Print this pageOur Model 420 straight stairlift has a compact carriage and rail, along with folding arms, seat and footrest to make it especially suitable for narrow stairs. It also means that when folded away, it leaves plenty of room for other stair users. The standard chair comes in a range of attractive colors to blend in with your decor, or you can choose a Solus or Sofia chair with woven fabric or leather upholstery.
What makes the Stannah 420 stairlift special?
Technical specifications - weight limit, dimensions etc
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Using the stairlift
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1. When you are not using your stairlift it can be folded flat against the wall, so it’s well out of the way of other stair users. A key-lock is useful if you want to keep your stairlift safe from children.
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Upholstery colors |
What makes the Stannah 420 stairlift special?
Stannah takes pride in making well-designed stairlifts that have features which are genuinely useful to our customers. The Model 420 includes the following:
- Batteries that are always on charge. Hidden on the back of the rail is a narrow copper strip that constantly trickle-charges the batteries with 24 volts of power. This virtually eliminates the biggest cause of service calls (flat batteries) that affects the more basic stairlifts you may see advertised. The battery charger is a white box about 8" long that is normally placed within 6' of the top or bottom of the staircase, and is plugged into a standard outlet. In the event of an outage the stairlift will typically give you 15-20 round trips on battery power alone.
- Easy-folding footrest. One of the armrests of the Stannah 420 is connected to the footrest, so you don't need to bend down to fold it up. This is especially important upstairs - the alternative is a stairlift user bending down right at the top of the stairs!
- A swivel seat. At the top of the stairs the 420 can be swiveled to face onto the top landing, so that the back of the chairs blocks the stairs behind the user. This swivel uses really smooth roller-bearings to make the swivel easy to do, unlike more basic stairlifts which swivel stiffly on washers. (This point is often overlooked. It's the details that make all the difference.)
- An optional powered swivel seat. With a manually-swiveled seat (on any stairlift, not just ours) the user has to stand close to the top of the stairs to swivel the chair. Our popular powered swivel seat allow the user to swivel the chair by simply pushing the button on a remote - safer!
- An optional automatic folding track. When there's a door or passageway at the bottom of the stairs the rail could present a tripping-hazard. In these cases we specify a fold-up track that lifts automatically as the chair rides up the stairs, and unfolds as the chair descends. This is much easier to use than a manually-lifted track, and avoids the risk of leaving the track down in an unsafe position.
- The best testing process in the industry. All Stannah stairlifts are tested at full load for the equivalent of 10 years of use, and the motor/gearbox is tested for the equivalent of 20 years. This is a robust stairlift designed to serve you well!
The points above should give you an idea that not all stairlifts are the same. Neither are staircases or people, so we would now suggest that you contact us for some more specific advice. We look forward to helping you!
Technical specifications (Model 420 - straight stairs)
- Weight limit: 350lbs (unless an optional fold-up track or powered swivel seat is fitted, in which case the weight limit is 300lbs)
- Minimum stair width: about 27" (depends on knees of user)
- Distance between armrests: 19"
- Depth of seat cushion: 15"
- Minimum seat height from floor: 18"
- Maximum seat height from floor: 27"
- Space needed at the bottom of the stairs: about 27" in front of first step (but chair can be folded and sent up the stairs when not in use)
- Folded width from wall: 12.9"
- Rail protrusion at bottom landing: about 15" unless a fold-up rail is fitted
- Rail protrusion at top landing: about 4", but can be installed at 0" if there is a door at the top
- Width of rail: 4"
- Distance of rail from baseboard: usually about 3¼"
- Speed: about 18'/minute (so about 45 seconds to ride up a typical staircase)
- Remotes: two, one for each landing, infra-red wireless (like a TV remote, fewer buttons!)
- Battery life (stairlift): typically 3-5 years
- Battery life (remotes, 3xAA per remote): typically 1-2 years depending on use
- Service interval: annual service is recommended by Stannah and by ASME code
- User maintenance required: none, but a wipe down with a damp cloth is OK for cleaning
- Standard safety devices:
- Seat belt: center-clasp across the lap
- Over speed governor: required in public buildings, so we fit one to all our stairlifts
- Safety sensors: on the footrest and both sides of chair, to stop the stairlift if it touches an obstruction
- Constant battery-charging: to prevent the biggest cause of breakdowns (flat batteries)
- Key lock: under one armrest
- Available options:
- Automatic fold-up track - used where no obstruction is there is a door or passageway at the bottom of the stairs
- Powered swivel seat - allows the user to swivel the seat while standing away from the top of the stairs
- Retractable seat belt
- Upholstery color (five colors, see top of page)
- Solus or Sofia chair
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