Will I have enough charge in my chair for the parks?

[Windjammermay]

Hay All
I will be using my electric chair. I will bring my charger and will plug it in at night. It is a TDX5 with 2 deep U, jell batteries. Will I have enough juice in it to do each park per day?

I am concerned with running out of juice at one of the parks. Will my batteries hold up? And if I run out what can I do about charging it while out there in the a park. I can not walk and don't want to get stuck sitting in a chair in some corner.

Can I go to one of the places that have WDW scooters and let it charge there and switch out for one of Dis scooter/chair?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to disABILITIES!

I would suggest several things before you come to the parks.

First would be to check the specifications in your owner's manual (or check directly with the manufacturer) of what they would expect the range to be on a full charge. I know on my ECV it is 25 miles at full weight. Be aware that most people do about eight miles a day in the parks. Add to that a few miles for running around the Resort or the corridors and you usually would be using less than 60% of battery capacity per day.

Second would be to take your chair into the dealer a few days before the trip and have them check the batteries; if either of them are getting weak you may want to replace them earlier than normal so you will have fresh batteries which will hold a full charge for the trip.

I have seen (also from personal experience) that if a person has a problem with a personal (or off-site rental) ECV they will bring one to the person and take their ECV back (in freewheel) to the rental location until the person is ready to pick it up at the end of the day (or rental company brings a replacement). This has been done at no fee to the Guest.

If you have a charger with you they can handle it. However, if you do not it depends on the type of connector that they have on their chargers. I know that the ECVs that Disney uses are made specially for them and may not use the standard three-pin connector.

 

[SueM in MN]

Besides what Cheshire Figment mentioned:
How often do you charge your wheelchair normally?

How far do you normally go per charge?

My DD has a TDX power wheelchair with an MK5 joystick/controller. Hers has an odometer that tells how far it has gone. I have not looked at how far hers goes between charges, but if I wanted to, that would be a good way to check. Knowing that the average person walks between 5 and 9 miles per day at WDW, I would have an idea of whether or not she normally goes that far between charges.

Most power wheelchairs will all day without recharging. I looked in the instruction book for the TDX wheelchairs and it does say the batteries will operate on one charge for an average range of 5-9 hours. That would be continuous operation and it's not likely that you would be driving the power wheelchair for 5-9 hours straight without stopping. That is also at the average weight of users. If you are heavier or lighter than average, you will get more or less (For example, my DD is only a bit over 80 pounds, so she gets more miles). The more weight you are carrying on your wheelchair, the less range you will have (so even though it may be convenient for you to carry all your party's stuff, it may lower your range).

There are things that use more power - such as going on an incline (like up hills) or going on rough terain. If you have any power features like tilt or raising, those use power too.

Some things you want to do include turning it off when you are stopped in attractions or for waiting in lines for things like shows where you will be in one spot for a while (that helps conserve energy and also helps prevent the wheelchair from moving if the joystick is hit accidentally).
Keep track of the charge indicator. If it is down toward the 'empty' part of the indicator, you will need to charge. Some people plan to charge while they are eating. If you need to plug in, ask a CM. There are outlets hidden in places you would not think to look, even outside.

I would assume that the ECV chargers would not fit your wheelchair. You can carry your charger with you, but if it is anything like my DD's, it is prettty big. An alternative would be to store your charger either in a locker at the front of the park or in First Aid. If it runs out of power, CMs can get a manual wheelchair for you or an ECV to use while your wheelchair charges.

After your first day, you should have a good idea of how your power holds out. That will help you to plan for the rest of your trip.
There is a link in post #2 (and also in post #3) of the disABILITIES FAQs thread where people estimated how far they walked each day at WDW. You may want to check that out.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

You can carry your charger with you, but if it is anything like my DD's, it is prettty big.

If your charger is too big, your wheelchair supplier may be able to sell you a smaller one.

Because the charger supplied with my chair is large (and only accepts 220/240 volts) I bought a second one for travelling. It is only the size of a (large) paperback and is switchable dual voltage 110/240. It charges my chair more slowly, but is still adequate for a day at Disney.

And it's always useful to have a second charger in the event that one of them fails.

Andrew

 

[Windjammermay]

Hi SueM
My controller is a MK5 as well. I have over 4,000 miles on her now. It has a reading for how much battery charge I have on it. It seems like we have similar chairs. I do have a tilt on it and a sterio system on it but it is not plugged into the chairs batteries. I have Mickey Mouse as my joystick.

I did read how far the walkers were going a day. They said up to 14 miles and an average of 10 miles a day but I was not sure if it was equivalent to the chair. I do turn it off because people hit the controlls or kids come up and play with it.

I was going to be "pack mule" for the gang plus carry my charger. You know we can pack a lot on the chairs. My mom is riding a Pride Celebrity, I think I will put stuff in her basket and drive off.

I will keep milage and when I get home I will post it. I will just have to cut back on extra use, like dancing and fast pick ups. I will put her on slow.

 

[SueM in MN]

If your charger is too big, your wheelchair supplier may be able to sell you a smaller one.

Because the charger supplied with my chair is large (and only accepts 220/240 volts) I bought a second one for travelling. It is only the size of a (large) paperback and is switchable dual voltage 110/240. It charges my chair more slowly, but is still adequate for a day at Disney.

And it's always useful to have a second charger in the event that one of them fails.

Andrew

It would be nice to have a smaller one, but the only one available as an option is the one we have.
It is not really that large - about the size of a medium sized harcover book, but it has legs that stick out front and back that make it seem much bigger. And then when you add the power cord and the charging cord that plugs into the wheelchair, it just seems to take a huge amount of space.

Luckily, her older power wheelchair and her newer power wheelchair both take the same power adapter, so we automatically have a spare.