Question about a weird elevator setup I saw in a Chicago hotel this weekend

I was staying at this older hotel near the Loop on Saturday and their service elevator had this really strange controller setup. The buttons were laid out in a circle instead of a straight line, and the emergency stop was on the bottom right instead of the usual top corner. They had a handwritten note taped to the panel saying "press slowly" in Sharpie. Has anyone else run into a setup like this where the wiring or controller placement just seems totally off from what we're used to? I'm wondering if it's some older code thing or just a bad retrofit.

3 comments

3 Comments

calebc401mo ago

Did they have the floor numbers painted on backwards too?

pat_moore1mo ago

Gotta say I used to think those circle layouts were just weird design choices but this changed my mind. @felix414 makes a solid point about the wiring being jacked up backwards, that would explain the slow press note for sure. Seen enough janky retrofits to know the signs.

felix4141mo ago

That "press slowly" note is a dead giveaway someone wired it backwards or used the wrong gauge wire. Had a similar mess in an old building in Philly, had to slap the buttons twice just to get the doors to close.