Last   4/08/04

INTRODUCTION:

No where has the mobility industry changed so drastically as in the development and
refinement of power chairs and scooters.  The selection of power equipment is mind
boggling.  For those not familiar,  power chair refers to a wheelchair that is controlled
electronically- usually by a "joystick" (or by using other interfaces such as blowing into
a tube, moving one's tongue or head, eye movement and many other ways).  Scooters refer to
3 and 4 vehicles that require arm strength to steer- usually through a "bicycle handlebar"
in front of the user   As the industry advances, the distinctions between the two
sometimes get fuzzy.  For example, there are scooters out there that have "joystick"
adaptations to them- a couple of models let the user decide what s/he wants to do that
day: joystick or handlebar.  Manual wheelchairs with a power "boost" adaptation is the
newest addition to "power" (see "A NEW KIND OF DRIVE SYSTEM" in this essay).  And one of
the most popular "conventional" electric wheelchairs is made by Pride: a scooter
manufacturer- and it has a scooter seat on it.

A WARNING ABOUT LOADING INTO AUTOMOBILES:

These wheelchairs are HEAVY!  Even the lightest ones can weigh in at 130 pounds.
While some of the less expensive, light duty power chairs can disassemble and fold to be
loaded into the trunk of a car, it requires work and heavy lifting.  None of the full size
expensive ones even attempt to do that- for good reason.  While some people =think= they
are going to fold a power chair and load it, they quickly find out that it really is not
practical to do on a regular basis. Even the lightest weight power chair weighs in at
around 70lbs after the batteries, controller, etc. are removed.  And it can take up to
5 minutes to remove everything to fold the chair.  Unfortunately, the reality of the
situation is that once a person needs a power wheelchair s/he is going to need a van with
a lift or ramp to accommodate the chair if travel with that chair is necessary.  Devices
that carry the wheelchair behind the rear bumper of the car usually are not satisfactory.
See my essay Wheelchairs and your Car or Van for more information.

PRICES:

Power chairs start in price at $3,000 and can exceed $15,000 "stock" (ie not custom).  The
difference between the two ranges is durability and speed.  The more expensive ones may
have the ability to have the "brain" (controller) do a bit more (and many times accommodate
custom seating better), but even the cheaper chairs can out do in terms of "intelligence"
the most expensive power chairs of just 5 years ago.  Modern chairs of any price sense when
they are going up a hill or ramp and adjust the power accordingly.  All have the ability to
bring the chair gently but predictably to a stop (even going down a ramp)- then "lock" the
chair there until the joystick is moved.  All monitor the battery condition to prevent
component failure, and none will let the user "drive away" with the charger plugged in.
Most will try to tell the technician what is wrong when something does fail.  All will
check themselves out when turned on- and shut off immediately if they sense a problem.
After all, we require 100% reliability 100% of the time.  Don't want the chair taking off
by itself (older ones did...).

TYPES:

Light duty power chairs are good for "light duty" people.  They make excellent "entry
level" chairs for inactive adults under 175 lbs as well as for many children.  For people
on a budget or who's prognosis is such that they would rather pay $3,000 or $4,000 now and
the same again in 3 or 4 years, they make a lot of sense (rather than laying out $6,000 or
$7,000 up front).  They are an =excellent= value for the $$$$. 


The next step up is what I call "mid priced" chairs.  These chairs are 
more than adequate for even the most active of users- providing the 
weight of the user is below 250lbs.  I have found that some of these 
chairs (the Quickie P200 [pictured to the right], for example) far
out perform the "larger P300  brother" that costs more.  The P200 (and
its brother the 222) is excellent in another way- it currently is the
only power chair that the seat can be removed and manual wheels put on- 
converting it to a manual (albeit heavy) chair for travel or when the 
power base/electronics require service.  Many dealers have gotten into 
"swapping" power bases as well when the chair requires service- keeping 
the user "moving".  The "seat swap" also means that any special seating 
is not taken from the customer while the chair is in for service. 

