What Causes Passenger Lift Doors To Fail To Open?

Safety has been at the core of the passenger lift for nearly two centuries, with an incalculable number of features, sensors and mechanisms designed to protect the inhabitants of a lift from practically any scenario one could consider.

This is not a new phenomenon either; Elisha Otis famously showed off the safety brake he innovated by having an assistant cut the rope supporting him during a trade exhibition in New York.

This focus on safety is part of the reason why one of the most common issues in older lift designs is doors that are either slow to open, stick or simply fail to open entirely, as one of several safety features has been activated to make this happen.

This can be caused simply by a power outage or power trip, which is fixed as soon as the power supply is restored. Sometimes it can cause a fuse to blow or a circuit breaker to trip, but once this is fixed, the lift should continue to move normally and open as expected.

Other than this, there are a few hardware faults that can manifest with doors failing to open or close properly.

It can sometimes be caused by an issue with the door sensors, which should be regularly cleaned and maintained to ensure they function properly and do not lead to false positives that stop the lift from functioning. This is less common with modern lifts but older lifts can progressively see this issue.

Alternatively, the door tracks should be checked to ensure they are properly aligned with nothing obstructing them and no damage that would require professional repair.

Typically a stuck door will be a one-off occurrence as long as the lift is properly maintained, but there might be a point where an old lift needs to be replaced with a newer, faster, safer alternative.