# The "close door" button on elevators-DOES NOTHING **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428 "2011-06-30T20:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eeeyikes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eeeyikes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eeeyikes)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/21 "2011-07-02T00:59:33Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Not long ago I saw a documentary about elevators that confirmed your suspicion exactly. But more recently we had a thread on the topic that revealed that in some cases, they actually do work. From PBS/NOVA program “Trapped in an Elevator” (first aired November 2, 2010) NARRATOR: If elevators are magic, then John Menville knows all the tricks. He’s maintained elevators in New York City for 47 years. … NARRATOR: Otis Elevator Company estimates that up to 85 percent of all high rise buildings have no 13th floor. Superstitious people feel safer without it, or maybe there’s a secret floor the government doesn’t want us to know about. And speaking of buttons… JOHN MENVILLE: As you’ll notice, there are a lot of buttons in the elevator. However, there’s one button that doesn’t work. The “Door Close” button will not close the doors no matter how many times you push it. Actually the “Door Close” button does serve a function: it lets people think that they have some control over the elevator, although that’s not the case. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/22 "2011-07-02T01:16:19Z")
> [@eeeyikes](#): > > From PBS/NOVA program “Trapped in an Elevator” (first aired November 2, 2010) > > NARRATOR: If elevators are magic, then John Menville knows all the tricks. He’s maintained elevators in New York City for 47 years. > … > NARRATOR: Otis Elevator Company estimates that up to 85 percent of all high rise buildings have no 13th floor. Superstitious people feel safer without it, or maybe there’s a secret floor the government doesn’t want us to know about. And speaking of buttons… > > JOHN MENVILLE: As you’ll notice, there are a lot of buttons in the elevator. However, there’s one button that doesn’t work. The “Door Close” button will not close the doors no matter how many times you push it. Actually the “Door Close” button does serve a function: it lets people think that they have some control over the elevator, although that’s not the case. Ah ha! As I was saying…“If they THINK they have done something to speed things up, they will relax a bit and be more at ease? I don’t know but I am convinced it is useless for any reasons other than the possible psychological benefits extolled to the ones pressing it.” (from my OP) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![cardinal\_fang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal_fang/32/15316_2.png) [@cardinal\_fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardinal_fang)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/23 "2011-07-02T02:53:09Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Ah ha! As I was saying…“If they THINK they have done something to speed things up, they will relax a bit and be more at ease? I don’t know but I am convinced it is useless for any reasons other than the possible psychological benefits extolled to the ones pressing it.” (from my OP) 😛 [This story](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/21/080421fa_fact_paumgarten?currentPage=all) reinforces your suspicion. > [@The New Yorker](#): > > In most elevators, at least in any built or installed since the early nineties, the door-close button doesn’t work. It is there mainly to make you think it works. (It does work if, say, a fireman needs to take control. But you need a key, and a fire, to do that.) Once you know this, it can be illuminating to watch people compulsively press the door-close button. That the door eventually closes reinforces their belief in the button’s power. The story includes a [time-lapse video](http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/2008/04/21/080421_elevators) of Nicholas White, trapped in an elevator for over 40 hours in 1999. (Probably not for the claustrophobic.) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/24 "2011-07-02T03:05:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You have to press the button several times. As a matter of fact, all elevator buttons are like speed controls, the more times you push them, the faster it works. That’s the same with pedestrian crossings. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/25 "2011-07-02T04:08:57Z")
The slowest elevator I ever rode in was in the local courthouse where I went for jury duty. The door must have taken 30 seconds to close, slowly creeping shut all the time. In addition, the elevator took an equally long time to descend or ascend each floor. I think they did this intentionally, so that they could have the last laugh when some ne’er-do-well made a break for it and ran to the elevator. At a local medical facility, the close door button works on a schedule. Before 10pm, the button does nothing. After 10pm, apparently the powers that be felt that only staff would be using the elevator, so the button works exactly as you would want it to: the doors start shutting immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/26 "2011-07-02T05:46:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You have to press the button several times. As a matter of fact, all elevator buttons are like speed controls, the more times you push them, the faster it works. “Once you know this, it can be illuminating to watch people compulsively press the door-close button” Goddamn that’s funny! ---
**Author:** ![silk1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/27 "2011-07-02T22:55:57Z")
It’s much like the send/receive button in Outlook if connected to an exchange server. A customer of ours once called it ‘the placebo button’. Seemed an apt name for it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/28 "2011-07-03T02:00:40Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I’ve always heard that it works in firefighter mode. Winner. I worked for 15 years managing hi rise buildings and became pretty well versed in elevator functions. I used to laugh (to myself) at people who run into the elevator then press the button repeatedly. The door is programmed to stay open for a set period before closing. Some medical facilities (mentioned up-thread) utilize a semi-manual mode that enables the buttons. Otherwise, it’s there to function only in firefighter or a manual mode that you need a key to activate. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/29 "2011-07-03T13:47:31Z")
