Electric power chair v. ECV

[Debbie-TN]

My cousin and I have been going to WDW for several years. She has always rented an ECV from Walker. This year her funds are limited. We have an almost new power chair that came to us after my uncle passed away. If she used the chair she could save the cost of the ECV. I would like to hear from those with chairs, how it is to get around. Have you used both and which do you prefer? Is it more difficult to use the chair?

 

[SueM in MN]

If she is experienced at driving the power wheelchair, she will have little trouble. If she's not, she will find it is nowhere near as easy to drive as she may think.

My DD has a power wheelchair that I am actually a good driver of when I am standing beside her and driving it from the side. I have sat in it and tried to drive it and found it LOOKS much easier to drive than it actually is to drive it (even for me, with being experienced driving it from the side).

This question has actually been asked before, so a few years ago, I wrote a long answer that talks about the differences in driving a power wheelchair and an ECV. Here is a link to that thread.

 

[Debbie-TN]

Sue, Thanks for the post. It had lots of useful info. My cousin will probably not want to drive the chair. What we really hope to do is sell the chair and buy a scooter. Right now we're having trouble getting the batteries to charge. It had set up for about a year before we started working with it. We're not sure yet if the batteries need to be replaced. I really hate to buy new batteries and then no one buys the chair. Have you ever had any experience selling a chair? If you haven't, maybe someone else can answer this.

 

[SueM in MN]

No experience selling - we have always found places to donate DD's old wheelchairs.
I do know that when she got her new power wheelchair, the wheelchair texh told us to charge the old one about once a month to keep the batteries charged. If they go too long without being recharged, eventually they will not be able to hold a charge any more.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

Have you ever had any experience selling a chair? If you haven't, maybe someone else can answer this.

I don't have experience selling, but I bought my power chair off craigslist. Your ability to sell is going to depend on the make of the chair, price, condition, etc. I do think most powerchairs that end up on places like craigslist sell as long as you aren't trying to get people to pay something unreasonably high.

Has your cousin tried using the power chair? I know lots of people think power chairs are harder to drive than scooters, but my experience has been the exact opposite. I find a powerchair much easier to drive and it took me less than a day to become a fairly decent driver. I even managed to maneuver it on and off an Amtrak train the first day I got it!

 

[KPeveler]

If she gets good at the powerchair, thats fine. But is generally is harder to learn to drive, as most are mid-wheel drive and she would need to learn the shape of the "footprint." Also, the joysticks tend to be very sensitive, and they control speed, direction, and movement... So you would have to be use to using it, and knowing how to use it very well, before taking it in a crowd...

 

[Debbie-TN]

I don't have experience selling, but I bought my power chair off craigslist. Your ability to sell is going to depend on the make of the chair, price, condition, etc. I do think most powerchairs that end up on places like craigslist sell as long as you aren't trying to get people to pay something unreasonably high.

The chair is a Jazzy Select bought in 2007. My uncle only used it a few times and it looks brand new. It was originally $6000. We've got his paperwork for it. Any idea what a reasonable price would be to put on Craigslist? We're hoping for enough to buy an ECV, but not sure. The bad thing is, we can't get the batteries to charge, so we might have to buy batteries for it before we can even try to sell it. What do you think?

 

[dclfun]

I am getting a new powerchair which will be another Permobil C500. I am quite happy with this model but due to insurance purposes, I had to have a fitting and discuss other chairs that are less costly. The PT told me I'd need to keep the same chair due to the rear-wheel drive as it would be difficult for me to drive one of the more common chairs which have a different method for driving and maneuvering ( front -wheel or mid-wheel drive). He told me that because my chair is rear-wheel drive,even he has to "think backwards" when driving the chair manually from the side. For me it is second nature and my chair is extremely easy to "turn on a dime" with a very small footprint. I would think your cousin should practice driving the chair. Sue is right- if the batteries have gone a year w/o charging they will probably not be able to take a charge, so you'd need to replace them. I also doubt anyone would purchase a chair though w/o being able to drive it first so it would be a good investment. If she can learn to drive it, it will probably be more comfortable than an ECV. She won't have to lean forward and her arms will have more support. Does she have a ramp or lift van to transport it if she's using it at home?---Kathyt

 

[SueM in MN]

