The obstruction sensors under the footplate
Every UK stairlift has a pressure-sensitive safety strip around the footplate (usually on the leading edge going down, both edges on curved rails). Any contact with an object on the stairs will stop the chair immediately and beep. Look on the stair below the chair (going down) or above (going up):
- A cat, a slipper, a walking stick left on the tread.
- Stair-carpet nosing that has lifted at the front of a tread — the footplate sensor is brushing it on every trip and eventually trips.
- Recently fitted stair rods sitting proud of the carpet.
- A loose stair runner that has bunched.
Safe to check yourself
Clear the obstruction, return the chair to the parking position, then try again from the parking end. Do not try to restart from mid-rail on the first attempt.Sensor drift on the footplate strip
The safety strip can drift over time and start reporting an obstruction where there isn't one. Symptom is a stop at exactly the same place on the rail every trip. This is a service call — the strip is a routine wear item and gets replaced.
Low battery mid-trip
A stairlift that stops mid-rail with the seat lights dimming or going out is out of battery. Do not attempt further trips; the chair may not have enough charge to reach the parking position. Get out at the current position (if the chair is on a straight enough section to do so safely), walk to the parking end and manually wind the chair down if the model supports it — otherwise call the service provider immediately.
This should not happen on a healthy chair used routinely; if it does, the battery is at end of life.
Not sure which brand or model you have? Send us the symptom in plain English and we’ll point you at the right diagnostic page for free.
Describe your symptom →Rail-joint faults on curved stairlifts
Curved-rail stairlifts (Stannah 260, Handicare Freecurve, Otolift Modul-Air) have physical joints in the rail. Over years these can develop a very slight mismatch that a rack-and-pinion drive detects as an overspeed or under-current fault. Symptom: the chair stops at exactly the same joint every time and refuses to continue.
This is engineer work. In the meantime, if the chair stops above the joint, it will usually complete the trip if driven in the opposite direction and re-attempted; if it stops at the joint, do not force it.
Overload / seat-weight faults
UK stairlift seats have a load rating — typically 120–160 kg for domestic models, higher for heavy-duty ones. A rider close to the limit, wearing a heavy coat and carrying shopping, can occasionally trip the overload sensor. The chair will stop and beep. Remove the shopping, wait 30 seconds, and try again from the parking end. If the trip still won't complete, the sensor has drifted — engineer job.
When mid-rail stops require an engineer immediately
Stop — call an engineer
- The chair stops with a grinding, clicking or clunking noise — do not try to move it further.
- The chair stops and any smell of burning insulation, hot electronics or ozone appears.
- The chair stops on a rail joint or curve and you cannot get out safely.
- The rider has any medical concern about being stopped where they are.
All UK stairlift service contracts include an out-of-hours emergency line for entrapment.
Frequently asked questions
- The chair stops in the same place every time. Is that fixable?
- Yes — and quickly. A consistent stop location tells the engineer where to look: obstruction sensor drift, rail-joint mismatch or a specific rail fixing. Note the tread number and tell the service provider when you book.
- Should I restart the chair from mid-rail or return to parking first?
- Return to parking first if you can. Restarting from mid-rail on many brands will only re-attempt the last direction of travel briefly before locking out. A full parking-to-parking cycle resets more sensors cleanly.
- The chair reversed direction on its own. Is that normal?
- On most UK stairlifts, hitting the footplate obstruction sensor will trigger a short automatic reverse (to move away from whatever was hit) then a stop. This is by design. A chair that reverses without a sensor trigger is a fault.
- Can I unblock the sensor myself?
- You can clear a physical obstruction. You cannot clean or adjust the sensor itself — it is potted and gasketted, and any attempt to open it voids the warranty and will fail the next LOLER check on shared-stair installations.
- My chair stops earlier when it's cold. Why?
- Cold batteries can't deliver full current. If the chair stops noticeably earlier on cold mornings, either move the parking position closer to the far end (a small firmware change your engineer can do) or replace the battery.