Finally there are the "top of the line" chairs.  While expensive, these chairs have the
most features and durability.  Some like the Bounder Plus can last indefinitely and go up
to 12 mph.  They accommodate a full range of custom seating and controls for the user (as
do some mid- priced chairs).

A NEW KIND OF DRIVE SYSTEM 


In November, 1998, Invacare announced the development and distribution of 
a new kind of direct drive motor that requires no gears, brushes, or belts.
Assuming this system works, (and Invacare is betting big that it will),
this will be the preferred system to drive all power chairs (and what I would
recommend- once its reliability has been proven).  As of this writing in 2004,
the system still has some problems (although fewer than in the past), and
Invacare is only offering these motors on a limited number of high-end power
chairs.  But these motors are also being used on a new kind of power wheelchair.  See my next
paragraph:

A NEW KIND OF POWER WHEELCHAIR    4/08/04

Several companies have introduced manual wheelchairs with "power assist". These chairs
have motors built into the wheel hubs to provide a preprogrammed amount of "boost" to
the drive wheels as they are pushed.  Unlike a traditional power chair that is usually
controlled via a joystick with one hand, these chairs still require two hands pushing
against the drive wheels to control the chair.  This is NOT a power wheelchair conversion,
but rather a way of adding more force to the wheels of a manual wheelchair both for going
up a hill and adding braking force while going down.  There is no control box, no joystick.
Users who cannot propel a manual wheelchair constantly for a day's activities will not find
this an alternative to a power chair or a scooter.  Unlike a power wheelchair, when the
chair comes to a stop the brakes are not automatically set.  The range between battery
charges is about half of that of a conventional wheelchair.

Be aware that these chairs take extraordinarily expensive batteries!  People complain to
me about the price of "conventional" wheelchair batteries, and the batteries for these
devices make conventional wheelchair battery prices pale in comparison- prices range upward
to $800 per chair and these batteries are not available "aftermarket" (from suppliers other
than the device manufacturer)at this time.  Further, the range of these batteries is less
than half of a conventional power chair.

The chairs are expensive as well- you can get a mid-level power chair for the price of one
of these- but these do have the ability to load fairly easily into an automobile, and they
don't have the power chair "look" to them.  They also allow for some "exercise" while
pushing- important because many manual wheelchair users experience significant weight gain
when they transition to a power chair.

Two of the better known manufacturers of these devices are Quickie and Johnson &  Johnson-
the manufacturer of the IBOT stair-climbing wheelchair.  Another company makes add-on kits
for some existing manual wheelchairs.  The Quickie product can be added to some existing
Quickie manual wheelchair models.

Each wheel contains the motor and usually the battery, and the weight of each wheel
(depending on the manufacturer) is between 17 and 25 pounds.  The wheels are removable
and the frame can be folded for loading into an automobile- just like a manual
wheelchair.  Some of the frames are also on the "heavy" side, though.

More details are available at  Quickie's website, or the iGLIDE website.

MID/FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CHAIRS:

With the advent of direct drive, chair manufacturers have been able to 
design more compact chairs and place the drive wheels where they feel the 
wheels will do the most "good" for a particular design rather than where 
needed in relationship to the motors.

This has allowed for the introduction of front drive chairs and mid-wheel 
drive chairs (called that because of the larger anti-tipping wheels 
required in the front) models.  Front drive chairs are less "rocky" 
going down ramps than mid-wheel-drive chairs, don't require front
anti-tipping wheels, and are still more maneuverable than traditional
rear-wheel drive chairs in tight places.  Unfortunately front drive 
chairs tend to want to "pull" to one side or another- a major annoyance!  
Invacare has had to restrict their top speed on front drive chairs due to this phenomena.
But they have also come out with a mid-wheel drive chair with practically no "rocking".

Two examples of mid-wheel-drive chairs are the Pride Jazzy [pictured to the right] and
the Invacare MWD series.  Both are compact and very maneuverable.  Expect, that if the new
gearless, brushless motors work out that these designs can be refined even further.

