The senior citizen’s daughter said that her parents’ Acorn stair lift in Richmond BC was dead, but the batteries were “OK”. Rob and Robin took the stair lift apart and found that the batteries were discharged beyond the ability of the “wall wart” charger to charge it. Also, the AC power outlef showed varying voltages, from 5V to 117V at the “no name” power bar, which did not appear to have CSA certification. Rob and Robin found other stairlift electrical problems, including a keyswitch/daignostic panel that had been jumpered by a cheater wire. The Acorn chairlift’s seat’s sensor switch was also bypassed by a cheater wire — however, the blade on the cheater wire was too thin, and fell out easily. Two 7AH batteries could probably be revived, but the economics of buying new SLA batteries makes more sense. It is not known whether the bypass “repair” cheater wires were authorized by the senior citizens who used this stair/chair lift in their home.
Rob’s Service Call Solves a Dead Acorn Stairlift Chair Lift Mystery in Vancouver BC