Is the Otis 211 Controller Proprietary? Do you need a special tool to work on them? Do you need a special tool to work on the new Otis door operator? Any input on this would be appreciated Thanks DON

-- Don Pfuntner (dgelev3@frontiernet.net), May 06, 2004

Answers

The 211 is not proprieatary. Atleast not that I can tell yet. I have 4 on service and they have not had any real problems. The onboard diagnostics is the same as the old ones. Fault codes are the same also. 2 of them have a new black belt operator on them. I have 2 good friends that work for the O and they say they are not propriatary.

-- me (fixalift@yahoo.com), May 09, 2004.

That's what I would have said also when I used to work for otis.

I was pretty much brainwashed into thinking that anyone could work on the units, and sadly actually told people that they were not proprietary.

Otis does everything they can to make sure that no information is available in terms of fault logs, setup, etc., and they will also do everything they can with their lawyers to make sure that nobody builds a service tool, when they know that it uses a standard configuration and protocol that they do not own. It is pretty much the easiest tool that you could make, yet there are really no service tools available. The tool only displays what the elevator spits out.

I believe that withholding fault log information from competitors is criminal, and has probably gotten people hurt. Bells and whistles is another issue.

Nobody so far that I know of except thyssen has had the bucks to fight otis lawyers yet (thyssen evidently did).

-- Dan (justsomeguylookin2@hotmail.com), May 25, 2004.

RE: OTIS 211

I Think you all need to check out this site. Also it is perfectly legal to use emulation software, so I don't really understand your problem?

http://www.liftdirectory.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html

-- Frank (francis1@tinyonline.co.uk), May 29, 2004.

Dan, you are right only to a certain extent. There is not a decent unit put out there that is not proprietary to a certain degree. You talk about Thyssen. I beleive that their Tac 50 and 20s require a service tool also. But that is obviously not a concern of yours. Schindler has their Caddy,Kone has their handheld,Otis has their handheld, and Thyssen has their own. All of these companys provide contract specific tools. One of my buildings has a tool for Kones units. All of the big four have tools of one kind. The software is what gets you. The companys will rape you for that. I have found it very beneficial to back up all Eproms. I have only had to use the backups once but I bet it saved my boss alot of money. I also worked for Otis at one time so I know how they are. They are no diffrent from the others though. This website is not intended for people to wage a personal war against a company. I find your attitude about Otis very immature. It is time to grow up and act like an adult. We are all in the same situation we just have diffrent bosses. Until next time work safe brothers.

-- fixalift (fixalift@yahoo.com), May 28, 2004.

Well, you went to some extent to say I was wrong, then failed to mention a single thing that I was wrong about as far as I can tell.

You however say"

"All of these companys provide contract specific tools."

I do know that the Otis Tool is NOT contract specific. It has no idea what elevator it is talking to. I doubt that the Schindler tool is, since the World tool talks to most of their stuff. The Thyssen tool may be contract specific, I don't know. I don't know about the Kone tool either.

For some reason you decided to tell us about software being the problem, then go on to say that you've only had a problem once. I've been in the biz a long time, and have only had one time that software was corrupted. It is not the problem, and backing up software will not tell you what you need to know if your elevator is shut down.

For some reason you seem to get the idea that I thought Thyssen was OK here. I do not. They are just as guilty as otis, but as far as I know they don't lead their guys to believe that their equipment is non-proprietary.

For some reason you've decided that I am waging a war against otis. I am not. I do know quite a bit about otis though, and do not like what they do to customers. If I knew more about the other companies you could be sure that I would answer questinos about them when asked.

THIS THREAD IS ABOUT OTIS EQUIPMENT

The original poster asked if a 211 is proprietary! It is.

I answered. I admit I went farther than to say "YES", but others had said no. I want potential owners to know what they may experience should they buy a proprietary unit, and I want them to know if the unit they are considering is proprietary or not. That's it.

Now, as for the name calling, I'd get my facts straight before I shot off about someone that I do not know.

Dan

-- Dan (justsomeguylookin2@hotmail.com), June 22, 2004.

211s are not propietary, Anyone can work with the on board menus, that guy must have just got off a bad call or something.

-- Michelle Uecalow (mcu@charter.net), January 17, 2005.

>211s are not propietary, Anyone can work with the on board menus, >that guy must have just got off a bad call or something. >-- Michelle Uecalow (mcu@charter.net), January 17, 2005.

If that is the case, why don't you post all of the fault log, and setup information for all units?

You'd be fired so fast your head would spin.

It's hidden, secret stuff, and they do not want competitors to know any of it. It is also needed in order to repair an elevator. If it's proprietary, why aren't all of the faults, and remedies printed out right on the prints?

If a competitor called otis to find out what a DZ Fault was, would otis tell them?

The answer is of course no.

Dan

-- Dan (justsomeguylookin2@hotmail.com), January 18, 2005.