Reviewed by Lukasz Zelezny for the Arkel range. Parts made by Arkel are fitted inside lifts badged Otis, KONE, Schindler, TK Elevator and others. This page is for engineers and technically-minded building managers: identify the Arkel component in front of you, learn how it typically fails, and order the right spare first time. It is not an end-user guide — component work is engineer-only.
Quick Diagnosis
Answer up to three questions. We'll point you at the most likely Arkel fault on this page — full detail stays visible below either way.
Common Arkel Faults
The arkel lift problems reported most often to UK service desks — expanded in the order owners typically encounter them. Several are resolved by routine Arkel maintenance rather than a call-out, and the rest are far quicker to fix when you can describe the symptom precisely to whoever handles your Arkel repair.
Identifying a Arkel drive or machine in the machine room
Engineer onlyConfirming the Arkel drive, motor, or gearless machine fitted to your lift.
Of every Arkel troubleshooting question sent to us. This symptom is among the most frequent.
The drive or traction machine of a UK commercial lift is the single most expensive component in the fitting, and identifying it accurately protects the value of every spare and every service decision.
The plate on an Arkel machine gives the model designation, serial number and often the maximum load — photograph it in full.
On modern MRL (machine-room-less) lifts the Arkel machine is above the shaft rather than in a separate machine room. Either way, only a competent lift engineer should be inside the space.
Building operators should ask their contractor for a photo of the Arkel plate at the next visit and file it with the lift's log. Keep the Arkel maintenance paperwork with the lift.
Whoever attends the Arkel repair will want to see when the last service was done.
Arkel brake not holding or not releasing
Engineer onlyThe Arkel traction brake is showing symptoms of holding failure or drag.
Read this through before booking any Arkel repair. The answer is often simpler than it looks.
The brake on an Arkel traction machine is a safety-critical component: it must hold the loaded car at the floor with the motor de-energised. Must release cleanly when the drive commands a start.
When an Arkel brake fails to hold, the car rolls slightly at every stop and produces the classic levelling error above or below the floor; when it fails to release.
The drive trips on over-current within seconds of the call. Both are engineer-only diagnoses on any Arkel machine and both are more and more urgent.
A brake fault is one of the fastest routes from "in service" to "unsafe". Building operators noting the symptom pattern accurately helps the Arkel engineer diagnose the fault at the first visit.
Faults in this family are largely prevented by keeping to the Arkel servicing schedule, so check the date of your last Arkel maintenance visit while the paperwork is out.
Arkel encoder feedback loss
Engineer onlyThe Arkel drive has tripped with an encoder or feedback fault.
Most people arriving at Arkel troubleshooting pages describe the problem in roughly these words. The encoder on an Arkel traction machine reports position and velocity back to the drive.
It is the reference the drive uses to command the motor.
An encoder fault on an Arkel drive shows up either as a specific coded trip on the drive display or as more and more erratic levelling at floors.
Diagnosis is engineer-only; the Arkel drive log records the trip and the underlying cause is usually an encoder cable fault, a connector working loose with vibration, or the encoder disc itself contaminated.
Building operators seeing the same Arkel trip repeatedly should pass the trip code to the contractor rather than accepting a mains reset as the resolution. Add it to the log.
Planned Arkel maintenance is always cheaper than reactive Arkel repair. The log is what turns a vague complaint into a booked servicing job.
Arkel motor overheating
Engineer onlyThe Arkel traction motor thermal is tripping the lift out of service.
Before you phone anyone about an Arkel repair, work through the description below. An Arkel traction motor has a thermal cut-out that fault-locks the lift when the motor winding temperature exceeds its rated limit.
Repeated thermal trips on an Arkel motor are always symptomatic.
They can be caused by airflow to the machine or MRL space being blocked, by ambient temperatures in the machine room rising above the design limit in summer, by mechanical drag increasing the load on the motor, or by a fault in the Arkel drive that is pulling more current than the motor can shed as heat.
Building operators should check the Arkel machine-room airflow is clear and log any recent changes. The underlying cause is an Arkel engineer diagnosis.
Where the checks do not settle it, describe the symptom in your own words when you ask for Arkel repair. A plain description helps far more than a guessed diagnosis.
