The Express Evans Gen2 lift system looks similar like some Sigma (Otis Elevator Korea subsidiary) MRLs in my home country where they are actually Gen2 but the fixtures and cabs are made by Sigma.
As a former Express Lifts Apprentice (I started there in the early 80's) I couldn't agree more with your comments about Express making excellent lifts. I also have to say that before Otis really took control of Evans Lifts and started cost cutting, their products were very good also. Although Evans were aiming at a slightly different sector of the market when compared to the ELCO.
+roverp6tc I was wondering, was there loads of tension and arguing within the company when Otis took over. Did most of the engineers leave and go to other companies? I once met a lift engineer who now worked for Porn and Dunwoody. He was replacing some Express lifts at some flats near Paddington. He was rather depressed as he had originally installed the lifts 40 years ago, and he said the new lifts could have lasted another 50 years. The new lifts would only last 10 years.
Hi Beno, At that time Express were producing some very sophisticated Lift control systems compared to a lot of their competitors. So I will let you draw your own conclusions as to why Otis brought Express.... I left Express not long after I'd finished my apprenticeship and left the lift industry, but I still had friends who were there when Otis took over in about 1995? I believe Express closed down in about 1997 after the vast majority of staff had been redundant, so it wasn't a very pleasant time for a large number of people, but yes most of the engineers left and went other lift companies
Well, the noise at 4:22 sounds familiar. Some Gen2's that I've found make the same noise just before moving during a normal operation. For instance, you can look to the video of a Gen2 that I filmed in Zorlu Center. (RU-vid doesn't allow me to share links and I've filmed a lot of elevators over there. It's the one with approx. 510 views.)
I have also heard that wierd motor sound on a Gen2. However it was in auto. It made the sound just before it was about to take off, and it really scared me. It's kinda risky surfing a Gen2 at full speed, as the switch in the logic cabinet needs to be set to ERO before the car top controls work. I was gonna upload a video about it, but i lost my camera down that very lift shaft. 9 floors down, lol.
+Lift Surfing In Norway This one refused to move while it was set to ERO. This is very odd as the other one I surfed had to be in ERO. Gen2s to too unpredictable.
Oh you Beno, I the video about detailed look at the gen2: this is quite nice. In the other videos where gen2 is featured: its crap horrible worse than lester!
They are pretty common to see in the town i live in... in M&S there is unauthorized lift surfers and then because of the gen2 complex logic they cant get it moving again so once every two weeks you see one outside m&s in the town i live in
+Peter Lomas It doesnt have daily heavy use as it has a key switch to call ut insted of a button. Only staff have the key but dont use it often. I got given a key as I had a broken foot.
Everything looks so cheap.... flimsy sheetmetal doors, timber shaft roof. The gen2 that we had in an officebuilding that I used to work in 2008 didn't like that we used to stick a post-it in front of the electric eye to keep the doors open when we had to load it with A0 plotter paper rolls. One time it went out of service. Old lifts without inner doors have a conveint stop button for this purpose, so that you can load goods.
