Why are stairlifts so slow?

[Commander Kinsey]

Why are stairlifts so slow? A whole minute to get upstairs is not acceptable for an old person desperate for the toilet.

[williamwright]

37 seconds actually.

Bill

[Paul]

This is how you get people upstairs faster.

Catapult.

Paul

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

Prat.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Actually this question has come up before. The reason I was given many years ago now, was inertia. IE if it went up fast, it would jolt at the start and end of the run. And if you made it slow down and speed up, then it would probably still take a long time as the distance travelled in the main is a short one, and people are heavy loads to move. I guess one could make a three point seat belt system but by the time you have done it up and undone it, you might as well have been going slower anyway! On the other hand, a commode mounted on a Chairlift might be a good product to make. grin. Brian

[Dave W]

Probably stair lifts have weak motors geared down. To match the speed of a person walking up, the motor would have to be more much more powerful to create short acceleration and deceleration stages at start and finish. A faster middle speed would then be a doddle.

[Grumpy Old White Guy]

Because most people have become pussified snowflakes, unwilling to accept modest risk.

But people have become incredibly illogical too.  Ever notice all the obese people wearing masks?  Apparently it never occurred to them that being obese was more of a threat than the Wuhan virus?

If they are so afraid of dying, why don't they change their diet and lose some weight? The evidence is clear, metabolically healthy people are largely unaffected by the Wuhan virus.

[The Natural Philosopher]

A person walking up stairs is probably no more than 50W.

lets say 80kg doing 2 meters of stairs in what - 10 seconds if elderly.. so 16 kg m per second. ~ 160W? Gosh that's actually quite a lot.

Anyway 160W intermittent is a $5 permanent magnet motor running off 12V or so. Sort of thing that runs your car windows, Or wipers

[slate_leeper]

I imagine economics comes into play also. I small motor geared down is cheaper than a larger, more powerful motor.

-dan z-

[Commander Kinsey]

Again, you don't know the answer. But then you can't afford stairs.

[Commander Kinsey]

Those can fire melons too. Watch to the end to see a very sore backfire:

[Commander Kinsey]

Agreed. Although in the case of the stairlift, at any speed you are safe due to the supplied belt. If you don't use it, your fault not theirs, so no compensation claim, nothing for them to worry about. And they could even make it disable the motor if you don't fasten the belt.

Agreed. Although I've seen nobody in the UK wearing a mask, we don't bother.

Agreed. When a fat person says they have a medical problem, I just say "Eat. Less. Food." You don't need to change your diet, just eat less of it. Or go for a run or something, it's not rocket science.

[Commander Kinsey]

Depends on the make, if your stairs have corners, how many steps, etc, etc. A minute is close enough. And 37 seconds is still way too much, considering an able bodied person can walk up those stairs in something like 5-10 seconds without running.

[williamwright]

So you've never had an erection?

Bill

[Xeno]

Impossible for him to get an erection, he doesn't have a dick.

[Xeno]

Which is why you have high levels of contamination.

[Commander Kinsey]

I have an erection more often than not.

[Commander Kinsey]

Then the appropriate word would be "she". Please learn basic English.

[Xeno]

Mea culpa, the word I should have used is *it* since you've obviously been castrated.

[Commander Kinsey]

That doesn't change the simple task of making a motor with soft start.