If you’re stuck with an unwanted stairlift, you might be asking whether you can remove a stairlift by yourself? Yes it is possible to remove a stairlift yourself. However, you’ll need some specific tools and some DIY know-how. One of the sticking points when it comes to stairlift removal is the chair. The chair on a stairlift is powered by two 12 volt batteries. The mains plug trickle charges the battery of a stairlift.
A stairlift needs to be removed from the top of the rail and driven off the end of the rail. So if there’s a flat battery, you’ll need to put in some new ones just to remove it!
Before you do this disconnect the stairlift from the mains.
It is much simpler to give us a call and have an engineer remove it for you! We even buy some stairlifts depending on their usefulness, make, model and age. Checkout our selling your stairlift page for more on this.
Can You Remove A Stairlift By Yourself – Is Your Stairlift Working?
Here’s a video which quickly shows the stages of removal. Firstly make sure there’s power in the stairlift, and disconnect from the mains. Remove the stoppers from the top of the rail and other electric switches/triggers and drive the stairlift off the rail. This is best done with two people because stairlifts are very heavy. Use the remote control to drive the stairlift and “catch” the chair as it pops off the end of the rail.
In this short video you can see the stages of removal of a Stannah 260 stairlift, in the correct order. Trying to do things in the wrong order will add to the difficulty! For example, you can’t dismantle the rail before all the pins are removed (and bolts).
Removal of the chair can be the trickiest part of the procedure – especially if you have a discharged battery. If your stairlift has been sitting for a while, the batteries will discharge. Try plugging it back in a leaving for several hours. If your battery still has no charge, you may need to replace them.
Stairlift batteries can be expensive, depending on your make and model of stairlift. So it can be cheaper to call out an engineer. We buy stairlifts – and also remove them too! Give us a call on 0800 046 3438.
Can You Remove A Stairlift By Yourself – Rail
Once the chair is removed you can start dismantling the rail. Make sure you watch the video before you do this as trying to pull the rail sections apart before the pins are removed will cause endless frustration!!
You’ll need a 5mm pin punch if you have a similar stairlift to the one in our video (the Stannah 260 curved stairlift).
You can also see another one of our case study removals here with the same model of stairlift. This one was tricky because the rail was tightly pinned against the top and bottom of the staircase, which made it harder to separate the rail sections.
Behind the rail are draw bolts which pull the rail sections together and secure them. Make sure to remove these once you have removed all the pin connectors which hold the rail together. Depending on the rail configuration, you can then remove the screws connecting the rail to the stair treads.
In certain instances, leaving one “foot” connected to the floor can help in separating the sections of the rail. In the one pictured above, we removed all the feet first to get the rail away from the walls, before we could separate the sections of rail.
Removing A Stairlift – Get Some Help!
Stairlifts are heavy and awkward so you shouldn’t attempt this unless you’re confident! We can even remove stairlifts for free in some instances. So give us a call on 0800 046 3438. We pay cash for stairlifts too depending on the model and age. As a reconditioned stairlift specialist, we are always on the lookout for certain makes and models we can use for reconditioning.
Here’s a quick recap of the order of actions to remove an unwanted stairlift:
- Remove end cap from top of rail and drive stairlift off the end (carefully)
- Remove pins joining the rail together (5mm pin punch)
- Remove draw bolts from the back of the rail
- Remove screws from the legs
- Separate the rail sections.
Not all stairlifts are alike and this is based on the removal of the Stannah 260. For more complicated removals, you may need the help of a qualified engineer.
Give us a call if you need some help on 0800 046 3438.
You can also see our other removal videos on our YouTube channel here.