................................................................................................................... i
Chapter 1: About Otis Elevator .................................................................................... 1
Chapter 2: Performance and Safety........................................................................... 11
Chapter 3: Your HydroFit Elevator............................................................................. 14
Chapter 4: Maintaining Your HydroFit Elevator.......................................................... 43
Chapter 5: Otis Maintenance and Service ................................................................. 53

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HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
Preface
Thank you for your recent purchase of the Otis Elevator HydroFit™system.
Your new HydroFit system meets the highest safety and performance standards
available in the market today.
Otis has built a reputation based on quality, reliability and an OSHA-proven record of
safety that’s the best in the business. We continue to pursue a policy of innovation
to ensure our customers receive the highest level of service in the industry. We look
forward to the opportunity to continue to serve you and your elevator needs for years
to come.
The information in this book will provide you and your staff with information about the
Otis Elevator Company, the HydroFit system and its maintenance requirements.
Otis personnel have access to the latest information in support of our maintenance
practices. We continuously look for ways to improve our processes; not only in
support of your equipment, but in the ways we deliver information throughout our
company.
To learn more about what genuine Otis maintenance can mean for you and your
business, or to locate the Otis representative nearest you, please visit our website at
www.otis.com.
How This Book Is Organized
This Owner’s Information Manual is divided into five chapters.
The first chapter gives a history of Otis Elevator Company.
Chapter 2 is designed to make elevator owners more aware of their responsibilities,
including passenger safety, code requirements, and emergency procedures. It also
explains how Otis emphasizes safety in its everyday operations.
Chapter 3 provides information about how your HydroFit elevator operates, a
description of its major components, and available features.
Chapter 4 describes the necessary maintenance needed on your new system.
Chapter 5 contains information about Otis’ service and maintenance programs.

HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
Use of Warnings
It is e
ssential that you realize your Otis elevator is a complex piece of machinery and
should be serviced only by a trained, authorized elevator mechanic. Tampering with
the equipment is hazardous to you, to the person performing maintenance, to the
passengers,
and may be detrimental to the elevator itself.
Some of the topics in this manual deal with the inherent dangers of elevator
operation, whether electrical, mechanical, or otherwise. These are identified by
warning symbols placed near the application parag
dangers include electrical shock from high voltage, crushing hazards, and flammable
or combustible materials. Additionally, other symbols are used to reflect important
information. The symbols used in this manual are:
Plea
se contact your nearest Otis office if you have any question or require
assistance with your elevator equipment.
HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
ssential that you realize your Otis elevator is a complex piece of machinery and
should be serviced only by a trained, authorized elevator mechanic. Tampering with
the equipment is hazardous to you, to the person performing maintenance, to the
and may be detrimental to the elevator itself.
Some of the topics in this manual deal with the inherent dangers of elevator
operation, whether electrical, mechanical, or otherwise. These are identified by
warning symbols placed near the application parag
raphs. Some of the potential
dangers include electrical shock from high voltage, crushing hazards, and flammable
or combustible materials. Additionally, other symbols are used to reflect important
information. The symbols used in this manual are:
se contact your nearest Otis office if you have any question or require
assistance with your elevator equipment.
ii
ssential that you realize your Otis elevator is a complex piece of machinery and
should be serviced only by a trained, authorized elevator mechanic. Tampering with
the equipment is hazardous to you, to the person performing maintenance, to the
Some of the topics in this manual deal with the inherent dangers of elevator
operation, whether electrical, mechanical, or otherwise. These are identified by
raphs. Some of the potential
dangers include electrical shock from high voltage, crushing hazards, and flammable
or combustible materials. Additionally, other symbols are used to reflect important
se contact your nearest Otis office if you have any question or require

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HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
WARNING: The use and ownership of this work is defined in the legend upon the front page hereof.
Chapter 1: About Otis Elevator
Otis Elevator Company has a long and interesting history that began in the mid-
nineteenth century with its founder, Elisha Graves Otis.
In 1852, while employed by the Yonkers Bedstead Manufacturing Company in
Yonkers, New York, Otis built a hoisting machine with a safety mechanism that
prevented the platform from falling if the hoisting rope broke. The following year, he
opened his own shop in Yonkers, called Union Elevator Works.
It was at the 1854 New York World’s Fair—also known as the Exhibition of the
Industry of All Nations—that Otis introduced his first safety hoist to the public. His
demonstration of riding up and down on the platform and cutting the hoisting rope
without plummeting to the ground attracted huge crowds. The event became
famous and the safety hoist’s debut was a resounding success.
1854: Safety Hoist Elevator at the Crystal Palace, New York World’s Fair
Elevators during the 1850s were used to
hoist freight, and Otis and his sons sold
their product on the existing market as a
hoist. He also realized the safety
mechanism made it possible to safely
carry passengers, thus potentially opening
up a whole new market. 1854: E.G. Otis Calling Card

