Does the Close Door Button on the elevator do anything?
Poll
 | 15 votes (78.94%) | ||
| | 4 votes (21.05%) |
19 members have voted
October 9th, 2011 at 12:22:22 PM
permalink
Without googling this question tell me what you think. In comments reveal if you have ever thought about this question. Please don't be a spoiler.
Also speculate on office thermostats and walk buttons at street corners,
Also speculate on office thermostats and walk buttons at street corners,
October 9th, 2011 at 12:23:42 PM
permalink
You left out "it depends on which elevator"
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
October 9th, 2011 at 12:27:48 PM
permalink
I've heard and/or read the argument that such buttons do nothing. (I know my office thermostat changes, mainly because I installed the thermostat myself, and utilize it all the time.) However, I've known of street corners where the crossing sign does not change to walk unless the button has been pressed.
When I stay in a hotel with an elevator, I will usually conduct a test with it. Get in, let the door close on its own. Then, at another time, get in, push the close door button. See if there is a difference in time.
I'd say about half the time there is, and half the time there isn't.
As a side note, in a previous job, I utilized a lot of commercial elevators. (I'm not sure that's exactly what they are called. Basically, the elevators that are utilized by delivery personnel for transporting larger cargo, rather than the standard personnel elevators.) Anyway, those elevators almost always did close quicker when the close button was pushed. However, by default, the doors on those elevators tended to stay open longer than the personnel elevators. This is probably be design, since it might take longer to load up whatever is going into the elevator.
When I stay in a hotel with an elevator, I will usually conduct a test with it. Get in, let the door close on its own. Then, at another time, get in, push the close door button. See if there is a difference in time.
I'd say about half the time there is, and half the time there isn't.
As a side note, in a previous job, I utilized a lot of commercial elevators. (I'm not sure that's exactly what they are called. Basically, the elevators that are utilized by delivery personnel for transporting larger cargo, rather than the standard personnel elevators.) Anyway, those elevators almost always did close quicker when the close button was pushed. However, by default, the doors on those elevators tended to stay open longer than the personnel elevators. This is probably be design, since it might take longer to load up whatever is going into the elevator.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:29:43 PM
permalink
It is a pacifier. Nothing more, nothing less. In every single elevator I've ever been in, counting off the time taken for the door to close by itself on the up trip has been the same as the time taking it to close with the button push on the down.
Nareed saying "it depends" makes me think it may not be all encompassing, but all the ones I've used (mostly casino and hospital) are blanks.
Nareed saying "it depends" makes me think it may not be all encompassing, but all the ones I've used (mostly casino and hospital) are blanks.
The opinions of this moderator are for entertainment purposes only.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:36:34 PM
permalink
I know there are plenty of dummy, placebo devices around, but I have indeed tested some door-close buttons and found that they quicken the response. I suspect I have only tried this on elevators where the normal closing was irritatingly slow, so I don't have anywhere close to a complete experiment set. As Nareed suggested, it may well differ from system to system.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:58:37 PM
permalink
If it pacifies the user then it does something. :P
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
October 9th, 2011 at 1:00:50 PM
permalink
I have been on elevators where I am positive it did nothing and others where I absolutely know it did as the doors closed the instant I hit the button every time. I like others have seen "walk" signals that only gave a "walk" when you pushed a button, these were at intersections where pedestrians were not crossing on most lights but were there on a regular basis. Office thermostats I have read often do not do anything but I do remember in high school that the thermostats did work to a point. They were sensetive to the temperature even if not to input. Some people (always the girls) hated the cold and would talk some teachers, almost always subs, into soaking a paper towel in cold water and putting it over the thermostat. Not only was the room far warmer but you could sometimes hear the heat kick on right away.
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
October 9th, 2011 at 2:07:50 PM
permalink
Usually when I reach to press the "close door" button, half a second before I touch it, the doors close on their own. It makes me look an impatient Pavlovian monkey to everyone else in the elevator. Meanwhile everybody else will have a self-righteous look on his/her face, that seems to say "Don't you know the button doesn't do anything?"
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
October 9th, 2011 at 2:12:03 PM
permalink
Quote: pacomartinWithout googling this question tell me what you think. In comments reveal if you have ever thought about this question. Please don't be a spoiler. Also speculate on office thermostats and walk buttons at street corners,
I've often wondered. Those capacitance buttons light up when pressed and that calms the anxious, perhaps it does more, but I don't know. I imagine its not an immediate "close the doors" its more a "start the close doors sequence" anyway. More effective is the hand passed through the electric eye that seems to close the doors more promptly anyway.
