An EPIC Discovery: Inside of Chewbacca's Machine Room

You know when you have a gut feeling about something, and everything about that gut feeling seems right? Well, I had one of those about Chewbacca, and I was 100% right. Dan and I got to the mall super-early this day in order to properly film Chewbacca. Since we had some time to kill before the official opening, we executed my plan of finding the machine room. Instead of aimlessly walking around the mall, I ensured the direction of Chewbacca's pipeline, found the nearest service corridor and estimated the location of the room with the general direction of the pipes. Sure enough about halfway there, the hallway begins to wreak of hydraulic oil, and soon enough we hear the roars of Chewbacca and Chewy Jr. Since the elevators caught on fire in November of 2010, one of the two machine room doors was chopped off in order for the fire to be extinguished. Respectively, I took advantage of the scenario and got a full documentary of Chewbacca's core. Now OBVIOUSLY I did not desire 480V of electricity surging through my body, so I did not touch anything blatantly dangerous. The only risk I took in the machine room was getting drenched in oil if Chewbacca decided to splatter and "pee" oil (like it ALWAYS does) all over the machine room. Again, I know what I am doing, you may not, so don't do this. Also, security was factored into this equation, so there was a huge risk factor of getting in major trouble. Regardless, I present Chewbacca's machine room to you all.

Now about the machine room:
You can see the Chewy Jr. was the elevator that caught on fire, as half of the pump is ashy-black while the other half in Dover-blue. The machine room is climate-controlled with AC and industrial fans, so overheating really isn't a problem, especially with these heavy-duty continuous-usage motors. Each "Chewbacca" motor has six belts that turn the hydraulic pump about twice as fast as the actual motor is turning. This is very powerful stuff here, equipment that is built for taking a beating and will last a long time retaining its durability. The controllers are completely relay-logic, with some apparent additions by KONE. These were installed by Dover in 1993, and still appear in phenomenal condition considering their constant abuse from mall patrons. SIMON actually maintains these elevators quite well, it's just the fact of how much they are abused. Both elevators have serious valve issues where oil tends to leak out more than usual, apparent with the surplus of oil in the collection bins and all over the floor. Chewy Jr. had it's motor replaced, probably as a result of the fire. Amazingly, its still a Chewbacca motor, and operates near identical to its original conditions. Please, ask any questions you may have regarding the elevators, and I'm sure I will be able to answer them.

If you happen to visit this mall, DO NOT attempt at what I just did. What I did was essentially irresponsible and highly violated several mall regulations. I did this at my own risk for the pursuit of learning for the community and myself. Although I consider myself responsible, that doesn't mean I'm allowed to execute this or that I know every-single hazard there is. Take my advice: enjoy this video, don't pull the stunt for yourself.

Enjoy!!! :)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Chewbacca
• MR

[skidv25]

Based on what you said yesterday, I expected that this would be a machine room video. Obviously I was right :D and this video did not disappoint!

[suzzex]

@skidv25 Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[dcarpine28]

Awesome Video!!! Really Interesting stuff here!! Thank you for sharing :D

[suzzex]

@dcarpine28 Thanks!

[MrUNIXman]

I have been in to a Hydraulic Motor room myself at work, they are pretty much similar

[MrUNIXman]

@an65001 SIMON is probley another Agent for the New World Order or illuminati

[yamahonkawazuki]

Much respect for gettign into chewies machine room. do you ever catch any hell for doing so?

[CaptainElevator42189]

Me too, I would go with 40 HP as well.

[DutchElevatorChannel]

Really good video. Most hydraulic elevator machine rooms are pretty boring but these are really nice!

[clarkloveselevators]

Seeing the Dover's Oil Tank really was fascinating! I'm still amazed how that oil holds up the elevator!

[RomanticLinguaphilia]

The door just happened to be unlocked? :-D

So the machine room is located a long ways away and they just pipe the fluid all the way to the elevator from a long way away?

Interesting that the elevator is named, even if just after a fictional alien :-D

[an65001]

@ElevatorKid14 Because this is SIMON we are dealing with, and they don't give a crap about safety and maintenance!