Electrical Theory for Elevators

The electrical theory an elevator mechanic uses every day, followed through Northcrest Elevator's Vancouver jobs: electrical safety, lockout and arc flash, DC circuits and Ohm's law, series and parallel control circuits and the safety string, meters and measurement, AC circuits and power factor, three-phase power and control transformers, relays and contactors, DC motors and Ward-Leonard motor-generator sets, induction and permanent-magnet hoist motors, variable-frequency drives and regeneration, reading elevator wiring diagrams, and a capstone troubleshooting call on a traction elevator, with CSA Z462, WorkSafeBC lockout rules and Section 38 of the Canadian Electrical Code throughout.

ELV-210 12 lessons · 4 h 4 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon

Offered by HSM University · Elevators

This is the Canadian version of this course. See the American version.

What you'll learn

Describe shock, arc flash and arc blast hazards, apply CSA Z462 approach boundaries and PPE, and lock out and verify every energy source on an elevator, including the car lighting circuit and the drive's DC bus
Apply Ohm's law and the power equations to DC circuits, calculate conductor resistance and voltage drop in a travelling cable, and explain fuse protection
Analyse series, parallel and series-parallel circuits, explain the safety and door lock strings, and locate open or resistive contacts by voltage measurements
Select and use multimeters, clamp meters and insulation resistance testers of the correct category, and recognize ghost voltages and distorted waveforms
Explain AC quantities, reactance, impedance and power factor, and use them to explain coil inrush and motor current
Calculate three-phase voltages, currents and power, explain phase rotation and phase loss protection, and check control transformers against their turns ratio
Explain how relays, contactors, time-delay relays and guided-contact safety relays work, including coil suppression, holding circuits and interlocks
Explain DC motor and generator behaviour, including back EMF, torque and speed, and describe Ward-Leonard control of a DC hoist motor
Explain induction and permanent-magnet synchronous motors, calculate synchronous speed, slip, car speed and hoist power, and describe motor starting methods
Describe how a variable-frequency drive controls a hoist motor, explain motoring and regeneration, and diagnose common drive faults including overvoltage
Read ladder schematics, wiring and field diagrams, use line numbers, cross-references and wire numbers, and follow a fault through the drawings
Troubleshoot a traction elevator methodically, from making it safe through hypothesis and measurement to repair, proof by test and a written service record

Course content

12 lessons · 4 h 4 min total · final exam

1 Electrical safety and lockout for elevator work 23 min · quiz
2 DC circuits and Ohm's law 20 min · quiz
3 Series, parallel and control circuits 20 min · quiz
4 Meters and electrical measurement 20 min · quiz
5 AC fundamentals and power factor 19 min · quiz
6 Three-phase power and transformers 20 min · quiz
7 Relays, contactors and control devices 21 min · quiz
8 DC motors and generators 20 min · quiz
9 AC induction and permanent-magnet motors 20 min · quiz
10 Variable-frequency drives and regeneration 20 min · quiz
11 Reading elevator wiring diagrams 20 min · quiz
12 Capstone: electrical troubleshooting on a traction elevator 21 min · quiz
E Final exam 20 questions

Requirements

TRD-102 Trade Math and Measurement

Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.