Finally gave up on Kone's proprietary tool and bought a generic one instead

I was always one of those guys who said you gotta use the factory tools for Kone elevators, no shortcuts. We were working on a 2018 MonoSpace in a 12 story building downtown and I kept fighting with their special release tool because the handle was too short to get good leverage in that tight machine room. After busting my knuckles for 45 minutes I finally walked down to the truck and grabbed a cheap adjustable spanner I bought at a flea market for 8 bucks. That generic tool slipped right in and I had the brake released in under 10 seconds. Made me realize I was just stubborn about using their stuff because I thought it showed I was a real pro but really I was just making my job harder. Anyone else switch from brand-specific tools to something more basic and never looked back?

3 comments

3 Comments

ninaowens1mo ago

Hold on, I gotta disagree with you here. Tbh those factory tools are designed for a reason, they keep you from messing up the tolerances on expensive equipment. I took a shortcut once with a generic puller on a Kone brake and ended up warping the release plate, cost the customer a grand for a new part and a half day of labor to redo the job. Ngl that 8 dollar spanner might work fine now but it's a gamble when you're dealing with precision gear.

knight.dylan1mo ago

Ninaowens I used to be all for saving cash on tools but that story about the Kone brake really made me reconsider. Ever since I started using factory spec tools the repairs have been way smoother.

robin6281mo ago

Yeah @ninaowens convinced me too, I used to think cheap tools were fine but not anymore.