Arkel drive tripping on over-current or over-voltage
Engineer onlyThe Arkel VVVF drive is showing repeated over-current or over-voltage trips.
This symptom accounts for a steady share of the Arkel repair enquiries we see each month.
The Arkel VVVF (variable-voltage, variable-frequency) drive protects itself and the traction machine by tripping on abnormal current or voltage.
Repeated Arkel trips on the same indicator are diagnostic: over-current usually points to a mechanical load fault (brake dragging, guide-shoe seizure), over-voltage to a regenerative-braking issue where the Arkel drive can't dump the energy of a descending loaded car quickly enough.
Neither is a building-operator diagnosis. The Arkel drive event log is the primary source of truth.
The value of building staff noting the pattern is that it tells the engineer whether to bring parts for the mechanical or the electrical suspect.
A short entry in the Arkel maintenance log now avoids any later doubt about whether the fault was reported before the next Arkel servicing visit.
Arkel traction machine bearing noise or vibration
Engineer onlyThe Arkel machine is developing a rumble or vibration that carries into the car ride.
This is one of the most common reasons UK owners look up Arkel troubleshooting in the first place.
Bearing wear on an Arkel traction machine is characteristically an ageing symptom: the ride quality of the Arkel lift gradually degrades, a low-frequency rumble appears on travel that wasn't there at start-up testing, and vibration more and more transmits into the car.
Left alone, bearing wear ends with a machine seizure and a long out-of-service period.
The value of catching it early is huge — a planned Arkel bearing service is a fraction of the cost and time of a failed-machine recovery.
Building operators should log ride-quality changes on the Arkel lift on the maintenance log rather than waiting for a fault to be reported by users.
Whatever the outcome, note the date and the symptom in your Arkel maintenance record. A clear history makes the next Arkel servicing visit quicker.
Arkel repair
A genuine Arkel repair starts with an accurate description of the fault, not with a part number. Record the error shown on the display or keypad, when it appears, and whether the lift component behaves differently on the way up than on the way down. Engineers quote far more accurately from that detail, and you avoid paying for a diagnostic visit that only repeats what you already know.
Anything behind a cover or panel, in the pit or shaft, or involving doors, gates and interlocks is engineer-only work. Your part of a Arkel repair is to check and report: mains power on, isolator on, emergency stop out, nothing in the door threshold, and a written note of the fault code.
What Noise Is Your Arkel Lift Making?
Lifts talk. Not eloquently — but a grind, a beep or an ominous silence each means something. Press play, compare, and pick the closest match.
Example sounds are synthesized approximations to help you compare — not recordings of Arkel equipment.
Grinding — likely causes on a Arkel lift
⚠️ Engineer only- Motor bearing at end of life on a drive unit
- Door-operator gearbox worn out
- Sheave or pulley bearing failure
Grinding from an Arkel lift component in service is a bearing or gear reaching end of life — motor, sheave, door-operator gearbox, or drive input.
The correct response from a lift engineer is to spot which unit is the source (bearings and gears each have distinct signatures on a stethoscope), order the correct Arkel service part, and plan the shutdown.
This is not a page for end users to work from: any mechanical work on Arkel drive. Motor or door components needs manufacturer training and the correct lifting equipment.
Building managers should log the fault and route the Arkel part number to their contractor.
What Light Is Your Arkel Lift Showing?
Lifts also talk in light. Pick what you can see.
Steady red — on a Arkel lift
⚠️ Engineer only- Drive-unit fault LED latched on the controller
- Door-operator fault indicator raised at end-of-stroke
- External enable input from the whole-lift controller withdrawn as a fault
A steady red indicator on an Arkel lift means a safety input is open or the controller has latched a fault. The common causes here are the boring ones, which is good news.
The right first step is simple: confirm the doors close fully. That no stop switch is left operated. That nothing visible is holding a safety contact open.
Red gone means you are back in service. Red still showing means a latched fault: leave the lift powered up, avoid repeated call attempts, and pass the exact indicator state to your service company.
Is It Safe to Keep Using It?
Three questions. Ten seconds. Answer honestly.
