Quote:
Originally Posted by sc_rufctr
Did you know the electric motors in the elevators of the Eiffel tower are still the originals?
They have them rebuilt/rewired rather than replaced... The new motors available just don't compare to the originals for reliability.
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A building I worked in at GE in Schenectady, NY had DC motors in the elevators which dated from 1902. At the time, GE was still pushing DC current instead of AC.
For a long time, a lot of that plant was DC and they had rotating AC to DC converters. That DC elevator motor was HUGE! And the frame was thick and dense.
Remember, we used to build stuff with just "factors of safety" and so we over designed things to make sure they were safe. The building in question was one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in the USA (GE was big into concrete around 1900) and the safety factor was something like 100 to 1.
GE, to save money on real estate taxes, knocked down about 70-80% of the buildings in the plant. They designated one of these concrete building for demolition. It took all summer, when the rest of the building took a few days, total! The decision was made to refurbish any of these early concrete buildings instead of knocking them down, to save money...
Building 40, it will be there even after the nuclear weapons hit...