On Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 10:47:13 AM UTC-6, Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney wrote:
I'm looking at adding a resistor or bulb inside an Acorn stair lift motor housing to keep the temperature about 40degF. The unit is in an unheated area and temps get too low for the motor to turn normally. I considered an electric blanket or pad but having an elderly person messing with something on the stairs is not a good idea. Also, there's the issue of having a separate part and cord to deal with.

Cheat this out and see what you think. I have done this when setting up electronic devices in remote locations, installed in an insulated box with a car battery & resistor. In this case a night light bulb might be another choice.

Sketch
http://i67.tinypic.com/t9jmac.gif
http://oi67.tinypic.com/t9jmac.jpg

Me and my brother installed a chair lift for the parents of a guy who worked for a customer. It's been 10 years and I'm not sure if it was an Acorn but I do remember it being manufactured in The UK. The chair plugged into a shrouded connector when it reached either end of the stairs and the 24vac power was run inside the rail from a wall wart at one end.

The low temp operation problem you're experiencing may have more to do with the battery than the motor. If I searched all the manufacturers of thin silicone heating pads, I'm sure I could find one small enough that operated on low voltage which would fit the SLA battery used in your chair lift. The silicone battery warmer pads that are readily available to consumers operate on 120vac which would raise safety concerns if the chair lift was modified to use one.

Since I like to tinker, I look at repurposing items all the time and I found something that could work with some modification to make a battery warmer and/or housing heater for your chair lift. What I found were some electric foot warmer inserts for boots that operate on batteries at a low enough temperature by design that wouldn't damage an SLA battery. Each warmer operates on 3vdc which could be connected in series and with a current limiting resistor, could operate on the 24vac charging circuit for the chair lift while drawing very little power from the charging circuit.

I found them on eBay for $16.50 with free shipping. For me at least, it's not a lot of money to spend on something to experiment with. ^_^

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Battery-...AOSwY45UMcb I

http://tinyurl.com/hcmpnd5

[8~{} Uncle Lift Monster