Office thermostats... probably not as much as moving the young ladies around the floor will do.
Walk buttons... sure, makes the cops think you tried. Probably doesn't really do anything. Driver once asked me (a pedestrian) to push the walk button while he was stopped at the red light. No way was I going to do that, even if did work.
Alot of things are like that suggestion box on the wall with a wastebasket under it. It makes a nice cartoon but its also probably the truth.
Auto parts stores and Radio Shack used to market these switches... laser ray gun, ejector seat, Green Light switch... etc. None of them worked.
I think if you press an ATM switch the first thing you hear is "kachunk, whirr, whirr"... but its probably just a recording.
October 9th, 2011 at 3:12:05 PM
permalink
I recently read a fiction novel that took place in Washington DC, and it stated that in many of the elevators in government buildings where muckety-mucks work, the muckety-mucks could get in on the upper floors and, if the page held the "close door" button in, the elevator would not stop at any floor during descent, thus allowing the m-m's to avoid having to share their car with lesser beings.
I wondered if there was any truth to this, or did the author just conjure that idea in his mind?
I wondered if there was any truth to this, or did the author just conjure that idea in his mind?
October 9th, 2011 at 3:16:02 PM
permalink
Slightly off-topic, but more irritating to me is the person who insists on pushing the button, after it's clear someone else has pushed the button. Like when you're waiting for an elevator, so you've pushed the Up button, and it's lit up. Then someone else comes along, and pushes the button again. Invariably, the third, fourth, and fifth persons who show up also insist on pushing the button. I always say, "I'm glad you guys showed up. The elevator doesn't start coming until at least 4 people are waiting for it."
October 9th, 2011 at 3:41:36 PM
permalink
Quote: NareedIf it pacifies the user then it does something. :P
Perhaps my question was too general. It certainly gives the impatient something to do. I impressed with konceptum for actually trying to do a test. The article that I read said that the button does in fact do something, but only if you have are maintenance and you have a key inserted in the control panel. Otherwise it is simply there as a placebo.
The "open door" button certainly works.
Many "walk" buttons on street corners work, but just as many have been disabled in an attempt to fine tune traffic control with computers. It is expensive to remove the buttons, and it has a placebo effect on the impatient. There is no word if dummy ones are deliberately installed.
Office thermostats are unlikely to give a random person the power to turn a room up to eighty degrees in winter, or down to 60 in summer. The cost could be prohibitive.
October 9th, 2011 at 3:42:39 PM
permalink
Quote: konceptumI always say, "I'm glad you guys showed up. The elevator doesn't start coming until at least 4 people are waiting for it."
Yeah! Stick it to 'em. That bugs me too ;) Even more so is the close door button. As I've said, the one at my place does nothing. Yet the girl I work with, who has been here 5 years longer than I, hammers on it everyday, often lamenting on how it doesn't work. Every Single Day - push - nothing happens - "damn this button, blah, blah, blah" - next day - push - nothing happens - repeat for years.
Something about doing the same thing yet expecting different results.
The opinions of this moderator are for entertainment purposes only.
October 9th, 2011 at 3:55:19 PM
permalink
Quote: JohnzimboI recently read a fiction novel that took place in Washington DC, and it stated that in many of the elevators in government buildings where muckety-mucks work, the muckety-mucks could get in on the upper floors and, if the page held the "close door" button in, the elevator would not stop at any floor during descent, thus allowing the m-m's to avoid having to share their car with lesser beings.
I wondered if there was any truth to this, or did the author just conjure that idea in his mind?
Urban legend. I've seen people keep the "close door" button, either going up or down, in five different countries (Mexico, USA, Canada, England and Israel). Sometimes the elevator stopped one the way up or down, sometimes not. If it did, then obviously the "system" is just so much hokum. If it didn't, you can't know whether there were any calls for it to stop in the first place.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
October 9th, 2011 at 4:07:58 PM
permalink
Quote: pacomartinThe article that I read said that the button does in fact do something, but only if you have are maintenance and you have a key inserted in the control panel. Otherwise it is simply there as a placebo.
Have you seen many elevators with key slots in the control panel?
I've seen floors that require a key. In some public buildings with lots of elevator usage, the functions for the lights and the fan may have a key operated switch, too. But I'm not sure I've seen many with a general maintenance key slot.
