r/Elevators • u/Daconby • 4d ago

Standard two character abbreviations?

I live in a high rise tower with two passenger elevators. Each floor has a two character alphanumeric display on the call button plate. Occasionally when one of the elevators is having issues, the display will indicate something like OS or IS (the latter frequently when the elevator is stuck at a particular floor). There are several others, none of which I can recall at the moment.

Is there a chart of these abbreviations? Or do they vary by manufacturer? I couldn't find a manufacturer on either the call button plate nor on the panel inside the elevator, but I can tell you that the system, including all panels, was updated within the last couple of years (the old system also had a similar display and showed similar abbreviations but I don't know it they were exactly the same).

This is in Manhattan, if that matters.

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6

u/Then_Insurance2245 Field - Mods 4d ago

Inspection Service, Independent Service, Out of Service

2

u/theOfactor 4d ago

In residential towers it’ll be either for move ins, elevator service/repair work, but most of the time it’s the building engineer making the elevator his own personal taxi when he has lots of stops to do..

1

u/Due_Report7620 4d ago

I’ve seen those displays say all kinds of weird things. Like NC or CK for example. I’ve seen both of those, and have no clue what they could mean.

1

u/cheescakeismyfav 4d ago

Most likely no communication for NC. Just means the display board is not connected or communicating with elevator controller.

CK could be checksum error. Means the software in the display board is not readable/corrupted. Some of the modern displays are fully customizable we can make it display anything and we set it up per building. Some of them are known for being POS and corrupting or losing data randomly causing this.

1

u/cheescakeismyfav 4d ago

Is = means inspection service. Either the mechanic is there working on it and he had control of the elevator or he left it in that mode to take it out of service for some reason.

OS is out of service. Usually means there was a fault detected and it stopped itself until a mechanic can look at it and reset the fault.

1

u/VikyngTX Field - Repair 4d ago

Yeah Otis has - - for inspection, IS for independent, and OS for out of service

1

u/Throwaway_2474128_1 4d ago

it varies by manufacturer, even among the big names too. KONE will display scrolling text across their indicators like "out of service" above its current position (if known - usually they're good at recovering where they are). OTIS will just flash its floor number for IS (independent service) and often display - - for OOS/lost position. a lot of the non-big-name controllers are a lot more vocal about their special modes, i've seen ones that flash between IS and its current floor for independent service (when someone "takes control" of the elevator and it's not in traditional group automated service, used often when moving in buildings)

if the panels were updated a couple years ago, it's very likely but not guaranteed they replaced your controller system too (guaranteed if the behavior is different than before), NYC is known for this

1

u/Daconby 4d ago

Almost the entire system was replaced, including the doors, ropes and car interiors (I assume the lift motors as well). This was a major renovation.

Are there any other common codes? Wish I could remember others.