vera_johnson9•3mo agoProlific Poster

I've been setting the governor rope tension wrong for like two years

I mean, I was always just doing it by feel on those old Otis Gen2 jobs, you know? Then last month at the site on 5th and Maple, the foreman watched me and said 'Vera, you're leaving it a full inch too slack, check the manual.' I pulled out the spec sheet and he was totally right, it should be 150 pounds of pull. Has anyone else had a specific trick for getting that tension dialed in right the first time?

4 comments

4 Comments

murray.jana3mo ago

I used to just crank it until it felt tight enough, but that spec sheet was a real eye-opener. Now I hook the spring scale to the rope and pull until it reads 150, then lock it down. It feels way tighter than my old method, but the governor trips smooth every time.

patricia_gonzalez3mo ago

My buddy Dave had a real scare last year. He was setting the rope on his old barn winch by feel, same as always. The latch gave way under a light load and the whole thing dropped about two feet. Scratched up the drum pretty bad. He got a fish scale from the tackle box and tried the spec pull. He said his arms were shaking holding it at 150, but it clicked into place solid. Hasn't had a single slip since.

kelly3851mo ago

That whole thing reminds me of how people set their bike brakes or even tighten guitar strings. You get used to a certain feel, you think it's right, and then you actually check it against the spec and realize you've been doing it wrong for years. My brother-in-law tunes pianos and he told me he had the same wake-up call with a torque wrench on a grand's action. It's like your hands just learn a bad habit and your brain convinces you it's normal. That 150 pound spec is probably way tighter than what feels natural to most of us, but once you actually do it right, everything works better. It's a good reminder that sometimes what feels right is just what we're used to, not what's actually correct.

the_taylor3mo ago

Grabbed a cheap luggage scale from a hardware store and it changed everything. I clip it right onto the rope, give a steady pull, and watch the numbers. Hits 150, I lock the clamp. No more guessing if my "feel" is right, which it usually wasn't. Makes the whole job faster and way more consistent.