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HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
WARNING: The use and ownership of this work is defined in the legend upon the front page hereof.
The next problem to overcome was
development of a power source to run
passenger elevators. Factories and
warehouses with freight elevators were
near water, but passenger elevators would
be installed in stores, office buildings, and
hotels, away from any central power source
(this was 22 years before the opening of
the first U.S. electric power station).
Otis’ solution was to invent a small,
oscillating steam engine to power each
elevator. So in 1857, he designed, built,
and installed the first Otis safety passenger
elevator, in the E.V. Haughwout Store in
New York City.
1857: The first passenger elevator ever
built was installed in the E.V. Haughwout
Store in New York City
1873: The elevator operator manipulates
the control rope, regulating the direction
and speed of the car.
Elisha Otis was a master mechanic and
engineer. He obtained many patents in the
1850s, including the safety device he
invented in 1852, the oscillating steam
engine, a brake, steam plows, and a rotary
oven for bakeries.
Unfortunately, at the age of 50, Otis died
suddenly during a diphtheria epidemic in
1861. His sons, Charles and Norton, took
over the business and utilized the elevator
expertise their father taught them. They
renamed the company N.P. Otis & Brother,
then in the late 1860s changed it to Otis
Brothers & Company.
Otis Brothers & Co. patented some 53 new
advancements in elevator equipment,
including hoisting apparatus, brakes, steam
hoist, and pulleys. The brothers continued
to use world’s fairs and industrial fairs to
showcase their elevator technology and
create an international market for Otis
elevators.

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HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
WARNING: The use and ownership of this work is defined in the legend upon the front page hereof.
An Otis two-cylinder steam elevator machine and platform were exhibited at the
second world’s fair to be held in the U.S., the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in
Philadelphia. Judges commended Otis for its adaptation of the freight hoist to
passenger elevator and for its attention to safety.
Otis elevators were prominently displayed in 1889 at the Universal Exposition in
Paris. The French government built the Eiffel Tower specifically for the world’s fair
and wanted an all-French monument to represent the construction and technological
expertise. But no French company could overcome the structural demands of
putting elevators inside the tower’s curved legs. Otis Elevator successfully installed
elevators, giving the company a chance to display its product at the fair’s
centerpiece attraction.
Post-Civil War era use of structural steel made it possible to construct taller
buildings. Otis technology kept up with the construction pace during this “Era of the
Skyscraper.”
Otis opened offices in England, France, Canada, Germany, and Belgium, and had
sales agents representing the company throughout the world. Its most famous
elevator installations included the Eiffel Tower, the London Underground, and three
elevators for Russian Emperor Nicholas II’s private quarters in the Kremlin.
1889: Otis Elevators Inside the Curved Legs of the Eiffel Tower

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HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
WARNING: The use and ownership of this work is defined in the legend upon the front page hereof.
Modern day Otis came into being during the late 1800s
and the early 1900s, a time when “big business”
flourished. Otis Brothers & Co. merged in 1898 with
several U.S. elevator companies in Boston, Chicago,
and Philadelphia to become the Otis Elevator
Company. Forty more, small, independent elevator
companies were acquired during the period prior to
World War I.
The company expanded its product line by acquiring
the patents for modern escalator technology from
Charles D. Seenberger and Jesse W. Reno. The
world’s leading elevator manufacturer unveiled its new
“escalator” (a term trademarked and owned by Otis for
50 years) at the Paris World’s Fair of 1900.
1920: Freight Incline
1900: Gravity Conveyers
In 1903, Otis introduced what would become the
“backbone” of the elevator industry, the gearless traction
electric elevator. It could be used in buildings of any height
and operated at greater speeds than steam elevators.
As skyscrapers got taller and taller, more Otis elevators
were installed, particularly in New York City. For example,
the 20-story Flatiron building was built in 1902 and had six
Otis elevators. In 1912, the Woolworth building rose to 60
floors and was equipped with 26 elevators.
Skyscrapers reached a new pinnacle in 1931 when the
world’s tallest building—the Empire State Building—
opened, serviced by 67 Otis elevators.
More tall buildings meant more elevators and a greater
need to keep them in good running condition. Otis
recognized this and in 1921 introduced the first preventive
maintenance service. Today, maintenance represents 50
percent of Otis’ overall business.
From its early days under Elisha Otis until late 1960s, Otis
Elevator explored many different product lines outside its
core business of elevators and escalators: the rotary oven
for bakeries in the 1850s, a haymaker in the 1870s, gravity
conveyors around 1900, the Sultan automobile from
1909–1912, and passenger and freight inclines in the
1920–1930s.

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HYDROFIT™Owner’s Information Manual
WARNING: The use and ownership of this work is defined in the legend upon the front page hereof.
Otis converted to military production during World War I, World War II, and the
Korean War. It manufactured crank cases for fighter planes, anti-aircraft guns,
ammunition hoists, gun recoil mechanisms, depth charge throwers, and airplane
elevators for aircraft carriers.
The wars disrupted the normal production, but they also
changed Otis’ business. Automatic elevators have been
sold to homeowners since the 1890s, while most public
buildings used elevator operators to run elevators well
into the 1940s. But labor shortages during World War II
brought the need for automated public elevators to the
forefront. So, in 1950 the first group of Otis automatic
elevators was installed in Texas. 1921: Preventive
Maintenance
1969: Electric Cart
Following the Korean War, Otis continued to
diversify its product line, producing military
electronics, material handling equipment,
and automatic bowling pinsetters. One of its
more unique operations was the
manufacture of electric buses, vans, and
golf carts.
1969: Electric Golf Cart
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Otis
officials chose to concentrate on the core
elevator and escalator business and
divested the company’s other holdings.
United Technologies purchased the Otis Elevator Company in 1975. Otis became a
wholly owned subsidiary in 1976.
One of the most significant developments in elevator technology was the use of
computer chips to make elevator control decisions. Prior to this development,
elevators relied on large collections of relays and switches. These relay-based
systems required a lot more maintenance and occupied significant space.