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Stannah 260 “dead-in-the-water”
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We have inherited a Stannah 260 with our house. As we don’t intend to move ever again, I’d like to get it going. According to the son of the previous elderly owner it worked fine except the batteries had gone flat when it was left for an extended period off charge. He replaced the batteries “and there was a big spark when I connected new ones”. Reading comments on the web it seems the batteries were reconnected without first using the isolator switch which isn’t good news. As an electronic engineer, I thought I should be able to fix this so I’ve had a first look.
The chair is at the top of the stairs and connecting power then turning on isolator, arm keyswitch and arm on/off switch produced no green led on the arm or on the ECU. I wound the chair about 4 inches off the stop, which made no difference.
Some signal tracing with the connection & wiring diagrams says that either the Ultimate Limit or Safety Gear switches are open. In the left hand photo these are A & B but I don’t know which is which. It is A that is open. The right hand photo shows that B’s operating rod is actuated by the shaft which doubles as the charging contact, and there’s another switch actuated by the same shaft (the wire colours says it’s Slowing Sense). The shaft doesn’t move if I push it either way.
Apart from any fault on the ECU, it seems there’s a mechanical problem causing the switch to open (the switch may be faulty). Any help appreciated
Chris
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Ignore this second post. I’m confusing myself…
Chris
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The overspeed governor looks to have activated, check switch A for open circuit to confirm then refit the red/black wire. Re-engaging is a simple job, providing the hold off bar has not been damaged, knowing why it has done it in the first place is another matter.
Could have been due to running the lift without the case and limit paddles in place which would also explain why the charge pickup looks like it is stuck in, probably bent, try pushing the 8mm nut back towards the switches to check.
Ultimately you may have to remove the nut and pull it out to straighten or purchase a replacement. If so take care to observe the positioning of the switch activator on the shaft to ensure it activates the slowing switch before the final limit switch.
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Thanks Kevin for your quick reply,
You are absolutely correct, the pickup was stuck in. I pushed on the nut and it popped back, the limit switch reset and the chair now powers up and complains it’s not charging as it’s off the charging ramp. I have it on a lab power supply, so I haven’t run the chair.
I took the pickup out and the shaft is bent as the photo shows. I can probably straighten it, but the plastic sleeve looks to have taken the impact as well, and that’s harder to fix to be sure it slides easily. I will see if I can get replacements. Once it’s up and running I will check very carefully that the limit switches trigger in the right sequence. Everything was on the chair so it should have worked correctly.
Thanks again, I’ll post back here as I progress.
Chris
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… and here’s the photo
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Luckily bronze is quite soft, I have straightened worse than that one successfully.
Once straightened put the shaft back in the plastic liner, cover the shaft with silicon grease beneath the damaged area then a little epoxy resin and a file should sort out the liner. If you can’t locate a replacement
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Thanks Kevin, I’ve located a second hand pin/liner. I’ll see how it all looks when that arrives
Chris
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I obtained a second hand charging pin complete with plastic mouldings – which are different to mine, but the pin is the same length. The new spring carrier is 5mm shorter but otherwise the same so I turned up a little nylon spacer to make up the difference. It all goes together ok, the slowing switch opens before the ultimate limit switch as I push the charging pin in, and when I drive the chair slowly with a battery drill in the manual winder the ultimate limit switch doesn’t open as the pin passes the slowing ramp. I want to get everything else set up correctly and I’m curious to know what should trip the ultimate limit switch as there’s nothing else in the way before the chair hits the end stop of the track?
Chris
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There should be a cylinder or triangular plastic finger a couple of inches before the charging ramp which should pulse the slowing switch as the lift rides over it. This will start to slow the carriage provided it has already travelled around 2′ (the travel distance is important as it prevents the lift slowing when moving away from the stop in the opposite direction). The end of the rail should have a sprung finger towards the front and a sloping charge ramp bottom rear. The sprung finger should contact the side panel of the lower trunion which activates the limit switch. Should the lift travel too far up the charging ramp the ultimate limit switch is activated due to the charge pickup being pushed in fully.
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Thanks Kevin,
The plastic finger works ok and opens the slowing switch as the carriage passes. At the moment, the panels are off so the carriage can carry on but the ultimate limit switch doesn’ t open on the charge ramp. I will adjust the bracket carrying the charging ramp so the switch opens close to the top of the ramp.