DIRECT DRIVE:

There has been a trend in the industry to build chairs that are "direct drive".  This means
that the motor that drives the wheel is connect to the wheel via gears.  It makes for a
very compact design allowing for smaller chairs and more styling (and stronger frames on
light duty chairs), but at a (very expensive) price.  It used to be that all power chairs
had belts between the motor and the drive wheel.  The belt accomplished some gear reduction
(though the motors often still had gears in them as well), but more important acted as a
"shock absorber" or "fuse" to protect the motor and its gears.  If the drive wheel "hung
up" (hit a door threshold or "bump" in the pavement) or "changed direction" rapidly (that's
how power chairs usually steer- by varying speed/direction between the two drive wheels)
the "shock" was absorbed by the belt which would stretch.  After a while the belt would
have to be adjusted and eventually it would have to be replaced.

Not having to deal with belts sounds like a good idea, but the stress is still there- at
the gears!  Therefore the gears experience wear, and eventually they break.  When they do,
the motor shaft usually breaks as well (due to its flexing while the gears are still
"slopping").  This turns out to be a very expensive repair.  Replacing belts is a
lot cheaper than a motor and gearbox. One of the reasons that it is so important not to put
a heavy and/or active user into a light-duty power chair is because of these direct drive
motors.  Belt driven chairs were a lot more forgiving (even if the belts were not).

Unfortunately, the only chair still made using belts that I would recommend is a very
expensive, very fast, very durable power chair made by 21st Century Scientific called the
Bounder Plus.

WARRANTIES AND ORIGIN OF SERVICE are important.  Please see my section on warranties
for some important information, as well as the next section:

DEALER VS "FACTORY DIRECT"

"Usually, local medical supply houses 
are the best source of electric scooters, 
not door-to-door salesmen," -Joe Scinto of the 
United Seniors Health Cooperative,
a not-for-profit Washington, D.C. consumer organization.
Obviously, by being a dealer, I'm biased, but the "factory-to-you" problem is so great that
two independent organizations have written "warning" articles due to the number of complaints
they have received- regarding "in-home, factory direct" sales!,  Links to those articles are
at  ConsumerAffairs.Com.  A new browser window will open.

I also have written essays: About those TV ads promising free wheelchairs
and Purchasing wheelchairs via the Internet which may be helpful.

The problem becomes even greater when the "factory direct" equipment requires service.  I
get calls on a regular basis from people who are tired of waiting for the "factory" repair
person to have enough service calls in this area to make it worth while to make a trip, and
from customers who had a salesperson show up with or instead of the technician to pronounce
an older chair dead.  "Mail order" factory ordered chairs create even a worse situation
regarding obtaining service- many times the equipment must be crated and shipped back to
the factory if no local repair can be obtained.


MY "RECOMEND" LIST:
I recommend a local dealer with an established service department as a starting point.  The
dealer can assess your needs and requirements and "educate" you on what is available in
your budget range.    As a general guide, I recommend these products for their reliability
and value for the $$$:
   
Full size wheelchair:  21st Century Scientific Bounder Plus
                         Action Arrow (now discontinued- but see paragraph
                                        on a new kind of drive system
                         Quickie P222 (even though it's "mid sized")
   
Mid sized wheelchair:  Quickie P200
                         Ranger II MWD/FWD
   
Small compact chair:   Action Power 9000, 9XT
                         Quickie P100/110




MY "STAY AWAY" LIST:
Smaller "entry level" chairs for larger/active users. Their price and design may
outweigh the potential motor/frame problem, but it's assumed light duty use with these
chairs.  Their "weight capacity" may be greater than the 175 pound/non-active users I
recommend, but that is a structural capacity limit so that the chair does not collapse
under the user, not a "reliability factor" on whether the chair will break down or not.