When to Call an Engineer
Once the problem involves the safety chain, it is engineer territory. Get in touch with your Arkel service company — or use the form below — if any of these apply:
- Resetting works, but the identical fault is back within minutes.
- Anything burning, smoking, or visibly damaged around cables or controls.
- Damp or standing water in the pit, machine space or car.
- A car that has run past its normal range or sits away from the landing.
- Doors, gates or interlocks working intermittently rather than reliably.
Arkel servicing
Ask any provider quoting for Arkel servicing what is actually included: number of visits, whether the alarm and emergency lowering are tested each time, whether batteries and consumables are covered, and what the response time is when something fails between visits. Two quotes at the same price often describe very different contracts.
Keep every service sheet. A dated history of Arkel servicing tells the next engineer which parts have already been changed, supports any warranty claim, and is the first thing a buyer's surveyor asks for when the property changes hands.
Arkel at a glance
Quick reference: how Arkel lifts are built, how they show faults, and where the official documentation lives.
- Segment
- Component (controllers/drives)
- HQ / market
- Turkey (global)
- Key products
- ARCODE controllers, drives, rescue systems
- How faults are shown
- ARCODE error list on the controller display
- Coverage on this page
- System-level
- Platform / ownership
- Fitted across many lift brands
- Official code source
- Arkel ARCODE user manual
About Arkel
Reviewed by Lukasz Zelezny for the Arkel range. Parts made by Arkel are fitted inside lifts badged Otis, KONE, Schindler, TK Elevator and others. This page is for engineers and technically-minded building managers: identify the Arkel component in front of you, learn how it typically fails, and order the right spare first time. It is not an end-user guide — component work is engineer-only.
Lift Troubleshooting is an independent resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Arkel. See our full disclaimer.
Arkel maintenance
The owner's share of Arkel maintenance is observation. Listen for new sounds, watch for a landing stop that is drifting out of level, and note anything that has changed since last week. Reporting a small change early is what keeps it from becoming a call-out.
Nothing in owner-level Arkel maintenance involves removing covers, entering the pit or shaft, or adjusting doors, gates or interlocks. If a check cannot be done from the landing with the equipment behaving normally, it belongs to a qualified engineer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Arkel models does this guide cover?
Arkel is a component (controllers/drives) manufacturer active in Turkey (global). The ranges most often met in the UK are ARCODE controllers, drives, rescue systems.
The fault-finding below is written around the behaviour those Arkel ranges share rather than around one model number.
So start here and then confirm your exact model from the rating plate before you quote anything to an engineer.
One thing worth knowing: the reference note for Arkel reads "Fitted across many lift brands". This can change whose manual actually applies to your machine.
How do I read the fault indication on a Arkel component?
On Arkel equipment the sign is described as: ARCODE error list on the controller display. Codes are not standardised between makers, or even between board generations within Arkel, so photograph exactly what you see.
The characters, the lamp colour, the flash pattern — and report that with the model from the plate. Read the sign; do not open the Arkel controller or any panel to chase it.
What usually goes wrong first on a Arkel component?
The fault this page opens with is "Identifying an Arkel drive or machine in the machine room". Confirming the Arkel drive, motor, or gearless machine fitted to your lift.
The next most reported Arkel symptom is "Arkel brake not holding or not releasing".
Work through the safe checks listed against each one, note what you observe, and pass that to a competent lift engineer.
All on this page stops at check-and-report: nothing here asks the maintenance contractor to force a door, move a stalled car, remove a panel or enter a pit or shaft.
Where do official Arkel manuals come from?
The authoritative reference for this brand is the Arkel ARCODE user manual. Arkel publishes to its own channels and to registered trade accounts rather than openly.
So if you have no account, ask your maintenance contractor to supply the Arkel document that covers your fitting.
Our own coverage of Arkel is currently rated "System-level", so treat this page as an orientation and the manufacturer's document as the authority.
Can building staff work on Arkel components?
No. Every Arkel component covered here — doors, drives. Machines, brakes, controls — is engineer-only.
This page exists so you can spot what is fitted and describe a symptom accurately, never. So that anyone outside the trade opens equipment.