The tip about the 2′ min travel has saved me more head-scratching!
I’ll set the ramp then put the panels on, check the rest of the limit switches work, and then put some real power on.
Chris
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do not grease or lubricate the nylon sleeve! they soak up the lube and swell! then stick! as for the shorter spring, stretch it! take a knife to the damaged section and cut it off, thats what we do on call outs and it works
the correct terms for a 260 are cluster and skate, not trunion that a handicare thing 😉
cluster bottom rail, skate top rail
and never use a drill to hand wind a 260! the gears are cheap nylon and will strip if they get any resistance, say if the safety gear dropped in again or during travel you failed to keep them engaged fully, with the gears stripped you are screwed!
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Thanks Spike,
I haven’t done any more since my last post as we’ve been helping with our grandchildren over the Easter holiday. I should get back to it this week
Luckily I hadn’t lubricated the new sleeve etc in any way. The new pin and sleeve are refitted and seem ok now. Though I’m still mystified as to what the original hit to bend it like that.
I’ve taken on board your advice re the manual winder/drill! I will put my home-made winding tool in a carpenter’s brace instead, and pray I haven’t mangled the “quality” plastic gears.
Chris
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I seem to a have a working stairlift again! Thanks again to Kevin and Spike for their help.
Compared to the left, the right side plate that actuates the right limit switch looked very slightly bent as if the switch hadn’t worked and the chair carried on and came to a hard stop against the sprung finger, but that’s just a theory. I checked the left and right limit switches and they are fine, opening with just a mm or so movement. The chair slows and stops as expected.
I’ve only run the chair over a few feet at the top of the stairs as the track is pretty well covered in dust and grease and cleaning just that bit took a while. I now have hours of entertainment cleaning all the rest…
What is your suggestion for lubricating the track once it’s clean?
Chris
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white silicon grease, dabbed onto the teeth of the rack intermitantly, do not over grease it! the pinion gear picks up the grease and spreads it about, if need be add a little extra to the transitions where the rack changes shape, on the corners and the start of the climbs etc, rack and pinion runs better in straight lines not bends! but the rack pitch is altered to allow it to do so, it’s still not 100% happy doing it so a bit of extra lube wont go amiss
best thing for cleaning the rail is industrial wet wipes, dont over wet the rail and run the rollers wet, no wax or silicon polishes on the rail, the rollers dont like it! they are called rollers for a reason, they dont roll if you polish the rail but slide and wear flats in themselves! check the condition of the split roller and the tyred roller in the cluster, both essential parts of the safety gear!
looking back at the pictures there is a build up of grease on the split roller where it comes into contact with the pinion gear, best clean that off to save future issues! there needs to a bit of grease on there and on the shaft it runs on in that area but not too much!
Also check the pinion guard runs free and the joint pins are pushed home fully, gentle tap with the hammer will put them right 😉
early/mid 260’s are possibly the best curved lift out there, till stannah screwed with it!
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Hi Spike, awesome info.
How to restore the green indicator on the armrest of an 11 year old 260 that just had its battery replaced?
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How is the front cover opened?
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carriage side covers are removable, two screws at the bottom of the covers just above the curved section, and they unclip at the top on the outer covers, the pivot points sit in locating holes back and front of the carriage
front cover is held on by a bolt at the bottom just above the footrest then it pops off the two locator pins
seat pad can be a pain to remove, depending on installer! swivel the seat and look underneath, will see a selection of holes, in one of these should be a nut holding the seat pad on, loosen dont remove the nuts! usually only one is tightened up fully, swivel seat back, partially fold up the seat and pull the seat pad towards you, it should slide enough to allow the nuts to pop out the key hole slots in the seat frame and allow you to remove it – access to swivel switches and carriage/chair loom plug to allow you to test the loom easier
chair arm cover – remove the key, undo the lock ring, look down at the bottom of the arm near the pivot point, there is a small phillips headed self tapping screw, it needs to come out then the arm cover will pop off
swivel the seat, loads of screws in recessed holes, lift arms up and in the square section of the seat back that matches the arm shape there may be two more screws? again all down to the installer if they are there?
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TThx si much. Have the best day ever
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