Pride Jazzys for active users or "mission critical" users. THIS INCLUDES THEIR
QUANTUM DIVISION!  Unfortunately, there are both quality and service issues.
The chairs break too often, and while parts are sent quickly, too often the wrong
parts are sent.  I attribute this to a "scooter mind set" at the company- most scooter
users are not totally dependent on their equipment "24/7", so Pride has gotten into
the corporate culture of doing things sloppy and half way.  Growing pains and many
additions of models contributes to this very real problem!  The Quantum division was
created just to deal with quality complaints by dealers, users, and therapists who
get to recommend these products.  Unfortunately, in my opinion and experience, it is
more marketing than quality!  A sow's ear by any other name is not a silk purse...

Any chair the first year or so of manufacture.  This includes the "new" drive system
motors I speak about above.  There are always bugs, and unless you have the $$$ for the
bragging rights, there is usually no reason to be "first on the block" with a product that
will probably need to have modifications (if not a total re-do).  Of course, if the product
is so unique that nothing else will work for you, that fact =may= offset the risk of
considerable downtime or outright failure.

All foreign made equipment.  If the distributor is out of a broken part there is
usually a very, very long wait.   The distributor may decide to leave the market (USA)
which means essentially no support (it happens all the time).  Many distributors become one
by placing a "container order" and never order again from the manufacturer.  They go out of
business when they run out of product.  The majority of companies that have gone out of
business in the past several years have been distributors of  foreign made equipment
(Fortress, Newton, Abec, Sportster [back again with their third or fourth distributor,  but
for  how long?], Priorier, Wheelster, etc. are all examples of "orphaned"   equipment that
have left us "holding the bag").

Permobile products.  Foreign made.  Very expensive.  Many service problems, and few
dealers service them.  Fewer still stock parts and getting parts is not as simple as the
manufacturer suggests...

Any power product made by Tuffcare or Merits.  Very poor reliability and "foreign
sourced" parts make for major problems.  For just a few $$$ more, why not buy an Invacare
or Quickie?


REGARDING FOREIGN EQUIPMENT:

I am very much aware that this website is read in other countries other than the USA.  Many
fine products are made in countries outside the USA.  Some of the best innovations have
come from "abroad" (light weight rigid wheelchairs, a wonderful "one arm drive" chair, and
a truly portable power chair as examples).  Further, I drive an imported car because of its
unique design and greater reliability than comparably priced USA made cars.

My "anti-foreign" stand is not due to patriotism, or a "buy American" attitude.  It is a
pragmatic decision based on the number of chairs our company has had to "eat" when
distributors decided to go out of business and "orphan" nearly new equipment with no
warranty and no way of "sourcing" parts.

Most equipment made in America has parts "sourced" from other American companies.  Usually
we can find the parts (either because they are used on other brands or we can identify the
sub-contractor that made the part) and continue to provide service.  This is not the case
with foreign made equipment.

Further, I would caution purchasers of American made equipment who live outside the USA to
check for availability of parts in their respective countries (includes Canada).  Perhaps
my advice should be "buy locally made equipment whenever possible- wherever "local" is".
Unfortunately, I don't know enough about parts and service distribution outside the USA to
make that recommendation.

If no "domestic" product can fulfil a particular need, then obviously the purchaser must
make the "cost-benefit" analysis of doing without vs foreign made.  Unfortunately, its
usually the most expensive, most specialized products that are imported that leave this
country the fastest.

A WORD ABOUT SAFETY:
Wheelchairs and scooters are not car substitutes. Automobile drivers cannot always see
wheelchairs (even with red flags on them), and they are so slow compared to a car (usually
under 5 mph) that they pose a major threat to the user when mixed with automobiles.  A very
nice pamphlet on DRIVING SAFETY  has been produced and can be  viewed by clicking here. (used
with permission).

All the information provided herein is Copyright © 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003, & 2004 Stuart L. Portner.  All rights reserved.  May be printed
and reproduced for individual use, but may not be distributed without the permission
of the author.


BACK to Wheelchairs & Scooters menu