I am getting a new powerchair which will be another Permobil C500. I am quite happy with this model but due to insurance purposes, I had to have a fitting and discuss other chairs that are less costly. The PT told me I'd need to keep the same chair due to the rear-wheel drive as it would be difficult for me to drive one of the more common chairs which have a different method for driving and maneuvering ( front -wheel or mid-wheel drive). He told me that because my chair is rear-wheel drive,even he has to "think backwards" when driving the chair manually from the side. For me it is second nature and my chair is extremely easy to "turn on a dime" with a very small footprint. I would think your cousin should practice driving the chair. Sue is right- if the batteries have gone a year w/o charging they will probably not be able to take a charge, so you'd need to replace them. I also doubt anyone would purchase a chair though w/o being able to drive it first so it would be a good investment. If she can learn to drive it, it will probably be more comfortable than an ECV. She won't have to lean forward and her arms will have more support. Does she have a ramp or lift van to transport it if she's using it at home?---Kathyt

I agree with Kathy that no one is likely to want to buy the wheelchair without being able to drive and test it out, so a set of batteries is probably a good investment. If you do sell it, a new set of batteries is a selling point.
If she decides to keep it and use it herself, she can practice and will have a new set of batteries.

If she doesn't have a ramp or lift van, she will not be able to transport it for use out of the home.

It can be difficult to get used to a new power wheelchair. When DD got her new one, she switched from a rear wheel drive model to a mid wheel. She had to re-learn how to do everything because she was used to needing a certain amount of space to turn and back. With the new chair, all the measurements changed.

 

[Debbie-TN]

I never realized there were so many things to think about-rear wheel, mid wheel? (Just looked at the manual and it's a two motor, mid wheel drive ). The funny thing about the batteries is that we tried several times to charge the batteries at my mom's house, but they would never charge. That's when we brought it to our house to see if we could get it to work. We have a set of ramps that we used to get the chair in and out of our van. You're right, that would be a good selling point if it had two new batteries.

Just a thought - When you turn the power on, the lights flash 8 times, which means "There is a control system fault". Does that mean anything to anybody?

 

[dclfun]

I never realized there were so many things to think about-rear wheel, mid wheel? (Just looked at the manual and it's a two motor, mid wheel drive ). The funny thing about the batteries is that we tried several times to charge the batteries at my mom's house, but they would never charge. That's when we brought it to our house to see if we could get it to work. We have a set of ramps that we used to get the chair in and out of our van. You're right, that would be a good selling point if it had two new batteries.

Just a thought - When you turn the power on, the lights flash 8 times, which means "There is a control system fault". Does that mean anything to anybody?

What's the make/model of the chair? I've never had my joystick show flashing lights unless there was a problem. Does the manual say anything helpful? You can always call the manufacturer and ask them and they should be able to troubleshoot with you over the phone. I know with my chair there is a serial number, so if there's a problem, the tech knows exactly which chair I have, it's age, etc.---Kathy

 

[SueM in MN]

I never realized there were so many things to think about-rear wheel, mid wheel? (Just looked at the manual and it's a two motor, mid wheel drive ). The funny thing about the batteries is that we tried several times to charge the batteries at my mom's house, but they would never charge. That's when we brought it to our house to see if we could get it to work. We have a set of ramps that we used to get the chair in and out of our van. You're right, that would be a good selling point if it had two new batteries.

Just a thought - When you turn the power on, the lights flash 8 times, which means "There is a control system fault". Does that mean anything to anybody?

I looked up the manual and there is nothing in there about troubleshooting or any fault warnings. My DD's wheelchair is totally different.
I think you will need to contact a service place.

Before doing that, check that all the wires and connections are going to their appropriate places and are tight. It's always good to check the connections and make sure they are tight before checking any further.

 

[Debbie-TN]

We've checked and rechecked all the connections and can't find anything loose. The only thing the manual says about the problem-There is a control system fault. Possible solution-Check power module and joystick module connections and wiring. My husband called the company the other day, but they were closed. We're going to call them again. Hopefully we'll get it to working before too long.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

Since it's a Jazzy, you might want to post on the forums at wheelchairjunkie.com the guy who runs the site works for Pride and is really good at answering all sorts of questions (he can probably also give you battery advice).

 

[Debbie-TN]

Thanks. I'll try that and see what they say.