When a stairlift keeps stopping and starting every few inches it’s nearly always the batteries. They’ve completely drained and can no longer be re-charged so need replacing by an engineer. We supply and fit these at a cost, or cover them under our 12 month maintenance contract.
Common Issues when your stairlift keeps stopping
A stairlift stopping can also be a toggle switch contact fault which will mean the toggle control switch needs replacing or the contacts re-soldered. Replacing a toggle switch isn’t usually complicated, it can normally be easily obtained and fitted within 10 minutes.
The Stairlift stopping can also be a safety circuit issue which means the stairlift thinks that something is obstructing the flight of the stairlift in either direction or stopping because of a safety issue it can also be a swivel seat issue.
It can be as easily remedied as replacing the switch or can also mean the PCB (circuit board) is faulty and needs replacing which depending on age can be obtained and installed by one of our engineers in minimal time and fuss.
It could also be a motor current or polarity issue in this case it can mean adjusting it accordingly and if the motor is beyond repair replacing it completely. Depending on age the motor or PCB may not be easily obtainable this means sometimes the cheaper and more reliable option is to replace the whole Stairlift.
Issues with specific models
Stannah Stairlifts 300 and 400 can often mean the trailing cable, which houses the cables from the rail to the carriage (Stairlift) because it is in constant use and moves up and down the rail when the Stairlift is being used, the cables can become worn and have slight breaks in them meaning the circuit is being broken at some points of the trip.
Minivator 950 and Stannah 400 can often mean the copper brush contact for the charge can be struggling to make contact with the busbar meaning the contacts need cleaning with a special solution or the brush can be worn down meaning it will need replacing.
Stannah 260 (curved) stopping at the same point normally means a brake in one of the skates cables that run along the rails. The broken cable needs to be diagnosed and will normally mean a new cable needs to be run from the PCB to the relevant switch or switches. This can also mean an RMU (Rotational Monitoring Unit) fault which can often be rectified by a qualified engineer, performing a basic maintenance service on the Stairlift or replacing the worn part if needed.
These are some common stairlift faults, but all require specific action. All of these faults if not carried out by a competent engineer can mean causing further and possible irreversible damage to your stairlift or possible injury.