My info is that the "close door" button does work, but comes out of the factory with a built-in delay. This explains some of my experience, too. In many elevators, perhaps most, pushing the button does make the doors close at once. In some it doesn't. In my office buildings, which has a 70s vintage single-shaft car, the button does work. In my apartment building, the door takes longer to close if you push the button, indicating the built-in delay is longer than the regular closing interval for the door.
I assume the delay can be reprogrammed, but that most people either don't know or don't bother with it.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
October 9th, 2011 at 5:28:52 PM
permalink
The correct answer is 'sometimes'. In most elevators in normal use the answer is 'no'. In a hospital, when the 'control key' is used, the answer is 'yes'. By using the control key you also skip past floors that normally you would stop at.
October 9th, 2011 at 5:36:29 PM
permalink
Elevator in the office building I work in was installed in 1965. It works. Sometimes a wrong # calls the emergency # in the elevator.8o)
Gambling is a metaphor for life. Hang around long enough and it's all gone.
October 9th, 2011 at 6:19:46 PM
permalink
Far too often, it does nothing.
However, it's used when a FireFighter puts his key in and runs the elevator manually.
However, it's used when a FireFighter puts his key in and runs the elevator manually.
I invented a few casino games. Info:
http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ —————————————————————————————————————
Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
October 9th, 2011 at 6:43:52 PM
permalink
In the majority of elevators I have been in the close door button causes the door to close immediately and not wait for the the timer to expire. On corners without a lot of pedestrian traffice the walk light will not come on if the button is not pushed. On some corners it will cause the lights to change after a short period if the lights for both foot and vehicle are 'on demand' from that direction. These functions can also be time of day dependent. Modern streetlights are microprocessor based and even 'learn' about their own intersection flow patterns when they have traffice sensor installed and adjust schedules to suit the traffic.
Office thermostats can be completely non-functional. It is impossible to make everyone in the office happy anyway, particularly when you have several older ladies that no longer have good control over body temperature anyway.
Office thermostats can be completely non-functional. It is impossible to make everyone in the office happy anyway, particularly when you have several older ladies that no longer have good control over body temperature anyway.
Be careful when you follow the masses, the M is sometimes silent.
October 9th, 2011 at 6:55:23 PM
permalink
Quote: NareedHave you seen many elevators with key slots in the control panel?
I've seen floors that require a key. In some public buildings with lots of elevator usage, the functions for the lights and the fan may have a key operated switch, too. But I'm not sure I've seen many with a general maintenance key slot.
Elevators for many years usually have 3 key slots on them. 1 for maintenance operation, 1 to test emergency lighting and 1 for fire personnel operation. The lights and fans are usually on any time the elevator is operating now.
Be careful when you follow the masses, the M is sometimes silent.
October 9th, 2011 at 7:36:04 PM
permalink
Quote: kenarmanElevators for many years usually have 3 key slots on them. 1 for maintenance operation, 1 to test emergency lighting and 1 for fire personnel operation. The lights and fans are usually on any time the elevator is operating now.
Not down here. Some hospital elevators do, but those are special anyway. They also often have doors on both sides of the shaft, too.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
October 9th, 2011 at 8:56:07 PM
permalink
Absolutely not! If you watch the interview with the Otis Elevator executive in the "trapped in the elevator" documentary, he straight up admits that the close door button is a decoy. However, in South Korea, the close door button actually functions -- people are more impatient there.
It would be interesting if someone did a test. There are only four major manufacturers of elevators in the U.S.: Otis, Thyssen-Krup, Schindler, and Kone. Maybe some have functioning buttons and some do not?
It would be interesting if someone did a test. There are only four major manufacturers of elevators in the U.S.: Otis, Thyssen-Krup, Schindler, and Kone. Maybe some have functioning buttons and some do not?
"Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe." -Rig Veda 10.34.4
October 9th, 2011 at 9:00:26 PM
permalink
Quote: teddysIt would be interesting if someone did a test. There are only four major manufacturers of elevators in the U.S.: Otis, Thyssen-Krup, Schindler, and Kone. Maybe some have functioning buttons and some do not?
I'm down for a test. But it begs the question - if some maker did not include a close door option, why do they all have a close door button? In cars, a certain model may have a/c. Often that dash is used in another model car which does not. Here, instead of a button for the a/c, there's just a plug. They don't leave the a/c button in and it doesn't light up if you push it. Why would that be so on elevators?
The opinions of this moderator are for entertainment purposes only.
October 10th, 2011 at 1:49:26 PM
permalink