As I mentioned earlier, some elevators DO close faster if you push the close button. The ones in my apartment building certainly do. ---
**Author:** ![Baoben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Baoben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baoben)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/30 "2011-07-03T15:39:05Z")
The close doors buttons definitely work at my office building- I’ve watched a lot of rude attorneys in a hurry use them successfully to shut the doors in a lot of people’s faces when I’m along for the ride. The building also houses several architectural firms, too… between attorneys frustrated over the doors not slamming soon enough and architects frustrated by having to entertain clients in a broken building, I can imagine that a nonfunctional close doors button wouldn’t last long before someone threatens a lawsuit against the building manager. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/31 "2011-07-03T15:49:30Z")
The elevators I use have obviously working “Close Door” buttons. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/32 "2011-07-03T21:41:03Z")
The freight elevators I use at work have functioning “close door” buttons. If you don’t press it on the way down, in either elevator, the door just stays open for a really long time before giving up and closing. So you HAVE to push the button if you want to get there this week. But on the way back up, the doors on the other side (dual-door elevator) close right away, so there is no need to push the button. And I checked today…the button on our one-floor elevator at church works. It closes immediately if you push it…otherwise, you wait about 40 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/33 "2011-07-03T23:23:30Z")
The elevators at work have a working “close door” button. I’ve been on the elevators both when the button hasn’t been pressed, and when it has. Not pressing the button means that the door stays open for a noticeably longer time than when the button is pressed–when it’s pressed, the doors close more or less right away. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/34 "2011-07-04T02:39:35Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > I know of one elevator that has a working CLOSE DOORS button. > > It’s in a medical complex, and the doors are set to operate very v e r y s l o w l y. > > But if you push the button, they close right away. I used to work on the same floor as a guy who walked very slowly, with a cane. All four elevators have doors set to operate very slowly for that floor and the lobby; one could use the button to close the doors if in a hurry. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/35 "2011-07-04T02:45:48Z")
Just adding more evidence of Close Door buttons that work. The elevator at work will sit open for 20 seconds or so unless you hit the button. As soon as you hit it, the doors close. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/36 "2011-07-04T02:59:12Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I think the trick for that is to hold the floor number + the close door button for a couple seconds and it goes straight to that floor regardless of how many other floors are lit up. That’s what the Internet says anyway, I’ve never tried it (I don’t know why… I guess I always forget to when I’m alone in an elevator. I’m not that much of a dick that I’d do it with other people riding along). That only works on some really old elevastors. The type with the cage type of cars. It is not the holding of the closed button but the holding of the floor car call button. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/37 "2011-07-04T03:01:08Z")
> [@eeeyikes](#): > > JOHN MENVILLE: As you’ll notice, there are a lot of buttons in the elevator. However, there’s one button that doesn’t work. The “Door Close” button will not close the doors no matter how many times you push it. Actually the “Door Close” button does serve a function: it lets people think that they have some control over the elevator, although that’s not the case. This is so wrong in so many ways. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/38 "2011-07-04T03:18:10Z")
How the door closed button works depends on the elevator, and the functions of the door closed relay. On Otis elevators of the 1650’s + vintage pushing the door closed button pulls in the “CK” relay. On those and many elevators are a LRC time circuit. If energised this circuit will keep the door closed “DC” from pulling in. When the cir4cuit times out “DC” pulls in and the doors close. If the doors are fullly open and “CK” pulls in the LRC circuit is shorted and times out and the doors close. If the doors are not fully open at the time the circuit is not shorted out. So it will be only noticed if there is an extended time between full open and the closing. On some elevators the door closed button does not work in the “Non Attendent Mode” ie full auto. In attendant mode the doors will not close unless the door closed button is pushed. One of the uses of the attendant mode is loading supplies into an elevator. The door closed button should and is requirded to work in the Phase II Fireman’s Recall mode. The button is pushed and held until the doors are fully closed. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/39 "2011-07-04T03:37:24Z")
😃 Hmmm, if I didn’t know better I might think some of these posts are people scrambling to defend, in very red-faced fashion, what they now know has been a complete, amusingly foolish and utter waste of their time. Fortunately, I know better…😉 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428/40 "2011-07-04T04:27:28Z")
One way to test if the button actually works is to hit the Open Door button as it’s closing, then immediately hit the Close Door button. I do that periodically to get the door open for a late arrival who pops inside quickly, then it closes again as soon as I’ve hit the Close Door button. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-close-door-button-on-elevators-does-nothing/587428.md?page=3)